The Blade and the Embrace
by galladefenrir44
Summary: The adventures of a Gallade named Rick who arrives in the Sinnoh region from the Hoenn region to fulfill his late trainer's dying wish. It also follows the story of a Gardevoir named Alara whose journey start by accident. Their stories will eventually innertwine and they will have to work as a team to succeed in their goals.
1. Chapter 1: The Blade

Ok guys my first fanfic and I hope I'm able to write a good one for you guys. Enjoy! Feel free to PM me for anything.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

**( )**= Song for the Battle **"Cantata Morti & God In Fire"**

"Good Arceus it's cold as shit today!" I said as I walked down the trail on the snow-covered peaks of Mt. Coronet. "This is what I get for deciding to go exploring. Well what's a Gallade to do?" I couldn't remember how long it has been since I have been living on my own. Since my trainer died, I have been alone to fend for myself. I barely contained a tear from falling from my eye.

In a state of self-deception I promised myself that I wouldn't cry over the old man again. Yet, it seemed so much more difficult as he died so suddenly when I was a Kirlia. "I wonder how my life would of been if I was still with master?...I need to find a home soon."  
It has been about 5 years since I've been on my own and I have already traversed all of my homeland of the Hoenn region and now I found myself in the Sinnoh region after I caught a ride on an unaware Salamance. "So this is the Sinnoh region?" *I've been here 3 days and I've seen absolutely nothing but a few Abomasnows and Weaviles. Such the fucking home searching experience I was looking for.* I though sarcastically to myself. "I should probably find somewhere to sleep tonight", I said to myself while sighing.  
I walked for about 3 or 4 miles until I spotted a small rock formation that looked like it could protect me from the snowfall for the night. I immediately looked for some twigs to start a fire with (which was not much of a challenge since there were some dead trees nearby). I then rolled the sleeping bag that I usually carried under the formation and started the fire. It felt amazing to finally have some warmth for the first time in 3 days and I took the chance to lay down and savor the heat while I stared across the rocks to the night sky. "I wonder what I'll find in my time here. It's not like I can just go back to Hoenn. Oh well, I should probably rest for tonight." With that I layed my head on a rock a positioned to imitate a pillow and fell into a deep sleep.  
The next morning I woke up and was welcomed by the sound of a group of Chinglings. The pokemon always used to amuse me back when I explored the Kanto region, yet I always wondered why I never saw them in Hoenn since there were Chimechos present. With a sigh I got up to leave *no time to stop and watch*. Since I saw the Chinglings there should be some vegetation nearby that isn't buried in snow, at least that's what I thought to myself. I soon realized that I was right when I felt it become warmer and a slight smile came to my face because of the the sweet embrace of the heat. "Well this is a welcoming treat. Looks like I'll probably find some food here. The last thing I want to do is hunt." I always hated hunting because it involved me taking the life away from some innocent creature and I always hated to kill in general.  
I kept walking until I saw a lake with some berries growing on the shore, needless to say I was overjoyed. I quickly jumped off the cliff I was on and landed in the lake, quickly swimming to the berries. I always loved to swim since it made me feel like I was flying. Such a feeling always helped me relax and forget my troubles.  
When I arrived, I quickly gorged myself on the sweet yet still pretty sour berries. I didn't mind, I loved sour food to begin with and I haven't eaten in days. I then took my time to get down on my knees and take a few gulps of the lake water.  
I kept drinking until I sensed something was nearby, with my cautious nature, I extended my blades from my elbows. I tried to pinpoint the location of whatever was there and then I heard the nearby bushes shake. I took up my battle stance and waited for whatever was in the bushes to show itself. I waited for a while until I saw an Absol run out of the bush and by the expression of it's face I could tell it was being chased by something. As I watched it run I noticed three more Absols running after the first. *Don't get involved* I thought to myself as I continued to eat but then I heard a scream come from their direction and it sounded like a female. *!* I couldn't stand an assault on a female of any species. So I stopped eating and ran to the direction of the scream. It was in a small clearing in the cliffs opposite to my direction. I looked for the Absols until I heard another scream, but this time is was of a male.  
"Oww you little bitch!"  
After that I heard another scream from the female. I quickly darted for their direction to see one of the males hitting the way younger female with his claws. A vein started to appear on my head as I saw that and I decided not to play the stealth game.  
"Stop! What the hell are you doing to her?" I yelled. When they heard me they turned and glared.  
"What's it to you stranger?" said the Absol that hit the female. "We're just trying to have a bit of fun with this one. It's just a game."  
"A game! You call that a game? What did she do to deserve that hit?"  
"The bitch bit me." As he said that I noticed bloody teeth marks on his leg.  
"I can tell she did it to protect herself. It's high time you tell me what you're really doing!" I demanded with the vein getting larger.  
"Oh come now, it's none of your concern." he said while laughing.  
I took the chance to read his mind and the mind of the female and found out what the males were planning. I quickly became furious and disgusted at the same time. "It is my concern! You were trying to rape the poor girl!"  
"Hey it's technically mating season for us Absols."  
"She's no older than in her mid teens! How disgusting can you get?"  
"Listen, I've just about have had it with you here. Leave now or die by my hands and by my boys' hands."  
"NO! This is your last chance to let her go and scatter...because I'm this close to drawing my blades and slicing you in half." I said as I glared at him.

**( )**

"Enough of this! Boys get 'em!" As he said this the other two Absols charged at me and I quickly used **Focus Punch** on both of them. One was larger and bulkier than the others and staggered at the blow while the smaller one flew threw the air and hit a nearby rock quickly getting knocked out. The larger one then tried attacking me again and I dodged his attemped **Night Slash** by jumping to a nearby mountain wall. He charged me again with **Night Slash** and got his horn stuck on the mountain when I dodged it again. I couldn't help but mock him.

"Ok that mountain is not your eating disorder." I chuckled and it seemed to anger him.  
"Trying to get on my nerves are you?"  
"Trying? I succeeded!"  
"Shut you fucking mouth!" He then jumped into the air above the cliff I was at and charged a **Night Slash** and tried to divebomb me. As he came closer I just closed my eyes and raised my hand. To everyone's surprise I caught the attack and the Absol with my bare hand. I then opened my eyes and gave them a fiendish smile.  
"You have no fucking clue who you're fucking with here, do you?" I said as my smile turned back to a face of rage. I then quickly lowered the Absol to my eye level to deliver a sharp **Focus Punch** to his stomach making him cough up blood. "What happened to all that bravado?...You're pathetic!" I said as I narrowed my eyes and drew one of my blades and slashed the Dark type, cutting a line through his chest. I didn't kill him but the **Focus Punch** to the stomach seemed to have finally limited his movement and knocked him out. I quickly turned my attention to the smaller Absol who finally woke up at the rock he lander onto. I quickly stood over him and he stared at me with an expression of fear on his face. I looked straight into his eyes and said, "Tell me was it worth it?"  
"What?" he said confused and frightened at the same time.  
"Was listening to that guy really worth the pain? Why do you follow him? Does committing these cruel deeds benefit you in any way?"  
"I just do what my big brother tells me. Otherwise I suffer the consequences." he said as he lowered his head.  
I then turn back to the ring leader and said, "So you're not just a menace to other pokemon but to your own family. You're despicable!" I quickly stopped talking as I felt the younger brother **Sucker Punch** me.  
"I may not have anything to really gain from it but it sure is fun." he said as he charged an attack in his mouth. By the looks of it I could tell that it was **Flamethrower**. I quickly crossed my arms over my face and chest and he let the thick stream of the inferno loose. "Burn! Burn you fucking peice of shit!" he yelled at me as the flames engulfed me. Soon his expression turn to that of complete disbelief as I dispersed the flames with **Psychic **and all he could see was my black silhouette among the flames with my blades drawn and crossed with one pointing to the ground and the other to my right. My eyes were now glowing blue because of the **Psychic**. As the flames died down they could see I have taken no damage and that I was now furious.  
"Ok enough games. You guys obviously have no shame. So now I won't hold back and watch things progress. I will kill you and send your vile souls to the Reverse World." I said as I charged dual **Psycho Cuts** onto my blades.  
"I'll love to see you try. You have to get close to me to hit me with those blades." he said as he used **Double Team**.  
"I'm not that kind of Gallade. I can fire my **Psycho Cuts**." I said as I fired one at the larger Absol who woke up and rose his head. The attack landed in the dead center of his throat. The force of the attack snapping his neck.  
"What the hell! You fucking killed him!" the ring leader said as his face went from smug to shocked.  
"I told you I was going to kill you, didn't I?"  
"What did he do to deserve it?"  
"You're kidding right? How do you think I found out about the fact that you were going to rape that female? I read all your minds and went deeper by checking all the evil you have done. So much blood that has been spilled by your hands and the families you destroyed. It's unforgivable and justice has to be served." I said this while raising my blades and firing the second Psycho Cut at the smaller Absol destroying multiple copies caused by the **Double Team**. I then jumped into the mass of copies and started slashing all the copies, being very careful not to hit the Absol. As I destroyed the last copy, the Absol looked at me and I took the opportunity to **Focus Punch** him onto the mountain wall. After the blow he coughed up blood and stared at me.  
"M..mercy?" he said.  
I looked him dead in the eyes and responded, "Sorry fresh out." I then stabbed him in the chest with my right arm's blade and walked away as his life slipped away. "Two down, one bastard left to go."  
"You honestly think I'll go down as easily as my brothers? Prepare to be surprised." the leader said before using **Quick Attack **to tackle me to the ground. He then attempted to pin me down and use **Night Slash** on me, which I countered with a quick **Focus Punch** to his gut. I then kicked him off of me and we then circled each other trying to size each other out. He wasn't very large but still a pretty decent sized Absol with his hair spiked to one side and the bit mark on his leg was still bleeding.  
"Looks like that girl made quite the mark on you."  
"She'll get what's coming to her later. But right now I'll be more worried about what's going to happen to you." he said before laughing at me.  
"Want to follow that up and see if you can make me pay?" I said while opening my arms signaling him to try.  
"Fight like a warrior and die like a dog! But I have to hand it to you, you survived longer than I expected you to."  
He then lunged forward and made me fall to my back but I was able to roll and throw him over my head with my legs. I quickly scrambled to my feet to not leave an opening available for him to exploit. I then fired a **Psycho Cut** at him but he used a **Night Slash** to knock it away.  
"You're going to be harder to beat than I expected." I said with a smile on my face. "It's been a while since I've had a good fight."  
"Are you going to fight or talk?" he said with an annoyed tone in his voice.  
"Awww can't I do both?" I said sarcastically.  
My last comment seemed to have agitated him to the point that he lost his smug smile. He then said, "I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should." He then used **Quick Attack** mixed with a **Night Slash** to hit me in the back. The force of the attack left a slash on my back and made me stagger forward. I turned to face him and he used it again, this time hitting my shoulder. He continued his assault until I was forced onto my knee.  
"What did I tell you? I wasn't goint to be as easy as the other two and I will be the one to kill you."  
I didn't reply so he decided to **Sucker Punch** me in the gut, making me hunch over and fall to my hands and knees. After he saw that that I was in the perfect execution position, he lifted his hornblade up to behead me.  
"Oh wow. This was easy. I thought you were going to actually put up a fight. You see? Compared to you I'm a demigod. I even have you on your knees before me. Oh well, goodbye you bastard!"  
He then brought to blade down towards my neck but it never made it. I was stuck in midair and I lifted my head with my eyes glowing blue. I was using **Psychic** to immobilize his horn, thus keeping him in place.  
"Thought you had me, didn't you? I knew you were going to be harder so I decided to make you think that I was broken a beaten so that I could get the opportunity to attack you back. So yeah, get ready to lose your head." I then used my** Psychic **to move his head to the level of my blades and was about to slash him until he fired a **Flamethrower** at me. I had no choice but to release my hold on him and cover myself.  
"Ha! Thought you had me didn't you?" He said after he fired the attack at me. "I know you're fine. That attack didn't work on you before, I know it won't work now. So come out of that fireball."  
I started to laugh. "You've really figured me out haven't you. But you're actually wrong." I then extinguished the flames with **Psychic **to show him that I have taken damage from the attack.  
"Wow, I actually got you...or is this just another trick?"  
"What you don't trust me? Oh how mean." I laughed.  
He seemed to have gotten angry. "Ok that's it. Now you die!"  
He once again began to use his little **Quick Attack/Night Slash** combo with my not being able to block them and it bringing me to my knees again. I was left a bloody mess.  
"I learned my lesson of getting close to you. I won't make that mistake again." He said while charging a **Flamethrower**.  
I struggled to get to my feet which became harder with a slash that was on my knee that kept bleeding like a motherfucker. "Damn, I don't think I can get up from this one."  
"Scared. You're a fucking lamb for the slaughter now."  
I remained silent.  
"What's wrong? Have nothing cute to say this time?" I just smiled as the **Flamethrower** was ready to fire. "Goodbye!" he said as he released the attack.  
"BIG MISTAKE!" I yelled as I blocked the attack with **Psychic **and fired a **Psycho Cut **through the flames. The attack hit him in his face making him fly through the air. As he took off he looked and saw me all of the sudden next to him with my fist glowing. "Thanks for the health!" I said as I hit him dead center in the gut, blowing a hole in his abdomen.  
After the hit connected, my wounds closed and all the damage I have taken was gone. The Absol was still alive but unable to fight back after that colossal hit.  
"What did you do to me? What was that attack? How were you healed?" he asked in disbelief.  
"It's called **Drain Punch**. I hit you and I get your life energy."  
"So this is the end of the line isn't it? S..s...spare me?"  
"Warriors should never beg for their lives. Be thankful that you're dying with honor."  
"At least tell me your name."  
I was confused with the request. "Why would you want to know my name?"  
He laughed slightly but stopped due to the pain. "A warrior should always get the name of the one who killed him. It's not like the kill. The name is not a statistic, it's the only thing a warrior can take that reminds them of an honorable death at the hands of the one who bested him or her."  
"I see. Well if that's your ideology about it I guess I could humor you. My name is Rick. Simple, short, and clean."  
"Rick, hmmm? I'm glad I've had the chance to fight a true warrior."  
"Thank you. Good bye and be at peace." I said this as I leaned over him and stuck my blade through his heart and laid him on the floor and closed his eyes.  
I took some time to calm myself after the battle. Then I turned to the female Absol who was still laying on the mountain wall. I approached her but she didn't seem frightened.  
"Are you alright?" I received no response other than a hug. "Calm down it's all over. They won't bother you again."  
"Thank you! I've you haven't come i would of been in big trouble. Sorry for getting you into this." she said in short bursts of breath.  
"You drag me into this. I chose to do it. I can't accept to see an assault on others that can't protect themselves. I believe it's a Gallade's curse. What's your name?"  
At this point she let go of me and lifted her head and I got a better look at her. She had her hair in a large bang over her red right eye. The bang had a red ribbon wrapped around it. She tried to regain her composure and she finally spoke after a few seconds. "My name is Serenity."  
"I'm Rick. I should probably get you back to your parents, kid."  
"I don't have my parents with me. They were captured by a trainer when I was a cub. So I've been traveling all of Sinnoh searching for them ever since. I came back to Mt. Coronet to see if they were here again...but I was fooling myself. Then all this shit happened and here we are."  
"Well do you have somewhere I can take you where you'll be safe for a while?"  
"No. I've been traveling all my life. I've never had a home. Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure. What do you want Serenity?"  
"Can I join you on your journey?"  
"Huh? How did you know I was on a journey?"  
"I saw you on the mountain about a day ago and noticed you were saying about a looking for a home. You also mentioned something that told me you don't know your way around the Sinnoh region. I know this region very well. I can help you. Also, I think I'll sleep easier knowing that I have some protection."  
I sweatdropped as I heard her say that. I wouldn't mind some company and if what she said was true she could be a valuable asset but she was just so young and might just get in my way. "So you were following me this whole time?"  
"No, I just happened to be walking by when I heard you. Then I found you here."  
"Well Serenity, I don't know if that's the best idea. You still a kid and I will most likely get into more dangerous circumstances than this. But I don't really like the idea of leaving you alone...so...here's what I'm going to do. I'll take you with me until we reach this place called Veilstone City."  
"Why there?"  
"Because I have to give this amulet to my late trainer's granddaughter." I said while showing her the amulet. "It was his dying wish and I want to fulfill it. His granddaughter's name is Maylene."  
After I said that Serenity looked shocked at what I said. She then spoke.  
"I know this region so well and you'll be surprised to learn that you're right that she is in Veilstone City."  
"Good but I assume that you know who I'm talking about."  
"Yes, she's the gym leader of the city's gym."  
"Good, it'll make her easier to find. Where is Veilstone City anyways?"  
"It's east of here. It's a couple day's journey and you'll have to go pass this mountain range and through some fields."  
"Ok then. We should start moving if we're to get there. Remember, I'm only taking you as far as there. Understood?"  
"Loud and clear. I just want the protection and the company."  
"Very well then Serenity, lead the way."


	2. Chapter 2: The Embrace

"Huh? Where am I? This isn't my home. Why is the sky black and purple? Where did this storm come from? What's happening?" I said to myself as I looked around. "Is this Mt. Coronet? How did I get here? Why does it look...different?" I kept wondering as I walked forward and saw that I was at the edge of a cliff. I almost fell off it when I finally saw it so I immediately fell to my stomach and looked over the cliff. What I saw astonished me, there were many powerful Pokemon and an army of humans fighting each other. Their battle shook the ground beneath the cliff I was laying on, yet they were probably a mile or so away.

As I stood there watching trying to make out which Pokemon were fighting. I couldn't really see them clearly with the ground shaking and the lightning flashing, the rain also made it really hard to see. I kept watching until I saw fire raining down. "What the hell?"  
I was dumbfounded and shocked. What kind of power could cause that to happen? the fire kept coming down towards the ground and then I heard a giant earsplitting roar that made the ground shake like an earthquake. With the shake the cliff I was laying on gave way and I began to panic until I started to fall with it. I began to scream until a hand reached out and grabbed my hand.  
It took me a little while to open my eyes and look up to see who rescued me. I couldn't see them, their face was covered by darkness but I could make up that they were male by the body shape. The male lifted me up and laid me down on the edge of the newly formed cliff.  
I was still panting when I turned to the figure and asked him, "what...is going...on?".  
He then turned his head over to the fight and said, "gods are warring. You don't belong here Alara. Wake up!"  
With that I jumped up off my bed with my a Lopunny at the edge of my bed telling me to wake up. I was in a cold sweat, it was all a dream but it seemed so real. The Lopunny then threw a pillow at my face to wake me up completely.  
"Hey don't do that! You'll ruin my hair Amber." I said with a quick frown.  
Amber burst into a little laugh, "it's already ruined. I've been trying to wake you up for about 10 minutes now. I even shook you and you stayed asleep. Sounded like a crazy dream too. I expected no less from a Gardevoir."  
I sweatdropped, "wait, what? I was sleep talking?"  
She sighed, "you always sleep talk. It doesn't surprise me."  
A vein then bulged on my head, "wait, and you're telling me this now, why?"  
"Because your dreams are always interesting."  
"Oh shut up and pass me my robe" I said while rubbing my eyes.  
She then got up and passed me my robe that was set on my dresser. She then said, "Also, your dad has been waiting for you for a while now. He sent me to wake you up. I can't believe you slept in this long."  
I quickly froze. "Wait, what time is it?"  
"It's 12:30 in the afternoon. You've been asleep for 13 hours. Go wash up and meet your dad in your parents' house. Also, before I forget, HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY!"  
"Wait, what?"  
She facepalmed, "Don't tell me you forgot that too."  
"I'm waking up. Leave me be."  
She then left the room and I could hear her walk out of the house. I sighed as I looked into the mirror and saw my hair in a mess. "I should probably shower first." I then took a towel from my closet and walked to the bathroom.  
(10 minutes later)  
After the shower I dashed to get ready so I could meet up with my parents at their home. So got dressed and got myself ready and darted out the house but not before grabbing an apple from the kitchen.  
It took me a few minutes to walk to get to my parents' house and I was met by Amber who was at the door waiting for me.  
"Could you take any longer?"  
"Sorry, my hair was a mess."  
"Could you worry about your hair at another time? You only turn 21 once in your life."  
"Then I have to look good for it, don't I?"  
She sweatdropped and sighed. "Yeah if every male in this sanctuary wasn't already drooling over you. Get in there, we're wasting time."  
"Don't worry, I bet no one will notice that we're a bit late."  
We quickly went into the large house and tried to walk quietly while Amber put my ceremonial necklace on me and then put her's on. We walked through to the house and tried to make it to the amphitheater in the back yard without getting noticed. But when we opened we saw a packed house with all our friends, family, and neighbors all applauding our arrival. We stud there with awkward forced smiles. We were pretty embarrassed.  
"They'll never notice?", Amber said with a angry face yet with the smile.  
All I could do was shrug my shoulders at her and then I felt a pressure on my arm. My mom had just snuck up on me. "Do you have any idea of how late you are? Get over to your father and hope that he's still in a happy mood." She said with an awkward smile as she pushed me forward and I grabbed Amber's arm and pulled her.  
"Alara what are you doing?" She said trying to remove my hand from her forearm.  
_"If I go down, you're going with me", I said to her telepathically._  
_"Why me?", she responded in her head as we continued walking down the aisle._  
_"Because you're my best friend and the maid of the ceremony. Deal with it!"_  
_"I don't think I want to do that."_  
_"Too late, we're here."_  
We then just stood there waiting for my father to react. He then took me and hugged me tight lifting me in the air and swinging me around before putting me down.  
"My daughter do you know what today is?"  
"Ummmm...my 21st birthday ceremony?", I said while holding my head to stop the swigging in my brain.  
"That is correct. We're going to have the party you planned but today you have to make a choice."  
When I heard that I sweatdropped because I forgot what he was talking about. "Ummm yeah I do. Want to run them by me again?"  
My dad sighed, "You can choose one of the following right now and that will depend on how this ceremony will go."  
"Ok?", was still lost. I don't think I ever truly woke up.  
"Here are your choices: You can choose to go on the Rite of Passage by bringing back something that could benefit the clan in a positive way from outside this sanctuary, or you can choose your mate here today."  
When I heard the options I sweatdropped again. I completely forgot about the two options. Then I turned around to see all the young Gallades of the tribe line up in the first 4 rows. Needless to say I was very uncomfortable with both options but I knew one I didn't want. "Ummm...I choose the Rite of Passage", I said in a faint forced smile. All of the sudden I could hear collective sounds of dissappointment. Even my dad was shocked at my decision.  
"You just chose the path that a Gardevoir hasn't chosen in many generations. Are you sure you want that one? There are plenty of able Gallades for you to choose from", he said in a worried tone.  
Once again I could see that the Gallades were all staring attentively.  
"Yep! What I've chosen is what I want", I said with a demanding tone. Once again I could hear collective "awwwws".  
My dad then looked at me and his face still seemed happy and said, "Well you decided." He then looked at the crowd and said, "Well let's start the party. Amber! Go ahead and start."  
"YES! Party time!", she said as she suddenly dissappeared into the DJ Booth and started the music.  
(Going to skip passed hours of partying to save time)  
After the party, I quickly laid down on my parents' couch until Amber sat on my stomach.  
"Gah! Get off I ate too much food today!", I said trying to push her off. Finally she jump off of me. I then tried to catch my breath and keep my food down. She then sat on the couch accross from me.  
"Sorry about that. I'm so glad that human keep bringing us all these things. I can't live without that DJ Booth at the party."  
"I noticed. You didn't leave it for the entire party."  
She then turned to me with a smile.  
"So when are you leaving on your little journey?"  
"I don't know. Probably in the morning."  
"What? That early. I thought you were going to give it a bit more time than that."  
"I just want to get it out of the way. Besides, I get to travel Sinnoh again. I'd like that."  
"Do you have any idea of what you're going to bring back?"  
"Not a clue. That's the thrill of the adventure."  
She then got up to leave for our house. "Well have fun with your trip."  
"Oh no you don't! You're going with me."  
Her face then fell and she sweatdropped. "Ummm...why would I do that?"  
"What happened to us being best friends?"  
"We still are but why do I have to go?"  
"Because I don't trust you being home alone...not after the party you pulled last year while I was gone."  
"Ok no more parties."  
"Pack your things deary. You're coming along."  
"You're mean!", she said while leaving the house.  
The next morning I got up and got my things ready to leave. It was about five in the morning and I was still kinda tired after only sleeping for 4 hours. As I was leaving I had to drag Amber with** Psychic** just to make her move. We had to stop at my parents' place to pick up somethings they had for me and her.  
"Five in the morning. What a marvelous time to be off on an adventure through the wilderness", she said sacastically but still kinda irritated.  
"Oh calm down. Just pray to Arceus that we make it back as soon as possible."  
"Too late. Did it last night and this morning so it can just fall from the sky and we wouldn't have to leave. But apparently no luck and no dice."  
We walked for a few more minutes until we reached my parents' home. They handed us both large bags filled with food and other necesitties.  
"You two be careful, you hear?", my mom told us.  
"Yeah, we'll be fine. Love you guys! See you soon!", I said as I hugged and kissed them goodbye.  
As I left my parents started to talk to each other.  
"Are we going to see her again?", my mom asked my dad.  
"They'll be fine. Alara is strong and very intelligent. She'll come back fine and with something useful."  
"I meant Amber. I know Alara will be fine. I'm just wondering how that ball of fur and energy will fair."  
"As long as she's with Alara, she'll be fine. But I still give her about a 80% survival rate, knowing her energetic and carefree nature."  
"Let's just pray that they'll be fine. I don't want to bury my daughter and my adopted daughter."  
"That's pretty morbid."


	3. Chapter 3: Old Days

Hey guys, chapter 3 is finally out. Sorry but I didn't incorporate a fight into this one. This one is more story telling than anything else but I still like it. Well have fun in reading it and show some love. Also I got some request to make a lemon in this but I don't know if I should but I'll let you guys choose. PM me your decisions.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

[Rick's POV]  
Once again I find myself on the road, traveling on the range of Mt. Coronet. However, this time I finally had company, Serenity. Even if it was temporary, I really needed the company. I started to look off the edge of a cliff to see any way to make it to the base faster. Then Serenity turned to me with an inquisitive look on her face.  
"Rick, is it alright to ask you about your time with your trainer?"  
I looked back at her. "I have no problem with it, but why do you want to know about my past?"  
"I'm just curious and we're going to be together for a while, so we might as well get to know each other a little better."  
I looked at her, what she said made some sense. Me personally, I would love to know the history of anyone I traveled with so I agreed to let her question me. "Very well what do you want to know?"  
She then started to think, she obviously wasn't expecting me to agree to her questions. "Ummmmm...when did you get captured and by who?"  
I crossed my arms and continued to walk as I recalled the events of my past. "I was captured when I was Kirlia by a rather old human. He was old but he was still strong and had a lot energy."  
"How much of a fight did you put up against him at first?"  
"I never really fought him. I kinda allowed myself to get captured. I was young, hungry, and lonely. I would of given anything for a home, so I didn't fight him. Besides his pokemon would of easily destroyed me if I fought him."  
"Oh he had other pokemon?"  
"Yeah, he had five other pokemon with him at the time I met him: a Machamp, a Combusken, a Grovyle, a Pidgeot, and an Alakazam. I would of been captured regardless, besides I was already injured when he found me."  
She seemed shocked at the fact that I was actually injured. "How badly hurt were you?"  
I had to stop and think about my answer. "Umm...I had a huge slash on my side. I could barely walk. My trainer found me when I was passing out from the lack of blood. So I would be dead right now if it wasn't for him. He was an awesome and caring trainer, a little scrict in training but he meant well. Thanks to him I'm this strong. Yet like all mortal beings he had to pass on."  
"Did he die of old age?"  
"No, age wouldn't of dared harm that man, he was that strong. He fell ill and the illness then killed him."  
Serenity could sense something in my voice...pain. "I'm guessing you were close to your trainer."  
"I was, I was so grateful. He saved me from death, he gave me a home, he gave me friends, he trained me, he took care of me, and he gave me a new name."  
Serenity was confused at the last part. "A new name? So your name is not really Rick? What is it?"  
I quickly stopped walking and shook my head. "I'd rather not say it. My parents gave me my name. When they died I felt like I no longer deserved it. I couldn't help protect them or my baby sister. I abandoned my name when I couldn't keep my promise that I would protect her. I failed as a big brother, that's why I protect all the innocent creatures that need my help...like you."  
Serenity quickly paled. This caught my attention. "Are you alright Serenity?"  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you or make you remember such horrible memories. I think I'm done asking questions."  
I chuckled. "Don't worry. It's been so long I can barely even remember what my family even looked like anymore. Call it what you will but I don't really care to talk about it. However do not dare ask me how they died. Also, go no further in my past from the point when I met my trainer. What passed has passed and should stay in the past." Serenity nodded at that and seized asking questions for a time while we continued out walk.  
"You've been awfully quiet. You haven't said a word since you were asking me about my past and that was 20 minutes ago. Is something bothering you? If it's about my past, don't worry about it. You can continue to ask me."  
"I just have nothing else to ask. I don't know where I can start and where I can end." She then thought again until she thought of a question. "Oh I have another question."  
"Go ahead and ask away."  
"What happened to all your friends when your trainer died?"  
I stopped and looked up to the sky, which was beginning to turn orange with the sunset. "For a time we stayed together with the Alakazam leading us but then we went our separate ways. We've run into each other at times but never came back as a team. We're all still registered as owned pokemon though."  
"So let me get this straight. You have no trainer anymore and yet you're still registered as owned. How does that work?"  
I then stopped and pulled a black and yellow pokeball with a diagonal slash from my bag and showed it to Serenity. "Because of this, this is my pokeball and the reason why I'm still registered as owned. Pokeballs are pokemon capturing devices. When one is caught it will automatically be registered as owned by the trainer that caught the pokemon. Makes sense?"  
"It does but why would you want to stay owned."  
I sighed, "because it prevents trainers from capturing me. Me and all my friends kept our pokeballs, just in case. Many of them want to be a team again but that would be risky."  
"Wait, how many of you did your trainer have by the time of his death and what risk is there in that?"  
"My trainer had a combined total of 16 pokemon. He would rescue injured pokemon and care for them. We all lived together in his home in the forest outside of Fortree City in Hoenn. Also, the risk is that we were powerful pokemon and we were very sought after by others. We decided to split to make sure that we didn't draw too much attention to ourselves. It was a sad farewell, we were all so close. It was the closest thing I had to a true family. I was one of the only ones that decided to go on my own, I even left my own best friend behind. I never thought I would see a Blaziken cry before but that day I saw him cry. It made me feel like I betrayed him." I sighed as I sat on a nearby rock. "I haven't seen him in years but I did find him when I was traveling in the Hoenn region for the 2nd time."

(Flashback/ 2 years ago) [Overall view]

Rick was walking towards a nearby town clutching his battered and torn arm. He had recently gotten into a battle with a pack of Mightyenas. He won but not before one of them bit down on his arm and started to flail, ripping a large piece of his flesh off. He made sure that Mightyena dies swiftly before he could cause more damage.  
He saw a sign on the road that said "MAUVILLE CITY. 2 MILES WEST." It made him think that there was finally some hope in repairing his arm. But the more he walked the more blood that spilled onto the floor. He was loosing blood fast and he knew he was in trouble. He walked about half a mile until he could no longer walk and began to crawl. He kept going for a few more seconds until he blacked out.  
Some time later Rick could feel a comfortable warmth around him. "Is this what you feel when you die?" he said as he felt around until he noticed that the warmth was coming from bed sheets. He quickly opened his eyes even though his vision was still pretty blurry. It took some time but his eye sight returned and he could see that he was in a room at a Pokemon Center. He sat up on his bed and heard a low chuckle coming from his room. He looked up to see someone sitting on the couch across from him.  
He could make out that it was a human male by the body shape and tone of the chuckle. The man had a red and yellow sleeveless shirt, red and yellow cargo pants. His hair was short spiky and it was white but he was still young. The man then spoke, "So, you finally wake up. It's been very boring watching you sleep here you lazy bum."  
Needless to say Rick was confused at his presence. Rick didn't respond because he usually didn't speak to humans entirely. Rick sat there staring at the stranger until the man let out a low laugh.  
"You have no idea who I am, do you?"  
Rick nodded his head.  
"Oh come on. We grow up together and you can't even recognize my voice. Some bestfriend you turned out to be", he said with a sly smile of his face.  
Rick's eyes quickly widened as he paid attention to the man's voice and recognized the smile. This prompted him reply to the man. "There's no way...Jean?:  
The man then laughed louder. "Now you're getting it. Good to see you too buddy." After he said that he stood up and a orange glow filled the room until the man was gone and a shiny Blaziken appeared in his place. The Blaziken then ran up to Rick and hugged him tightly. "Buddy how have you been? It's been so long, three years to be exact. It's good to see you."  
"It's good to see you too but how did you use the humanshifting ability? Last I remembered you could never get it right when master taught us the ability."  
"Oh come on! You honestly believed that after three years I would of not figured it out? Some hope you had in me!"  
"Jean how did I get here? Where did you come from? Did you rescue me?"  
Jean then sat back down on the couch and sighed, "Questions, questions, questions, can't we just play Catch Up?"  
Rick narrowed his eyes and Jean understood it as him saying "stop playing games."  
Jean then sweatdropped, "Can't I just find out how you've been? Come on! Three years of not seeing my own bestfriend makes a guy want to find out how said bestfriend has been fairing."  
Rick then squeezed the area between his eyes to show his contempt. Jean stared at Rick, waiting patiently, then Rick set his black aura out and it made him somehow step back.  
"Fine! I'll humor you damnit! Yes, I did rescue you. I was on my way back to Fortree for a little walk on memory lane, until I saw you on the ground bleeding. I didn't recognize you immediately until I turned you over and saw the amulet around your neck and your red, torn up scarf. Then I turned to a human and carried you quickly over to Mauville City and into the Pokemon Center. The nurse was barely able to save you, you lost so much blood. But somehow you made it through and I personally carried you to this room I rented. I was happy to see that your arm started to heal quickly, it let me know that you were still very much alive."  
Rick looked at his arm, it still had some damage but it was healing. A bandage was around the part that still had a large opening. However, the hole was smaller and his flesh started to grow back. At that point Rick was grateful that he had the power to regenerate his torn limbs, but still slowly. "Jean, how long have I been asleep?"  
Jean then looked up and thought, "Ummm...about 5 days."  
"Five days!", this made Rick jump in his bed.  
"Yeah is there a problem with that? Did you have some place to be?"  
"Yeah I wanted to catch the ferry to Kanto but that was 3 days ago."  
Jean raised an eyebrow, "You were planning to go to Kanto? Why?"  
"You know me. I travel to occupy myself. Fights just come to me while I visit places. Too many people trying to capture me. Speaking of which, did you keep your pokeball?"  
"I did. Also, I know that's not the only reason you wanted to go there. I know the score you wanted to settle. But in true fashion between us, I won't speak anymore on that matter."  
"If you did go to Kanto you probably would of ran into Seras and Celand. Last I heard both of them were there but not with eachother. I was there a few months ago to visit Seras. Our Espeon friend tells me that if I ever see you again to hit you over the head for never going to visit her."  
Rick couldn't help but give a small laugh. "Oh yeah right! If she wanted a visit she should of sought me out. I didn't even know where she lived. Sometimes I swear there's more to you two than just a close friendship." Rick laughed again while Jean glared at him.  
"Hey! She's just my best female friend. Don't start assuming shit."  
"That's what Lucian says. That you two are some how dating."  
"When I see that stupid Lucario again I am going to kill him."  
"Ha! So it is true!"  
"Oh calm down. If you two are dating how is that a bad thing. Also, I kinda read you mind to find out what you have in your bag just now. That's a nice gift for her." I then started to laugh louder while Jean turned more red than his feathers.  
With a vein bulging from his head he went to the side of Rick's bed and glared at him with smoke coming out of his nostrils. "You're a bastard, you know that?"  
Rick then gave him a deviant smile. Jean then asked, "By the way, when did you see Lucian?"  
"He's actually here in Hoenn. I saw him about two months ago at the top of Mt. Pyre meditating. He hasn't changed one bit and he tells me how he explored Kanto with you."  
Jean sighed as he recalled the time. "Yes we did team up to go to Kanto. We stayed with Seras at her home at Fuchsia City."  
Rick raised an eyebrow, "She lives with a human?"  
"No, she lives there using her human form and works at the Safari Zone that's located there. She has a good sized home, big enough for about 6 of us to live in. We stayed there for 6 months. Then I came back here to Hoenn just to run into you. Lucian and I separated once we got here. I wish it was like the old days man."  
"Once all this shit is all said and done with, only then might we be a family again."  
Jean then glared at Rick, "WHEN WILL IT END! WHEN WE'RE DEAD! WHEN DOES THE FIGHT END RICK!"  
Rick then shot up from the bed and looked Jean in the eyes, "Jean, the fight never ends. You can defeat one enemy but then another will take their place. It's an endless cycle. It ends when we do find peace and we can rest. The fight doesn't have to be over but it must be delayed or calmed."  
"Sorry for losing my temper. I just miss the old days. Master tried hard to protect us from the shit that goes on in this world. He prepared us as best as he could to survive."  
Rick then pat his friend on the back, "I know how you feel. I just want to live as a normal pokemon. To find a home, a mate, and start a family. But that can wait. I still have to complete master's final wish. I have to go to Sinnoh but to get there I need to go to Kanto first."  
Jean then formed a smile. "ROADTRIP! I'm joining you regardless of what you say. It'll be like old times. You and me kicking ass...well me at least, you still have to worry about that arm." Rick nodded.  
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Jean quickly changed back to his human form and opened the door. There stood Nurse Joy with a bottle of pills and handed them to Jean before she told him, "Your Gallade is free to go. Just give him one of these pills once a day for a month. It should help in the healing factor and it will prevent him from forming a permanent scar." Jean thanked her and closed the door.  
"Pack your bags. We're heading out. If we go now she should arrive at Slateport by this afternoon. Plenty of time to catch the ferry to Kanto and book a room on the ferry. From there it's a 2 day sail to Kanto." Rick quickly grabbed his bag which was next to the bed and flug it over his left arm so that it didn't hit his injured arm. He tried standing but he was still a bit weak to walk fast.  
"Hey Rick, just pass me your pokeball. I'll take you there myself." As he finished Rick tossed him his ball and Jean recalled him as he started to walk out.  
About five hours later Jean brought Rick out and passed him his pokeball. "We're here. We made it here faster than I expected. Let's just see if the ferrie is here and at what time it leaves. Don't worry there's no need to change into your human form here Rick, everyone thinks you're my pokemon."  
They walked for the pier and saw that the ferry was there and it was loading on passengers. Jean looked to a bulletin bored that was next to him and noticed that the ferry left in an hour. "Good, I can go buy the ticket and book the room. Also, I forgot to give you these." He then handed Rick the bottle of pills and he took one and swallowed it. It was very bitter but it made the pain in his arm go away so he didn't complain.  
After a little while Jean came back and put Rick back in his pokeball and boarded the ferry. *Rick I know that you can hear me telepathecally. I'm keeping you in your ball until we reach Kanto. I don't want to risk you getting more injuries, knowing the people that board these ferries." Jean waited for a little bit until Rick gave him a reply, "Thanks for looking out for me. I need to sleep anyways."  
(fast forward 2 days)  
Rick was sound asleep in his pokeball until he was brought out by Jean.  
"I'm guessing we're here?"  
"Yep. Welcome to Kanto! That pier over there is Fuchsia City. I called Seras she will be waiting for us there. She's excited to see you again."  
Rick chuckled, "I bet she is. Also, look my arm is way better. Those pills really work, all that's left is this small hole in my forearm. It doesn't hurt anymore and I can draw my blade again."  
"Good to know bud."  
As they arrived at the pier, Rick could see a woman dressed in a pink gown, purple eyes, and with pink hair. "I think I already see her. So that's what she looks like as a human?"  
Jean smiled as he saw her, "Yep."  
All of the sudden a voice came over the horn, "Thank you everyone for sailing with us. We have arrived at Fuchsia City, Kanto. We hope you have a nice day and we hope to see you again." As soon as the voice stopped the gates to the pier opened to let them out.  
Jean quickly grabbed his things and walked down the ramp where an eager Seras was waiting for him with open arms. Jean quickly picked her up in a hug and carried her. Rick was just getting off the ramp when he saw them kissing each other.  
Rick laughed, "Ha! So it was true?"  
Seras then disconnected from Jean and ran towards Rick and hugged him tight.  
"Rick, it's been so long. You've grown...and you let your hair grow out. Too long for a Gallade I say." Jean then walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "He's been through a lot. Let's get him to your house." Seras nodded.  
After a few minutes of walking they arrived at a three floor house. Rick was wondering why it was that big if only one person lived there.  
"Seras, why do you have such a large house? I thought only you lived here."  
"I saved up to build this house. I always had a hope that my friends might come see me, so I had more floors added onto it. My job at the Safari Zone pays really well, so that's how I could of afforded this home. Also, I forgot to tell Jean but we have another one of our friends here."  
Jean was curious, "Really? Who?"  
Seras giggled a bit at him, "You'll see."  
She then took out her keys and opened the door to the house. They all walked inside to see a huge living room with someone looking at a tv. The person had black hair and was male but it was hard to make out who he was. All of a sudden yellow rings began to glow in his hair. Rick quickly recognized him after that. "Dartz is that you?"  
The man then stood and turned around and a smile was visible on his face. He then turned into an Umbreon and ran towards both Rick and Jean. "Hell yeah it is! Damn it! It's been too long you son of a bitch!"  
Rick then sweatdropped as he hugged the Umbreon, "Yeah it has, thanks for the warn welcome, deuce!"  
Seras then walked up and hugged both of them. "My brother came here just last week. It was an unexpected surprise but he says that he wants to stay here and take care of me since I live alone and Jean doesn't visit too often because he's always searching for the team."  
Rick then looked at Dartz, "So you "retired"?"  
Dartz laughed at the remark, "Call it what you will but I came here to look after my baby sister. That's what older brothers do."  
"I have to say, I admire the way you set your priorities."  
"Thanks. My sister is all the family I have left. I have to protect her."  
Seras then ended the conversation by asking who was hungry. Just then Rick's stomach growled prompting everyone to start laughing.  
Seras laughed, "Well let me cook something quickly."  
((6 months later) Sorry guys in order to save time I'll have to fastforward a bit)  
Rick was laying down on a hill outside of Fuchsia City while chewing on a wheat stalk. He was staring at the clouds until Jean, Dartz, and Seras walked up to join him.  
Jean looked down on Rick while holding Seras. "Hey bud, we missed you back home. Is everything okay, you've been acting weird lately."  
"Nah I'm just thinking."  
Seras looked concerned, "Don't think too much. You know how you can get there Rick dear. We're just worried."  
Rick then opened one of his eyes and looked up at Seras, "Are you guys going to join me or just stand there looking at me?  
When everyone heard that they quickly laid down on the hill. It was a nice warm summer afternoon and everyone seemed to enjoy the nice breeze.  
Dartz then sighed and said, "I wonder why we don't do this more often."  
Jean then answered him, "Because you're home bound and Rick is always trying to stay alone."  
Rick replied to Jean, "Hey shut up! We give you and Seras alot of alone time. I don't see why you're complaining."  
Dartz then highfived Rick with Jean and Seras glowing red. Then Dartz and Rick started to laugh. Rick sighed, "I'm going to miss this so much."  
This made the laugh die down. Jean looked at his friend with a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"  
"I'm planning to leave for Sinnoh soon. To fulfill my promise."  
Seras looked over at him, "You will come back, won't you?"  
Rick shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I want to finish this, find a home, and a mate. Then grow old and die. That's how I want to live. But I wouldn't mind dying in battle, as long as I deliver this amulet." Rick lifted the amulet from his chest and held it to the light.  
Jean wasn't very happy at his answer, "Bro, listen, I know that you're trying to keep master's honor but you can still live here. Hell, we can help you find a nice Gardevoir here in Kanto. No need to leave permanently."  
"You act like it's so easy to repair a broken life. I never said that I was going to abandon you guys. I would never do that but I need to see what fate has in store for me and sitting here isn't going to help me find out."  
There was an uneasy silence amonst them. Seras then rolled onto Jean's chest and laid there. "He's right, you know?" Jean looked up to her, "How?" She then stared at him, "Because you we all had the pleasure of having lives before we joined master. We know how to live peacefully. Rick didn't have that luxury." It took a little while for her words to sink in to Jean but he eventually understood. "I see. Well Rick, I don't like it but if it will help your life then go ahead and do it. But I don't want you to forget us."  
Rick then smiled put his fist over his head so that Jean could hit it. "Wouldn't dream of it."  
Rick then sighed and sat up. He looked at his friends and then spoke, "Jean you are a great friend and you have a great mate. Seras, you're a great sister and you have an awesome mate. Dartz, you're an amazing brother. I wish I could of been like you. When I leave I won't forget you guys. If I do leave, I would go to Johto first so I can finish a request I got from a friend a while back. Then I'll head to Sinnoh...one day."  
Dartz then left and came back in his human form holding a box. "A gift from me to you. If you do leave."  
Rick opened the box to see a wristwatch, "A watch?"  
"Not a watch a Pokesketch. It has a built in phone and a lot of other applications. I made sure I put our numbers in there so that you can keep in touch."  
"Thanks Dartz."  
After an hour or so the four got up and walked back to the house to retire for the night. During the middle of the night while everyone slept, Rick snuck out of the house and began to walk away from the town with his bag on his back and the Poketch on his wrist.  
"Thanks guys. I promise I'll comeback one day to visit. Goodbye."

(End of Flashback) [Rick's POV]

"So that's what happened Serenity. Any more questions?"  
"Nope. It's just sad how you just left like that without telling them."  
I sighed, "Well I didn't want to upset them like that. I could never stand watching Jean and Seras cry."  
"Maybe you'll see them again."  
I looked up and then back down to Serenity, "Yeah. Maybe one day."

This one took me some time. Hope you guys liked it and show some love.


	4. Chapter 4: En Garde

Ok guys. Here's one about Alara. Worked for a few hours on this one. Please give me some reviews, I'd like to know how to improve the story. Enjoy.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

**( )**= Song for the Battle **"Serieux" from Shakugan no Shana**

"Alara when can we stop to take a break. I'm tired!"

I looked down to her, "It's 9 in the morning. We woke up an hour ago. How do you have all this much energy that magically disappears when we travel?"  
Amber sighed, "It's a curse. Also, do you even know what to look for?"  
"You already asked me this question when we left home 7 days ago. I have no clue what the hell we're looking for."  
Amber sweatdropped, "Can we just bring back something simple?"  
I sighed, "No Amber. I don't like taking easy ways out. If I'm going to bring something back, I'm going to bring something that is useful in the long term."  
"...Like?"  
A vein formed on my head, "Can you stop asking me that! I don't fucking know!"  
Amber was looking angrily at me until she noticed something shinning sticking out of my bag. "What is that?"  
"What's what?"  
She then jumped on my back and grabbed whatever was in my bag. She then stared at the object when she saw it was piece of compressed metal.  
"What is this?"  
"It was a gift from my mom."  
Amber sweatdropped, "Did you get mad and compressed it with Psychic?"  
"No, it came like that."  
Amber sweatdropped again, "This is a gift? From your mother? A rectangle of bent metal? Wow worst present ever!"  
The vein reappeared on my head, "Hand it over."  
She quickly gave it back to me and I held it in my hands. I then pressed a button that was on its side. Almost immediately the object decompressed and a sword was in hands.  
Amber's eyes shot open with her jaw, "Alara, what the hell is that?"  
"It's my mom's sword. She told me how my dad made it for her when they were our age. She wanted me to take it so that I can protect myself better. I don't know if I'll ever use it though."  
"Do you even know how to use one?"  
I stared at her and swung the sword at a nearby tree. The tree quickly started to fall while I yelled "TIMBER!"  
"Yep my dad taught me how."  
We then froze when we heard the sound of buzzing nearby. Then a colony of Combees appeared from the fallen tree. Out faces turned from confused to terrified in an instant, then a Vespiquen appeared. "Who's the one that knocked down our hive along with the tree?"  
"I'm sorry. My mistake your highness. I didn't know your hive was there."  
"Oh poor dear, of course I forgive you", the Vespiquen then smiled.  
Amber then gave a smile, "Really?"  
"NO! After them!"  
The colony then swarmed at us, I quickly started to ran while Amber was frozen with her jaw wide open, staring at them. I then grabbed her hand with Psychic and dragged her along. We ran for a while with the colony right behind us.  
"Alara what do we do?"  
"Oh great! I have to save us too?"  
"You caused it!"  
"Fine, jump on my back so I can hit them with..."  
Amber interrupted, "With what! Psychic and Shadow Ball are weak to those things."  
I then glared at her and she got the message.  
"Fine but this better work."  
She then jumped on my back and I jumped and turned around. I then charged some electricity in my hands and aimed it at the swarm. "This is what I'm using Amber a Thunderbolt."  
I then released the electricity and it flew towards the swarm until it reached them and spread onto every Combee.  
Amber then started celebrating. "Ha! Take that buggers!" She then lifted my sword into the air, which terrified me.  
"Amber no! The electricity is still..." The Thunderbolt came back towards the steel of the sword, electrocuting us. "...alive." Amber then fell off my back as a gigantic furball.  
I was still standing and I saw all the Combees were fainted and so was Amber. I sighed as I lifted her with Psychic and carried her onwards. "I think I prefer you asleep."

(2 hours later)

Amber woke up with scream, "AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
"Why are you screaming?" I said while combing my messed up hair.  
She then looked around and saw me next to a creek combing my hair. "What happened?"  
"Oh I fried the Combees, you used my sword as a lightning rod, and then you passed out. You should look at yourself there furrball."  
With that she darted for the creek and her reflection. She shrieked when she saw her fur stand on end. "Alara can you psychically push my hair down?"  
"Well I can help you by using Psychic in another way."  
She was confused, "How?"  
I then picked up water from the creek with Psychic and threw it at her and then took it back. Her hair returned to normal. And I threw it onto myself and did the same.  
"Umm thanks Alara but why did you throw it on yourself?"  
"To keep my fur down."  
She then stared at me with a surprised look. "You have fur!"  
A vein then appeared on my head, "How long have you lived with me? How long have you known me? How long have you lived with my species? And how is it that you just realized that my species has fur?"  
"I've never seen any!"  
"Because it's short. Apparently you never took the time to even touch my arms or hands."  
She then paused before talking, "Can I touch your arm?"  
I then extended my arm towards her and she ran her fingers over it and her facial extression was one of amazement.  
After a while she kept going. "Are you going to finish any time soon?"  
"Shut up I'm amazed right now!" I quickly pulled my back.  
"Let's get moving."  
She then grabbed on my arm to stop me from moving. "Can we eat first? I'm starving."  
I though about what she said and my stomach growled. "Ok let's eat first."  
We ate our food for a while and then just kept talking for a while.  
"So Alara, why didn't you just choose a mate? It would of been easier."  
"Amber you know me. I didn't like any of the males."  
"What about Sayer? He seemed to like you a lot."  
"Think about who you just named. Sayer, the biggest asshole in the entire sanctuary. I'd rather eat shit than have him as my mate. Also, he treats you like crap, why would I want him?"  
"True. I forgot about that. But he left me alone after you threw him clear across the entire town and into the lake with your Psychic and I then hit him with my Dizzy Punch."  
I started to laugh, "Oh yeah I remember that. Good times! Good times!"  
We both laughed and then got up to leave. As we were walking Amber started to hop. It made me giggle. "Aww look at you, you're hopping again."  
"I must be happy again." she laughed.  
As we kept walking I heard something in the trees. I then sensed an dark emotion in the same direction with my spike. "Amber get back here!"  
"Why?"  
I then pulled her back with Psychic and just in time as a Scyther pounced and got his blade stuck in the ground where originally was. Amber was visibly shacken because she almost died.  
"Don't leave my side Amber."

**()**  
The Scyther finally took his blade out of the ground and glared at me. It was obviously mad for losing its meal.  
"What's the deal with you getting into my hunt. That's my prey!" I noticed his thick French accent.  
"No she's not. She's my friend not your food."  
"And who's going to stop me from getting her? Obviously not you psychic. Against me you don't have a prayer."  
I then put Amber on my back and took my sword out.  
"Oh a sword. You're more prepared than I expected you to be mademoiselle. But it's one sword versus two." He said this while raising his blades.  
"Come on! You move first!"  
The Scyther smiled and then disappeared, I quickly recognized it as a Quick Attack. Lifted my sword and blocked the incoming attack. I was still pushed back by a few feet. He tried again and I ducked this time and he missed and I took the liberty of trying to slash him but missed.  
"Clever you! I guess I should start using both arms."  
"What! You've only been using one?"  
"Yep. Time to die there mon cher!"  
He disappeared again and I blocked again but I noticed he was holding my sword back with one of his arms and he slashed my shoulder with his other one. I quickly jumped back and fired a Shadow Ball at him. He quickly slashed the Shadow Ball and it dissapated.  
I looked at my shoulder and it was bleeding with a deep cut. The blood was dropping to the floor and onto my sword. I looked up to see the Scyther and I saw him laughing and then he took his bloody right blade and liked my blood off the tip. "How tasty? I always love the taste of a fresh kill."  
He chuckled and charged me again. I didn't try blocking this time. I charged at him as well and our blades clashed. He tried to stab me with the other blade again but I managed to stop it with Psychic and I punched him which made him stagger backwards. I lifted my sword and managed to cut him before he moved out of the way.  
He looked at his now cut chest and chuckled. "Well I see you have some bravado in you. But unlike you...", he used Quick Attack and appeared right next to me without me noticing, "...I'm faster." As he said that I felt myself being kicked on my stomach and I flew back in pain. I landed on my face, trying not to fall back on Amber. I then tried to get up but couldn't lift my torso.  
"Aww so sad. You were so strong and now you're here defeated after one move."  
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I said as I used my sword as a support so I could stand up. Blood was coming out of my mouth and I was panting. I then lifted my blade and brought it in front of me. "I'm not dead yet. Come at me!"  
"Désireux de mourir(Eager to die) are we? Very well then."  
He didn't charge at me this time, he walked over. He pointed his left blade at me and yelled, "EN GARDE!" As he said that he tried slashing me and I quickly blocked. We traded attacks and blocks and it seemed like we were even until he cut the side of my face and then slapped me clear across the face with the broadside of his blade. Then he used Double Hit to slap me twice which made me stagger. He then kicked me in the face that made me fall back. He then tried to stab me while I was on the ground, I rolled to avoid it and then kicked him in the side of the face and I jumped to my feet.  
"You still have un peu de vie en vous(some life left in you)." He then wiped the blood that came from his jaw. "Well that's a surprise."  
I was still fighting to stand. He then charged me and I was able to bring me sword up to stop him. I blocked it and he lifted a blade to stab me, then I saw a brown glowing fist hit the Scyther dead center in the face.  
"Amber? Did you just save me?"  
"Don't talk! I hit him with Dizzy Punch. Slash him!"  
I looked at the Scyther staggering trying to find us and I lifted my sword and slashed him on the abdomen. He felt the pain and jumped back. He then glared at Amber who was still holding on to my back. "Vous chienne(You bitch)! You're going to pay for that!"  
He then used Quick Attack but Amber then hit him with an Ice Beam, freezing him. "Hit him again!" I slashed him again and the ice broke with the slash. He then fell to his knee. I rose my sword to kill him. "Time for the Coup de Grace." I rose the sword but then he headbutted me and managed to slap Amber off my back. He then kicked her onto a tree. He then slapped me to keep me down and he charged an Air Slash and fired it towards Amber. She managed to move out of the way but it still cut her cheek and sliced the tree behind her making it fall on her.  
At this point I was furious, I stood up and charged a Thunderbolt. I then got the Scyther's attention, "Hey jackass!" He turned around and I released it onto him face. He flailed in the electricity until he just layed there. I took the time to drop to my knees and breath for a little bit before seeing Amber burn her way out of the tree with her fist.  
I couldn't help but giggle a bit. "I see you learned Fire Punch." She didn't respond she just sat down and gasped for air. The calm was shortlived as the Scyther jumped to his feet and glared at me and Amber. "Ok that's it! Everyone dies!"  
He then used Quick Attack and knocked Amber onto rock, knocking her unconsious. "Now for you psychic!" He then tried to stab me but I blocked it but received a kick to the stomach. I landed on my back then he stepped on my sword. "This ends here!" He crossed his blades and then they glew green. I immediately recognized it as X-Scissors. I then fired a Thunderbolt up towards him. He moved his head out of the way and the electricity kept going.  
"He looked up and back down to me. "What a failure of a final attack? Adieu tromper(Goodbye fool)!" Then he rose his blades up and charged X-Scissors again but then I said, "Oh I didn't fail."  
Just then I took my hand off my sword and crossed my arms onto my body and then the Thunderbolt came back down and hit the Scyther's blades electrocuting him. He stepped off my blade flailing. I then jumped off the ground, grabbed my sword and thrust it throught the Scyther's chest. He then looked at me and faintly said, "Touché mademoiselle." With that he dies on my blade.  
I then pushed him off my blade and set him down before walking over Amber who was just waking up. "Are you okay Amber?"  
She looked up at me, "I'm fine, but how are you?"  
"He beat me more than he cut me. I'm only bleeding from my cheek and shoulder."  
"I'll patch you up."  
"Later. If there was one then there's bound to be more. Let's go!"  
We then walked (or limped for that matter) out of the area. Happy to just get out of there alive. We kept going until we reached a giant lake and camped there for the day. Amber than quickly pulled out her first aid kit and started to patch me up.  
"Alara, I think we should head back home. This is too dangerous."  
"I can handle it Amber don't worry."  
"I hope you're right."


	5. Chapter 5: Basic Training

So chapter 5 is out now. This will be the last one for a few days or 2 weeks at most considering how I fast I can write the rough-draft and plan the scenario. I got some request for a guest appearance in the story and so I decided to put a guest from the Pokemon universe in this chapter (I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY LUIS AND 5 OTHERS! lol). Anyways enjoy and don't forget to review guys. Also, I'm using the game moveset rules so there should be a 4 move limit in this universe. Finally, if you want me to include more guest appearances then PM me or place your vote on a review.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

**( )**= Song for the Battle **"Cantata Morti & God In Fire"**

The sun was beginning to set and the sunset made the scenery of the mountain seem almost heavenly. The color of the mighty mounds reflecting the orange of the sky. I was sitting at the edge of a chasm, looking up at the sky. I then heard someone talk to me.  
"Rick?" I turned to see Serenity stand behind me.  
"Serenity, what is it?"  
"Can I ask you something?"  
"Ask me anything. For the time being I'm your guardian, you can tell me anything."  
She walked up next to me and laid me down at the edge. "Well, I'm only with you temporarily and I was wondering how I would be able to protect myself. I'm not a fighter, I'm a traveler."  
"So I'm picking up that you want to learn how to fight." She nodded. "Well...I don't know deary. I'll train you but are you sure you want to risk injury and soreness? I don't train softly. Think hard about your answer and tell me."  
Serenity then laid her head down to think about her answer. I could easily sense that she hadn't thought about the consequences of the training and the strain it could put on her body. She then turned to look at me and gave me her answer. "I'll do it. If it can help me in the long-run then what do I have to loose?"  
I sarcastically answered her question, "The ability to walk properly, comfort,...consciousness."  
"I was being rhetorical Rick."  
I couldn't help but laugh. "Well let's set up camp for tonight and we'll train tomorrow. How does that sound?"  
"Heavenly, my feet hurt from all the walking."  
*The poor little fool. If she only knew what she was getting herself into. Oh well, she's gotta learn some day.*  
And like that we went to sleep around the campfire. Serenity slept in the sleeping bag next to the fire and I slept on a tree branch across from her.  
Later the following morning I woke up Serenity...by pouring water on her.  
"WAKE UP GOLDILOCKS!" I yelled as she shot up from the sleeping bag in a frenzy.  
"What the hell!? What was that for!?" She said as she tried to shake the water off her fur.  
"You wanted training so here it is. Time to get up and train. There's a clearing across from here. Let's move!"  
Serenity then quickly looked at my Poketch and looked shocked and annoyed when she saw the time. "It's 4 in the fucking morning. Why now?"  
"Because I feel it's appropriate."  
She sweatdropped, "I'm going back to bed."  
Once she said that I grabbed her horn and started to drag her while she started cried in pain. "Rick, let me go! That hurts! Stop! Let go of my horn!"  
I dragged her to the clearing and finally let go of her horn making her fall to the floor clenching it and wiping her tears from her face. "Bastard! That hurt!"  
"Worry less about the pain of the horn. Worry more about the pain that you'll be feeling in a little while. The training ends when I say it does, but we're still going to gain some traveling distance."  
She was confused, "Huh?"  
I sighed, "Even if I end the training for today we're still going to walk a few miles towards our destination."  
She sweatdropped, "You're insane."  
"Nope my dear, I'm doing what you asked me to do. There's no taking it back now. I told you to think hard on the subject."  
She sighed as she picked herself off the ground. "Fine, what's first?"  
I stared at her and then told her, "Try to hit me with a **Night Slash**."  
"Yep, you're insane. It's a Dark type attack. You're a Psychic type."  
"Psychic and Fighting, it won't do a lot of damage on me. How do you think I survived that fight with the other Absols? So come at me before I attack you first."  
The look on her face went from confused to terrified as she charged a **Night Slash** onto her horn. She then lunged at me, which I dodged in response. She then attempted to hit me again but this time I caught the attack in my left hand.  
I sighed, "If you're taking on an enemy that is obviously more powerful than you are, you want to make sure that he or she doesn't see the attack coming. Come on, try to trick me into getting hit by your attacks."  
She gulped as she became nervous about trying to find an opening. I quickly picked up her emotions. "Don't be nervous. I'll be perfectly fine. Also, if you or I get hurt too badly I'll end the session." She nodded and charged another **Night Slash**.  
Serenity's eyes were moving at a rapid rate trying to do as I said. She then jumped into the air above my head and then rocketed down. With a sigh I lifter my head to catch the horn but then she rapidly used **Quick Attack** and disappeared, surprising me and making me smile. I then reached behind me and caught her horn with my hand surprising her. "That was good! Exactly what I wanted to see. It caught me off guard but it was very predictable; however it lets me know that you can learn quickly you have potential."  
She smiled at my remark and started to celebrate, just then I hit her with a projectile** Psycho Cut**. "That doesn't mean let your guard down. Remember I'm still going to attack you but I'm not going to up-the-ante until you progress. So I'm scarcely attacking you right now. Now get up and try again!"  
Serenity took back the tear she wanted to let out and held her bloody nose. She then got up and charged me again.  
Once it turned noon Serenity was barely standing and she was bloody but still had some strength left in her. "Okay Serenity, try it one more time. After that we'll call it a day. You won't be able to take much more if we continue. Make this last one worth it."  
Serenity nodded and charged me with a **Night Slash** and **Quick Attack** combo. I blocked her attacks and was able to uppercut her horn, throwing her into the air.  
She squinted her eyes from the pain and then positioned herself in a dive yet again; however this time something was different. I fired a **Psycho Cut** at her while she dove at me, but she managed to somehow dodge it. Her horn and tail then began to glow purple as she dove at me. I then extended a blade to stop the attack when she finally reached me, she then swung her tail at my chest and managed to hit me and push me back. She landed on her feet and I stood there with a bruise on my chest laughing.  
"Well look who managed to hit me and in only one training session. Also you learned one of my moves."  
She lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "What move? The one I just used?"  
"Yep, that was a** Psycho Cut**. A contact one but a **Psycho Cut** nonetheless."  
"I learned a Psychic type attack. How?"  
"It's actually part of an Absol's moveset. You can use more attacks than any other pokemon other than the great Mew, so it doesn't surprise me. However what did surprise me is that you could channel it to your tail and you manage to catch me off guard and land a hit. You deserve a break. Now go rest for a few hours before we head out. I don't want you passing out on me."  
She seemed to react greatly to praise and quickly disappeared over the horizon towards camp. I walked over to the camp to find her already asleep in the sleeping bag.

(Serenity POV)  
*OW...OW...OW...OW...FUCK...FUCK...OW...OW...This hurts like hell. I'm hoping it's not this hard next time.*

(Rick POV)  
I sat there recovering my energy that I lost in the training with Serenity. I almost hated the thought of telling her that we were leaving in a few hours. I sighed, I can't believe that I went from solitary traveler to protector to trainer. "What a week this has been."  
I left Serenity momentarily to search for firewood to use tonight. The midday sun wasn't very strong and I got the chance to take in the scenery. Besides all the rocks, there were many trees on this mountain trail and I could see a large lake with a small island in the center far away from where I was standing. "I think I'd like to go there after this shit is over. Looks like a good place for a home." I laid down for a while, I made sure to keep a psychic barrier around the area so that I would know if anything or anymore was in the vicinity of Serenity's location.  
As I laid down I could see a flock of Starly fly by, it was a calming sight. I knew that I shouldn't leave Serenity alone for too long so I decided to head back. Just then I sensed something passing the barrier, so I hurried over to the camp.  
As I ran towards the camp I could feel Serenity was now wide awake and that she was using energy. "What the hell is going on over there?" I ran faster to get to her as soon as possible. I heard her grunting which meant that she was fighting something. I was almost scared to think that I'll be failing to protect her like I promised. As the camp got closer I jumped onto the tree canopy and started to jump from branch to branch to get a vantage point of the camp. Serenity's grunts and yells were getting closer, I knew she didn't have enough energy or experience to take anything on in a fight at the moment.  
As I reached the branch I slept on last night I noticed that Serenity was fighting an Empoleon. "Where did that Empoleon come from? The signal I got wasn't that big...unless...OH SHIT! A trainer!"

(Serenity POV)  
I fall asleep for a while and then I wake up to a big penguin with a suit and armor trying to attack me. I was so not in the mood for that; I was sore, hurt, and exhausted, but now I'm irritated. Not only do I have this Empoleon attacking me but his trainer wouldn't let up even if I was injured. Then I heard that girl yell to the Empoleon, "Empoleon, use **Hydro Pump**!" The Empoleon then fired a huge blast of water at me. Luckily I was able to dodge it but not without twisting one of my legs in the dodge. *Damn it! Where's Rick!?*  
I then stood up but with a sharp pain on my lower right leg. *Can't stop now. I've been training all day. I think I can use this as practice...I hope. Just have to remember what Rick taught me. With that I charged my **Night Slash** and ran as best as I could towards the Empoleon. The girl then cried out to the Empoleon, "Empoleon it's hurt use **Hydro Pump** again!"  
The Empoleon fired another steam of compressed water at me but I used **Quick Attack** to dodge it. As soon as I got close to the big bird I let him have a Night Slash to the chest. I then jumped back before tripping because of my injured leg and started backing away out of fear when I saw that my Night Slash did absolutely nothing to it.  
"That was a nice try but you're not going to get through my Empoleon's armor. Good try though." She said with a smile on her face. I wanted to end this fight without getting captured, gravely injured, or worse...killed. I rose and quickly came back down because of pain. *WHERE THE HELL IS RICK AT!?*  
"Sorry there Ms. Absol but looks like I need to end this before you get even more injured. Empoleon use **Hydro Cannon**!" When I heard that my heart stopped for a second. There was no way I could dodge the attack now, I can't even get up. I then looked up to see the Empoleon charge a gigantic ball of water, which I knew would turn into a gigantic stream of water that will certainly knock me unconscious and then I will really be at this girl's mercy. But all I could do now is brace myself for the upcoming attack.  
The Empoleon finished charging the attack and fired it. I quickly closed my eyes to take the hit. But after a little while I didn't feel anything so I opened my eyes to see the water floating motionless in the air and Rick kneeling in front of me inspecting my leg. His eyes were glowing blue, giving me the impression that he stopped the **Hydro Cannon **with **Psychic**. He then stood up and turned to the Empoleon, but not before looking back at me and telling me telepathically, _"Sorry for the wait. I'm here now. I'll end this quickly and don't help me. You're too heavily damaged."_ And just like that he charged the Empoleon and hit him in the face with a **Focus Punch**, knocking it to the ground and then turned the **Hydro Cannon** towards the Empoleon and released it.

(Rick POV)  
I barely made it in time to save Serenity, I noticed her injured leg and tended to it psychically. I then dealt with the Empoleon, but I could sense that it was still conscious which was verified as it stood up. His trainer was a girl about 16 years of age with blue hair, a white beanie, a black shirt, a pink short skirt, and pink boots. Since she was a trainer I wasn't going to kill her pokemon, so I realized that I had to hold back.  
"Empoleon are you alright?" It nodded. "Glad to know! Where did that pokemon come from?" She then pulled out a device that I identified as a Pokedex.  
**"GALLADE, THE BLADE POKEMON AND THE MALE EVOLVE FORM OF KIRLIA. GALLADES, LIKE THEIR FEMALE COUNTERPART GARDEVOIR, ARE KNOWN AS THE MOST LOYAL OF POKEMON AND THE MOST CHIVALROUS. THEY ARE ALSO KNOWN AS EXPERT SWORDFIGHTERS AND MARTIAL ARTISTS WITH A REPUTATION OF PROTECTING OTHERS THAT NEED HELP. KNOWN MOVES: UNKNOWN...ERROR."**  
"Hmmm even my Pokedex couldn't understand it too much. But it looks like a good pokemon to have and to train with. This should be fun. Ok let's try it. Empoleon hit it with **Drill Peck**!" The Empoleon then jumped into the air and started to spin while its beak began to glow. I then fired a projectile Psycho Cut which made the Empoleon's spin slow down. Then I extended my blades and blocked the attack and push the Empoleon back to where it came from.  
"That Gallade looks tough. We should avoid getting close to it since it has that** Focus Punch**. Empoleon use **Hydro Pump**!" The Empoleon fired a cannon of water towards me which I dodged and started to advance towards the Empoleon.  
"Empoleon, don't let up, keep going!" With that the Empoleon attacked me with multiple** Hydro Pumps**, which I started to dodge while advancing. When I got close enough I charged another** Focus Punch** on my fist and went for the swing and got surprised when the Empoleon managed to grab my arm and stop me and then grabbed my other arm. "Way to go Empoleon! Now that he's held in place, **Hydro Cannon**!"  
With that command I realized I was in trouble if I got hit by a point blank Hydro Cannon. My expression changed from frustrated to worried when I realized that I couldn't get out of this Empoleon's grip. I saw a blue ball of water form in his mouth and I knew it was going to be strong and that I was going to get hit regardless, so I braced myself for the hit and then felt a gigantic hit of compressed water. Soon the entire area was covered in a mist due to the compressed cannon.  
_"RICK!"_ I heard Serenity scream in my mind.  
"I doubt he actually managed to remain conscious or unharmed from that attack. So..." the trainer said as she pulled out a pokeball. "Time to make you part of my team!" she yelled as she threw the pokeball at my now visible silhouette.  
As the ball went flying towards me I could sense multiple emotions around: fear, worry, and sadness from Serenity, and impatience, nervousness, and anticipation from the trainer. Suddenly I threw my hand forward and I caught the ball as the mist dissipated, shocking all that were present.  
When everyone saw me after the mist left, they saw that I was slightly harmed and my eyes were glowing blue, yet I was on one knee recovering. I then lifted the pokeball in the air with** Psychic** and compressed it. The trainer was incredibly confused and shocked.  
"How did you catch that pokeball? I've never seen a pokemon catch one without being dragged into it. Also, how did you come out with little damage from that **Hydro Cannon**? Wait, I'm talking to a pokemon, you can't answer me back. Well then, I guess I'll just have to try again but when you're more damaged. Empoleon use **Hydro Pump**!"  
The Empoleon didn't respond because it needed to recharge after the attack. "Oh no!"  
Once I saw that the Empoleon was immobile I quickly darted towards it and hit it with my** Drain Punch**. It fell to the floor unconscious and I regained some health.  
"Empoleon, nice job return. Rest now. Looks like I have to send one that you're weak against. Togekiss come on out!" As she said that she threw a pokemon and a large "birdlike" pokemon emerged from the ball in a flash.  
*Hmmm, a Normal and Flying type. Good move...for a rookie.*  
"Togekiss use **Air Slash**!" As the trainer said this the Togekiss took flight and send blades of wind in my direction. I quickly extended my blades and sliced the air blades, but managed to get hit by one as I turned to check if any of them went rouge and went towards Serenity. I was immediately sent facefirst to the ground in pain. One of the blades managed to hit me on my back.  
Almost immediately I could hear Serenity in my head, "Rick are you alright, don't worry about me. Pay attention to the fight." I kinda smiled when I heard her say that, *Who's the teacher? Me or her?* I quickly lifted myself off the ground to see the Togekiss circling me in the air.  
"Now, use **Aura Sphere**!" The Togekiss then sent a ball of aura towards me, which did not impress me.  
I sighed, *Oh get real!* I immediately fired a** Psycho Cut** which sliced through the sphere, destroying it, and shot another for good measure, both hitting the Togekiss. With the hits the Togekiss started to fall but regained its composure and rose in the air again.  
"Togekiss are you okay?" The Togekiss nodded. "Okay then let's try again. Use **Sky Attack**!" The Togekiss then covered its body in a milky white aura and flew high into the air before diving down at an immense speed. I quickly crossed my blades to block the attack and as expected the Togekiss made contact. I managed to block the hit but got dragged and couldn't find my footing, I was soon lifted off my feet and sent flying towards a mountain wall. When the dust cleared I was pinned onto the wall with my blood coming out of my mouth. *Damn! What the hell!? How strong is this Togekiss?*  
"Togekiss now's your chance! Use **Air Slash**!" The Togekiss then flew across from me and fired a flurry of air blades. I was helpless to block any with my arms pinned and cratered in the rock. Each blade (about 10 in total) hit me, making me spit out more blood and doing massive damage on me. Once the dust settled again, I was slowly falling off the mountain wall until I fell to my face on the ground bleeding with Serenity darting towards me...worried.  
_"Rick, are you okay!?"_  
_"No! That attack did more damage than I expected it to do. I don't know if I can stand. But I have to end it soon or I might not survive this shit."_  
_"You have to regain some strength. Let me fight her."_  
_"No! You don't need to protect me. That's my job."_  
I looked back at her and then sighed._ "Looks like I've gotta do it."_  
_"Do what?"_  
_"I'll explain to you later about what you're about to see."_  
With that I staggered onto my feet and retracted my blades and put myself in a martial arts pose. _"Rick, what the fucking hell are you doing?"_  
_"Wait and see."_  
"Looks like your harder to take down than I expected. Oh well, time to end this between us Mr. Gallade. Togekiss use **Sky Attack** again!" The Togekiss once again flew high and gathered its aura before coming down again. I stood there waiting for it to get close with my eyes closed.  
Serenity was still confused at my sudden demeanor. How could I be this hurt and still want to fight and what was I about to show her? She would soon find out as the Togekiss finally got close. Before it hit me I jumped out of the way and jumped high into the air with the Togekiss following. I then dove at it, which to the others seemed like suicide, but then an aurora blue aura surrounded my fist. I then swung at the approaching Togekiss, clashing with its attack and causing something that looked like thunderbolts to shoot from the epicenter. I was trying to break through its aura and it was trying to hit me.  
After a few moments its aura was starting to "crack" and my fist hit it dead center in the face and it fell to the ground quickly with me following with another fist of blue aura. The Togekiss stood up from the ground and looked up to see a fist about to hit it. My fist then impacted and a few pillars of ice came out from the crater. I used **Ice Punch**.  
_"What the hell Rick!? How do you have 5 moves?"_  
_"That was the surprise. Thanks to my master's training I learned how to bypass the movelimit. However I can only use moves I learned in the past or present."_  
_"How many moves do you know?"_  
_"Ummm...no idea. That's the reason why that girl's pokedex said that there was an error in the moveset."_  
I looked down at the Togekiss, it was obviously down and out. So I jumped off its chest and landed back in front of Serenity.  
"Thanks for your help girl. Rest now. Now, come out Typhlosion!"  
I sweatdropped, *Crap I forgot that she probably had more pokemon.*  
In a flash a rather large Typhlosion appeared and quickly roared at me. "Good to see you again Typhlosion. Let's end this fight already, your opponent already took a lot of damage. So this should be easy. Ok then use** Flamethrower**!"  
The Typhlosion then opened its mouth and fired a stream of fire at me which I dodged before firing two **Psycho Cuts** at it. The Typhlosion however knocked both attacks away with its claws. *Ok looks like this guy is tough.* Just then it roared again and the flaming spikes on its back grew larger. "Typhlosion use **Eruption**!"  
The pokemon then fired a massive line of fire at me and I tried to jump out of the way but got hit on my leg making me roll to a stop and cry out in pain and swearing like crazy. I slightly laughed though, *It's been a while since I've been in this situation. Guess I underestimated this girl a bit too much.*  
I tried to get up only to fall again, I then used a rock as a support to stand again. *Looks like I won't be able to dodge another attack, much less stay conscious for another.* I was hurt, bleeding, burned, and my gut kept making me cough up blood. There was no way I would take another attack of that magnitude standing, but to my horror the Typhlosion's flame spikes kept growing. His trainer then threw another pokeball at me which I quickly sliced into two before it reached me.  
"Oh well looks like you're not ready to be caught yet. Looks like this is it boy! Now use** Blast Burn**!" The Typhlosion complied and charged a ball of fire that had a ring around it. He then released it and I crossed my blades together to help cushion the blow. Eye closes I tucked my head behind my blades but I didn't feel the flames, instead I felt a cool rush of water. I looked and a wall of water had extinguished the attack and had narrowly missed the Typhlosion. I looked back at Serenity and I noticed her panting and then she yelled into the air, her body began to glow blue, and a wall of water surrounded her in a vortex and then she fired a wave at the Typhlosion, hitting it and making it fall on its back in pain.  
Serenity seemed mad but confused on what she just did._ "Rick what did I just use?"_  
_"W..well knowing your overall moveset...(squinting in pain), I would say that it was a **Water Pulse**. Good job you learned two moves in one day...ow. Hurts to laugh, even telepathically."_  
_"So does that mean that I can take this thing on now?"_  
_"Oh no, it'll kick your ass. You're new with the move so don't get your hopes up because you put out the** Blast Burn** and hurt the Typhlosion. That thing still has a lot of life left in it and a lot of fight as well."_  
_"Wow very encouraging. Thanks ass!"_  
_"Don't worry I have an idea to beat it but it requires you listening to me for about ten seconds. Think you can do that?"_  
She growled at me but leaned to listening to my plan._ "Rick if this plan doesn't work, it's suicide."_  
_"You have something better? Because unfortunately my half-assed plan is all we got right now."_  
Serenity was obviously doubtful that it might work but she decided to comply. I then went over to her and gave her a small hit on her head with **Drain Punch** to regain some energy. _"Ow! What did you do that for?"_  
_"So I can stand and maybe even run if need be. I just needed a little pick-me-up."_  
_"Okay ready when you are."_  
_"Just wait for the Typhlosion to fire at me with anything. I think it only knows long range attacks."_  
"Typhlosion, break time is over. Use **Blast Burn** again, there's no way for him to get away from him and his little partner seems to be tired. Now's the time!" The Typhlosion then charged and fired the molten inferno.  
_"Now!"_  
With my signal Serenity left her tired facade and used **Water Pulse** to counter the fire. I then used **Psychic** to wrap some of the water around my fist and I charged my **Drain Punch**. Thankfully the counter of the fire caused a mist to cover the field making my actions completely inconspicuous. I quickly ran up to the Typhlosion and let all my frustration out. With a water covered, life stealing fist of pure rage (lol).  
The hit came quick and sudden, and it delivered the knock out. Also, the **Drain Punch** gave me back enough health to be able to stand again and stand my ground yet again. I finally have had enough of battling this girl's pokemon and I wasn't going to battle another.  
"Wow that was incredible. You were down for the count but you managed to beat my Typhlosion." The girl said with a surprised yet cheery face.  
*Oh my Arceus! Thanks for giving us a complete description of what just happened here girl.* I said in my head annoyed.  
"Now return Typhlosion! Okay time to try again..."  
_"...I'm just going to stop you there for now dear. No need to lose all your pokemon, you'll need protection while on these mountains."_ I said, interrupting the girl telepathically.  
"Huh what was that? Who is this?"  
_"I'm the Gallade that you have been battling for past 15 minutes. Don't worry, I mean no harm. I just want to ask you to stop your futile little assault."_  
The girl then stared at me with a shocked expression. "How are you talking to me?"  
_"My dear I'm a psychic type. All of us can speak to humans telepathically. I don't want to continue this fight with you. It's causing me and the Absol too much damage and we have to get somewhere. Also, if you're wondering why your pokeballs kept failing, that's because I'm already owned."_  
The girl then gave a gasp, she was assaulting someone's pokemon and nearly killed it. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that you were already owned."  
_"It's okay my dear human. I hold no bad blood and I don't blame you. My name is Rick. The Absol over there is named Serenity, she's my trainee."_  
"I'm pleased to meet you both. My name is Dawn, I'm a pokemon coordinator from Twinleaf town."  
_"Pleased to meet you. What are you doing here all alone? It can get pretty dangerous here if you're not careful."_  
"I'm headed home from Hearthome City. I was there preparing for the Grand Festival in three months and I finally found the time to visit my family."  
_"I remember that you have a Togekiss. Why not just fly home? It's safer."_  
Dawn sighed, "That is true but I love the thrill of the travel. I haven't traveled much since I began my journey alone."  
I arched an eyebrow,_ "Oh you used to travel with others?"_  
She nodded, "Yep! About six years ago I used to travel with a boy named Ash and another guy name Brock. It was fun when I was a kid but now I had to learn to be on my own. Also, sorry about the attack, I should probably help patch both of you up."  
I nodded, _"That would be nice, thank you. Also, I'm sorry for attacking your pokemon."_  
"It's ok you were defending yourself and...Serenity, was it?" I nodded in confirmation and she smiled at us before walking towards us and taking her bag off her back, pulling out a medley of medicines.

_"You seem to be very well prepared."_

She smiled at that, "Yep. When you've traveled with Ash and Brock you have to learn to bring items just in case things go awry...which they usually did." She started to laugh. "Here let me heal you up."

_"Oh don't worry about me. I took enough energy from your Typhlosion to be fine. Work on Serenity she's still very injured."_ Dawn nodded.

We both then turned towards Serenity just to see her asleep on the floor from the loss of energy. I couldn't help but chuckle and Dawn walked towards her and started spraying her wounds with Potions and mixtures of berries. "She should wake up fine. I don't know about the internal damage though."

_"Don't worry. If anything, I'll heal her."_

Dawn arched an eyebrow, "How are you going to do that? The nearest Pokemon Center is about three days away on foot."

_"I'll have to carry her on my back if I have to. I don't have the energy to use a __**Healing Pulse**__ on her yet, and that's only going to help her a little."_

"Can I ask you something?"

_"Go ahead."_

"How do you know so many moves?"

I chuckled, _"My trainer is an interesting case."_

She sighed, "I hear you. When I was with my friends, Ash was very unusual for a trainer himself."

_"I would of loved to face this Ash character. He sounds fun."_

"He was. If he didn't get you in a dangerous situation. But he was a good kid."

_"What happened to him?"_

"He left for the Unova region to go for their league. I went to visit him once and then I never saw him again."

I didn't know what to say to her. My chest spike picked up her emotions and she was sad about losing her friends.

_"Don't worry, no need to be sad. I know you miss those two boys but I believe you'll see them again." *If you have my luck.*_

"Thanks that makes me feel better."

I then walked over to Serenity, picked her up and carried her bridal style, and began to walk away. Before I tried to leave I turned to Dawn and said to her, _"It was good meeting you. Good luck your contests and good tidings to you. Goodbye Dawn!"_

Before I could even go very far Dawn had put a hand on my shoulder. "I have a feeling that you have no idea where your going, do you?

_"Umm...no I don't. I'm actually looking for a way down from here and get to the eastern side of this mountain."_

"Need help with that? I can lead you to the cave I used to get here. The cave will leave you on the other end of this mountain, outside of Celestic Town. I'll only stay with you until we reach the cave and we should get there in about a full day. What do you say? Besides, you're still hurt and she's not going to respond if things get ugly on the road again."

I was kinda apprehensive of letting this girl follow me, even if it was for only a day. However, what she said was true. I wasn't going to heal in a day and Serenity was not going to be much help in her state. I never thought that I would ever say to her the words that I would of never say to a human. _"Fine. You can join us for a while if you want. However, once we get there fly home. I don't want to see you in danger even if you can defend yourself. Deal?"_

"Deal!"

And just like that I now had more company. Serenity was knocked out in my arms and I had a human trainer joining me for a day. *I sure hope things don't go more south than they've already have gone.*


	6. Chapter 6: Now or Never

Okay, I know that I said that he next chapter was going to be released in a week or two but my schedule miraculously opened up and I had way too much time on my hands. So I wrote this in the process of the last 3 days and I'm amazed that I actually wrote it. So enjoy and please review.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

(Rick's POV)

So let me summarize my week so far. I arrived at Sinnoh, walked hundreds of miles, saved a female Absol that I am now protecting, killed three hostile Absols that were attacking her, trained her, got attacked by a trainer named Dawn, and now that trainer is joining us for a short time. Yep, things just keep getting better and better for me (sarcasm).

I was walking with an unconscious Serenity in my arms and Dawn walking next to me. She was checking her Poketch that had a map on it. Unfortunately, I didn't have that app so I was in the dark for most of what she was saying about the nearby towns.

_"Dawn, you do know that I have no idea what you're talking about. I've only been to this region once so it's all Greek to me."_

"It's odd that you're a Gallade and know nothing about your land of origin."

_"I know that all Gallades and Gardevoirs have their origins here but I'm from the Hoenn region and I've stuck to that claim. This region means nothing to me so far."_

"Well, do you even have an idea on where you're going?"

_"Veilstone City. That's where I have to go to see a girl named Maylene. I believe she's the gym leader of that city."_

"Oh I remember her. I once battled her when she felt she was not willing to be the gym leader. I brought her spirit back up though. She's an awesome person."

_"I know. I've met her back in Hoenn. She went to visit her grandfather when she was little and she kept trying to play with me when I was a Kirlia. She would carry me everywhere and kept trying to dress me up because she thought I was female. My trainer didn't even try to help me, he kept making me sound like a girl so that he could get a laugh. Most paranoid filled two weeks of my life, I was hiding most of the time but that girl was on point, she could find me anywhere. However, she was still good to be around and kept taking care of me. My trainer even let her borrow me for about two months so she could feel how it felt to be a trainer."_

Dawn then stared at me, "Your trainer is Maylene's grandfather? That awesome, where is he now?"

I looked back at her and told her plainly, _"He's dead. He died five years ago. Before you say anything, don't worry I'm over it and I'm still registered as an owned pokemon because I kept my pokeball."_

She looked at me with a concerned look but kept on asking me about my time with Maylene. "So you were a training starter for Maylene, how was that?"

I looked back at the road in front of me and began telling her, _"Well, it was fun yet weird. She kept thinking I was a female and kept trying to dress me up. She found out I was a male when we came here to Sinnoh, Veilstone to be exact. There she got into a battle with a trainer and used me since I was her only pokemon at the time."_

[Flashback 7 years] (Overall POV)

Maylene had landed herself into a battle with a boy that lived in her neighborhood. Rick was riding her shoulder at the time and was not really in the mood for a battle, but Maylene was anxious to test the skills that her grandfather had taught her. And who better to use to test those skills out than her grandfather's own pokemon.

She immediately sent Rick out onto the field to face the boy, "Kirlia go! I want to try this whole training thing out." Rick was kinda annoyed that she kept calling him Kirlia but obeyed nonetheless and jumped off her shoulders onto the field.

When Rick touched down onto the field the boy sent out his own pokemon. "Come out Umbreon!" The boy's pokeball then popped open and a black feline like pokemon with blood red eyes and gold glowing rings appeared on the field.

"Kirlia, looks like you have your work cut out for you." Rick sweatdropped with a vein bulging on his head. "Ok then, we go first. Kirlia use **Confusion**." Rick's eyes immediately started to glow blue and he picked up the Umbreon before slamming him on the floor. The Umbreon got up from the ground with almost no damage that was visible.

"Psychic attacks are useless against Dark types. Don't you know that? Now, Umbreon use **Bite** on that Kirlia!" Immediately the Umbreon charged Rick with its mouth open. "Kirlia dodge it!" Rick managed to jump out of the way and landed in front of Maylene.

"Good job girl!" That comment made Rick turn around and glare at Maylene with his arms crossed over his chest. All of the sudden he felt a sharp pain on one of his legs which he turned to see what it was. To his surprise and horror the Umbreon had bitten down on his leg and wasn't letting go. "Good job Umbreon! Now take her for a rough ride!" With that the Umbreon started to slam me down on to the ground by lifting me with his jaws. He did this for about 7 times before Maylene finally spoke up.

"Kirlia, use **Confusion **but not on the Umbreon!" Rick seemed to have understood what she meant and used **Confusion** to pick up a nearby rock and threw it at the Umbreon. The rock impacted and forced the Umbreon to release Rick's leg, thus allowing Rick to jump back towards Maylene but with his injured leg in the air.

"Kirlia are you okay?" Rick nodded but with a look of pain in his face. "Anyways, keep going with that **Confusion**." With that Rick lifted a slew of rocks up with **Confusion** and fired them at the Umbreon, damaging it. The Umbreon then stood back up with pain in its face and then growled at Rick.

"Umbreon use **Shadow Ball**!" The Umbreon then charged a black and purple ball and fired it at Rick.

"Kirlia use **Teleport**!" Rick then disappeared into thin air causing the **Shadow Ball** to miss and almost hit Maylene. Everyone then started to look for Rick until he reappeared on Umbreon's back, causing the Umbreon to buck and flail like a bull at a rodeo. Rick held on like a cowboy until the Umbreon rolled on its back hurting Rick.

"Umbreon **Shadow Ball**!"

"Kirlia **Signal Beam**!" Immediately, they both fired their attacks at eachother with them clashing at point black range. Really soon a small explosion happened and Rick went flying back towards Maylene, he was hurt but not down and out yet. The Umbreon was the same, it also seemed to be frustrated.

"Umbreon time to bring on a handicap. Use **Attract**!" Then the Umbreon struck a pose and hearts came out of it in a ring. They circled Rick until he began to glow pink, yet nothing happened. Rick shrugged his shoulders and this startled the boy and his Umbreon, "What!? I though that Kirlia was female!"

"So you're male, huh Kirlia?" Rick only answered with a simple "Kirlia" and nodded his head. "Well that's lucky of us...I guess." That made Rick growl and made the vein reappeared on his head. *Just what do you mean by that, I wonder.*

"Okay screw it! Umbreon use **Bite **again!" The Umbreon then started to charge at Rick but stumble by the pain it was feeling. It fell to the floor and Maylene took the opportunity to attack it.

"Kirlia use **Signal Beam** now!" Rick immediately fired a rainbow colored beam at the fallen Dark type until it hit and caused the Umbreon to fly back its trainer, fainted. "Good work Kirlia!" She then raised her hand and Rick jumped into the air and high fived her. The boy with the Umbreon already left so they decided to go back home to get some rest.

"You earned some sleep today. Sorry for calling you a girl for all this time and the dressing up." Rick just answered by jumping on her shoulders and hugging her neck. "But can I still dress you up?"

Rick's eyes then started glowing and a pebble hit Maylene on the head. "I'll take that as a no."

[Present Time] (Rick's POV)

_ "So yeah, I had a lot of fun with her but she had to give me back to her grandfather. It felt good being home though but it was sad looking at the disappointment and sadness on her face by giving me back. But I knew she would do great if she kept training the way she did. I was kinda happy to hear from Serenity that she was the city's gym leader. I haven't seen her since though and I wonder if she'll recognize me or how she would take the news of her grandfather's death. But regardless, I have to do this."_

"When you find her, are you going to become her pokemon?"

I sighed, _"No, I don't want to be owned by another person even one that grew on me. It's just that I'd rather live my life as I want to make it. I don't want to fight anymore."_

"I can respect that. So what happens to Serenity after you finish you journey?"

_"We go our separate ways. I'm trying to get her ready for that so she can be safe. However, she is growing attached and I don't think it will be that easy for her to let me go. She's still young and learning."_

"Well let's hope that she matures enough to become more independent before that time. But if I may say..."

I nodded, giving permission to continue on with her next comment.

"...I know how hard it is to be alone sometimes. It doesn't hurt to let others in. I can sense that you like to have others around you and you like to form relationships, but I can also sense that you like to keep so many problems to yourself and you don't let others in. Sometimes that's not healthy for you, and it can cause so many other problems. Please try to understand, I'm not judging you. I'm just worried after all you've told me. "

_"I appreciate your concern. What you say is true."_

"Just remember, being alone is not always good. But having people around you makes life so much better. I want you to remember that."

_"Hmmmm...noted."_

After a while of walking we noticed that the sun was already gone. We have walked about 9 miles in that day and I was getting tired from carrying Serenity and walking. Also, I was still a little damaged from the battle earlier that day.

"Rick, maybe we should rest for tonight. We walked more than I expected to already so you earned some sleep. I'm pretty tired myself."

I looked up and sighed, she had a point. There wasn't enough energy left in my body and I needed a good rest. _"Very well. We'll rest here tonight. I'll put Serenity in my sleeping bag and I'll just sleep on that tree over there."_

"Why the tree?"

_"We Gallades like to rest on trees. Mainly because if something happens, I have a good vantage point."_

She then stared at me, "Oh I see. Well I'll start putting my tent up. Want to put Serenity in there?"

_"Not really. She doesn't know that you're with us so I don't want her lashing out at you if she wakes up."_

"Oh ok. Good idea. Oh well, I'll start getting ready."

As Dawn put her tent up, I started the fire and placed Serenity in the sleeping bag next to the tree I was going to sleep on. After I finished tucking Serenity in, I went to help Dawn put her tent up with Psychic.

"Thanks Rick."

She then went inside and got changed into her pajamas while I jumped on the branch I would sleep on. I waited until I could sense that Dawn was sound asleep, only then did I close my eyes and drifted into a much needed deep sleep.

(Alara's POV)

The night was amazingly cool for a summer's night, I wanted to rest but I knew that I needed to keep going. Amber was already asleep and I was carrying her bridal style while I walked. I was tired and sore from the fight with the Scyther but thankfully Amber was able to patch me up pretty well. I didn't have a lot of injuries and I only needed a bandage on my shoulder. I was quickly becoming drowsy so I needed to make a decision fast, yet I needed to continue, to what I didn't know. All of the sudden I felt Amber stir in my arms and I looked down at her. She was half asleep but she was more than aware of my circumstance.

"Alara, stop and sleep. You've had a rough day. No need to continue on aimlessly."

"I don't know why but I feel like I have to get to Mt. Coronet. I know I can find something useful there. Just bare with me and go to sleep. I'll be reaching it by tomorrow morning if I keep going at my pace."

"There is no rush to get there. Go to sleep now. If something happens again I want you to be ready for it and have enough energy to deal with it. Please? Do it for me at least."

The last thing she said kinda made me sad, for what reason I didn't know. I didn't want to let her down so I had to make a choice. What she said was true. Nothing was waiting for me there and I needed to be well rested if some crazy shit went down again. So I finally decided, "Fine. We'll stop here and sleep. But once we get up there's no stopping. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

With that I flattened the tall grass in the field we were at and I unloaded our sleeping bags. I placed Amber in her's where she quickly fell back to sleep. I stood there and looked at my little "sister" and wondered how I got stuck with her in my life, yet I was happy I did get stuck with her. I then got into my sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep. However in my sleep I recalled how I met Amber when I was a Kirlia and how we became best friends.

[Flashback 15 years ago] (Overall POV)

It was a warm yet humid spring morning, Alara and her family were traveling through Eterna forest after visiting a few friends in Floaroma Town. Alara was in front of her parents dancing and skipping on the road. Her parents, and their personal guards, were just staring at her and chuckling. Alara's mother was holding onto her mate's arm and seemed to get worried.

"Dear, is it okay for her to keep going ahead of us?"

"I understand your concern but she's a Kirlia. She needs to let out some of that backed energy that she had. But I'll get her." He then looked at Alara and called out to her, "Alara come here, don't go to far now dear. We need to keep you in our line of sight."

She quickly ran back to her parents and jumped into her mother's arms. "Sorry papa."

"It's okay. You did nothing wrong, we just want you to be safe. Don't worry, you can dance all you want when we stop to eat." He said while rubbing her head.

"Really?"

"Guaranteed you little rebel." He said. She then started cheering and kissed both her parents.

One of the Gallade guards then turned and spoke to Alara's father, "Chief Saifer, the forest is going to have some Gastly and Haunters ahead. How should we proceed?"

"Protect my mate and our daughter more. I will be fine."

"Yes sir!"

Alara turned to the Gallade next to her, "Sir Daedalus, what's going on?"

The Gallade turned to look at her and he smiled at her before replying, "We're just going to protect you if something happens. No need for you to worry there Alara."

"Okay sir." She said with a smile.

"No, I need a salute there soldier." Alara then quickly saluted him and giggled.

After a short walk they reached a clearing and then they looked up and saw a building. "Sir the Old Chateau is in sight. We're close to the exit and the Ghost types."

"Don't worry we'll be fine. But don't stop the defense."

"Yes sir!"

Alara's mother was still carrying her and she started to tickle her because she began to get scared. The forest was darker in this section and the guards began to huddle closer to her and her mother. Her father was looking around cautiously but once the exit was visible they started to sigh a sigh of relief. However before they could leave Alara heard something in the forest.

"Mama, something's in trouble in there."

"Are you sure dear?"

"Yeah, my horns are picking it up and I heard it."

Alara's father heard what she said and turned to her. "Where do sense it?"

Alara's mother was shocked at his attitude, "You mean you're actually going to investigate this?"

"I'm a Gallade. I must protect those in danger, it's my honor to do so."

Alara's mother was still concerned but knew that a Gallade's honor was nothing to mess with. They would guard it to the death. Alara then pointed at the clearing that they came from and then her father and Sir Daedalus walked towards the clearing, leaving the other guard with Alara and her mother.

"Sir Zant, do you sense the emotions of whatever is in trouble?"

"Of course I do child. I just can't figure out where it's coming from though."

A wave of strong emotions then came over Alara, giving her a headache. This got the attention of her mother, "Alara are you okay?"

"My head hurts mama. We're running out of time."

"Sir Zant, go with my mate and find this pokemon in need."

Sir Zant was obviously shocked at her order, "L-lady Keera, you know I can't do that. I need to stay here and protect you."

"I'll be fine. I'm strong enough to protect myself."

"B-b-but..." he was cut off by Alara's mother releasing her aura which purple and powerful. Alara then giggled at Sir Zant.

"You better do what mama said Sir Zant. Mama's really strong."

With that Sir Zant bowed his head and ran towards the others. Alara's mother then put her aura off and sighed at the sight of the three Gallades searching the location. Just then another wave of emotions hit Alara which gave her a worse headache. With the pain she flailed and forced her mother to let her go. Once on the ground she ran towards the clearing with her mother in pursuit.

Alara's father and guards heard the commotion and then gave chase as well. Alara then stopped abruptly and pointed to a bush. After she pointed at the bush her mother quickly snatched her up off the ground.

"Alara, don't do that again! You scared me."

"It's coming from here mama."

Right after that, her father and the guards arrived and gave Alara the same talk. Then Alara pointed at the bush again. With that Sir Zant took a look in the bush and saw a trail of blood. This alarmed him and he jumped over the bush and began to follow it and was followed by everyone else. Alara's mom covered her face so that she didn't see anything gory when they find the source. It didn't take them long to find the source of the blood, it came from a Buneary, no older than 4. She had a cut arm yet she was laying on the ground covering her head and above her were 4 Gastlys circling her like vultures.

Sir Daedalus then asked Alara's father, "Sir, how should we proceed?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Let's get them, that child needs out help!"

With that they all charged the Gastlys with **Night Slashes** charged. They "killed" the Gastlys, who disappeared as they were slain, and then Alara's father took his cape off and wrapped the Buneary with it. The poor creature was terrified but seemed to know that the Gallades wouldn't hurt her. Alara's father then handed her over to his mate who wasted no time in bandaging her up. The bandage was crude but still helpful, it looked like a sling and the Buneary seemed to smile again once she felt the bandage.

"T-t-thank y-you ma'am." She said still a little scared.

"You're welcome little one. Alara, talk to her for a while. The poor thing is scared."

"Yes mama." With that Alara jumped off her mother's shoulder and landed on the ground next to the Buneary who pulled her fur over her face in fear. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. My name is Alara, and you are...?"

The Buneary pulled her fur off her face and looked at Alara and then mumbled her name, "I'm (mumbles the name Amber).

"Pardon?"

"I'm (mumbles slightly louder)."

"A little louder."

"I'm Amber."

"Oh pleased to meet you. Where are your parents?"

"I don't have any or I've never seen them."

Alara's mother heard this and stared at her mate who had the "you've got to be kidding me" expression his face. She then walked over and picked both of the girls up and carried them. She then looked at the Amber and asked her, "Do you want to come with us?"

Amber was surprised at the offer but then looked at Alara who nodded her head frantically. With that she nodded her head at Alara's mother. "Good so let's go gang."

Alara's father then spoke to her mother telepathecally, _"What are you doing?"_

_ "I'm taking her with us."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "Because she's all alone and I don't have the heart to leave her alone. Not after what just happened."_

_ "I though we Gallades were the honorable ones."_

_ "Suck it dear!"_

Alara then hugged Amber who was still confused on what was happening. She then cheered, "Yay I have a new playmate."

Amber was now completely lost, "Where are we going?"

"To our sanctuary. Your new home. You'll be nice and safe there, you can even live with me." She said with a wide smile.

Amber just stared at her awkwardly, "Do you always have this much energy?"

"Yep."

"Oh Arceus what did I get myself into?"

"A new home, family, and life."

Amber stopped and though for a second. All of it did sound nice and she did want a home so she smiled at Alara and hugged her back.

Alara's mother then looked down at the two girls in her arm and laughed. "Well, looks like you two are kicking off a new friendship there. Alara always did want a sister so I guess you'll do Amber."

Alara then hugged her tighter as she celebrated, blocking Amber's breathing. Amber was barely able to let out a faint, "Can't breath!" After that she let her go and she gasped for air.

"Alara, I know you're excited but don't kill her now."

"Sorry mama, sorry Amber."

"It's okay."

After a while of traveling Amber fell asleep and Alara jumped onto her mother's shoulders. She was feeling tired herself so her mother took Sir Daedalus's cape and made a small hammock on her chest and placed Alara and Amber in it so they could sleep. After they were asleep she looked down and the kissed them both as they slept.

"They're so cute at this age. Aren't they Saifer?"

"They are but are you sure you want to do this? I'm all for it but Amber will be out of her comfort zone."

"She already felt uncomfortable but she seemed to have calmed down. I actually want these two to grow up together like sisters. I believe that it will be good for both of them."

"So I accept it. I'd love to see that too. So now we have two daughters...We're still going to mate right?" He said awkwardly.

His mate then stared at him and smiled, "We'll see." She said with a wink.

Afterwards Sir Zant walked up to Saifer and put his arm around him. "Wow that didn't sound good. I'm scared for your sex life now sir."

"Zant..."

"Yes sir?"

"Shut up!" Zant and Keera started to laugh just then Sir Daedalus spoke.

"You guys have no shame. Sure the girls may be sleeping but who knows if they can still hear you."

Just then everyone stopped talking but Zant couldn't stop snickering until he was on the floor laughing his ass off. Then everyone came over and stomped on him.

"That...ow...was so uncalled for...ow."

Everyone then said in unison, "Yes it was!" Daedalus then picked him up and dragged him along.

The next morning, Alara and Amber were playing in a field while the adults watched them. Amber was finally smiling wide and laughing. They were playing tag with Alara dancing while dodging Amber, and Amber was hoping while trying to catch Alara with her good arm.

"Hold still!"

"Sorry, can't do that. That's the point of the game Amber."

Alara's parents were watching them while laying down on the field and enjoying the sight while their guards were standing next to them. Alara's father was happy at the sight.

"Ahhhh now I love seeing that. They kicked off a friendship that quickly, makes you feel all warm inside to watch children enjoy each other's company. Speaking of friends, Daedalus how's your brother? I miss seeing my best friend.

"He's doing great in the Hoenn region, his son and daughter are doing great and so is his mate."

Saifer sighed, "How I miss Xeron and Aldira but nothing I say will convince them return. I still don't understand why they chose to leave."

"Sir, when Xeron killed the leader of the Mightyena gang he was a marked Gallade. He left to protect his family."

"We'll never have a warrior with the same amount of heart that he had."

"Nope. Nor will we have a better trainer for our recruits and I will never have a better brother."

"Be careful if they're dead now Daedalus."

"Sir, how could you even think that!? If he or his mate were dead I would of sensed it. Also, I talked to him yesterday. He's fine sir."

"Sorry, I just miss him and his mate. I haven't seen his son since he was a baby Ralts and I wasn't even there to see his daughter yet."

"Well let me tell you some good news."

"Lay it on me."

"He says he's coming back next year. He wants his children to be raised with his own people."

"This is wonderful news! Once we arrive at the Sanctuary I'll make preparations to have his house renovated and restored. I want his homecoming to be as grand as can be."

Alara and Amber were listening in on the conversation.

"Alara, what are they talking about?"

"I think they're talking about Xeron, my dad's best friend. I was a baby when he left the Sanctuary so I don't remember him too much. I remember his son, he's about a year older than me and I remember playing with him but nothing more. His name escapes me though but if he's coming back next year then I do think I'll get to know him again."

Amber shrugged, "Ok, also...YOU'RE IT!" She said as she tagged Alara.

[Present Time] (Alara's POV)

I woke up as I heard someone say, "Aww I miss those days." I looked at my side to see Amber sitting on the ground next to me with her arms crossed and a sly smile on her face.

"How long have you been there?"

"About 30 minutes. You have to stop sleep talking and channeling me into your dreams."

"I pulled you in."

"Yep. I don't know how you did it. I was dreaming about a party at our house and then I'm in a memory of out past. I didn't really want to relive my that Gastly attack but it looks like I had no choice."

"Sorry about that, it seems that my psychic abilities go crazy when I dream."

"It's okay. Also, I forgot about your dad's friend Xeron. I forgot that he never made it back."

"I know, he died before he could make it...and so did his mate."

"What happened to his kids?"

I rubbed my eyes when she said that trying to get off of my sleep, "I don't know. Sir Daedalus didn't feel their life energy disappearing and he's the closest relative so he can do that. As far as we're concerned his son is alive."

"What was his name again?"

"Damn it! I keep forgetting it. Oh well I'll ask dad for his name when we return."

I then got up and packed my things back into my bag, then my eyes grew wide when I noticed how close Mt. Coronet was.

"Amber, we're almost there. If we go now we might get there by noon."

"Then what are we waiting for!? March!"

We quickly took off and hopeful to finish our journey soon.

(Rick's POV)

I woke up with Serenity shaking me awake. She had a look of concern in her eyes.

"Serenity? What's wrong?"

"The trainer is here."

I looked at her and then told her, "I know. She decided to join us after the battle. Her name is Dawn and she patched you up. She's actually really nice."

"I don't know Rick, can we trust her?"

"I am going to trust her. This is the only day she's going to be with us and she knows how to get to the other end of this range. Besides, I sense no malice in her so I can trust her."

"Okay then I'll trust her...sorta."

"You either trust her or you don't. There's no in between."

She sighed and then we were greeted with a "Good morning!" from Dawn.

_"Good morning Dawn. Slept well?"_

"Yep. And you?"

_"Can't really complain. By the way, let me introduce Serenity to you."_

"Hello Serenity. I'm Dawn, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Sol...Absol."

"Umm Rick can you channel her in a three way telepathy?"

_"Yes I can. Hold on...Okay try now. Serenity speak in your mind."_

_ "Oh okay. Charmed to meet you Dawn."_

"Sorry about yesterday. I feel so bad about it."

Serenity shook her head. _"It's okay. Rick filled me in on everything psychically just a second ago."_

"He did?"

_"Yep, while he was connecting the psychic links. I didn't even notice until you spoke."_

"Oh okay. I'm glad to see that you're better. I used some potions and berries to heal you up."

Serenity then looked at her body. She couldn't find her wounds and looked at me for affirmation. I told her how I used my abilities to mend some of her wounds but Dawn did most of the work. Then I explained to her how to I carried her for nine miles before camping out at our current location.

"Well, I'll make us some breakfast after I wake up Empoleon. He's asleep in the tent."

I then told her, _"No need, I'll wake him up." _

"Why thank you! I'll get the food done in ten minutes."

After that I walked right over to the tent and peeked my head in. Like Dawn said, her Empoleon was there asleep. I stepped in an knelt down so I could wake it up.

"Hey buddy wake up! The Empoleon stirred and then open his eyes which shot open when he noticed me.

"Good, you're awake. Remember me? I'm the guy who kicked your ass yesterday. No hard feeling though, right? Your trainer wanted me to wake you up so let's go."

"Of course I remember you. Sorry for the attack."

"It's okay. Your trainer apologized for all of you. Let's move and get your friends."

I then exited the tent to see Serenity and Dawn laughing with one another. I was actually happy to see them get along.

_"Well isn't this nice. I expected an argument but you guys seem to be getting along."_

_ "Yep. Me and Dawn actually have a lot in common."_

_ "I know, both of you are incredibly impulsive."_

Then I heard a collective "HEY!" I couldn't help but laugh. Then Dawn handed me and Serenity some breakfast made from berries. We took small tastes and then realized that they tasted amazing and then we wolfed them down quickly. We were then joined by the other pokemon which Serenity was afraid of until she started talking to them. After an hour of chatting and eating I got up and said, _"Well time to go if we want to make it to Mt. Coronet."_

_ "Aww ok. Dawn's going with us, right?"_

_ "Yes, until we reach Mt. Coronet."_

We all packed up our things and took off. Like Dawn said we made it to a cave at around noon. I was happy to see it since it meant that I would be able to make it to the other side of the range. But somewhere inside me I didn't want to go through it. Serenity and Dawn just started bonding and now Dawn had to keep her end of the deal.

"Aww looks like this is the end of my adventure with both of you."

_"Aww do you have to go Dawn?"_

"Yes, I need to get home, but it was fun being with you guys."

I then walked back to the group and pulled the girls into a hug since Serenity was practically begging for it.

_"Good bye Dawn. Good luck with your contests."_

"Thank you so much Rick! Goodbye!"

_"Bye Dawn!"_

"Bye Serenity."She said as she recalled all her pokemon and jumped on Togekiss's back. "Also, Rick don't forget what I told you and I left you a gift. I put a map app on your Poketch and I put my number on it. Don't forget to call."

_"I won't. Happy trails." _With that she took off and disappeared over the mountains. I then walked straight towards the mouth of the cave with Serenity and then took a deep breath and said, "Well it's now or never."

(Alara's POV)

Me and Amber finally made it to a cave's mouth at Mt. Coronet. We looked back and were surprised on how far we ran. We looked at each other and then forward. I then said, "Well it's now or never."


	7. Chapter 7: Grave Encounters

Well here it is! Chapter 7. Thanks to my empty schedule, I managed to write this one...yet got an entire 2 days worth of writer's block and my notes weren't helping me very much. Oh well, enjoy!

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

(Rick's POV)

"Damn it's dark in here Rick." Serenity said while huddling next to me.

I looked down to her to see she was genuinely frightened. I chuckled at her for a second before I told her, "Don't worry Serenity, I'm here. Also, you're a Dark type, how are you afraid of the dark? Plus, can't you see in the dark?"

She then looked at me with an embarrassed look on her face, "I can but I'm still uncomfortable in the dark."

I almost couldn't help myself, I smiled and ran ahead and hid behind a stalagmite with Serenity freaking out and running in my direction.

"Rick! Where are you!? This isn't funny!"

I then began to throw rocks in different directions to scare her. She jumped at every sound they made and then turned her back on the stalagmite I was hiding behind. She was looking everywhere frantically while I started to move around the stalagmite and she started to look at my direction at a perfect time when I started to yell "BOO!" She began to scream and I don't think I ever heard a louder scream in my life. Serenity then fell to the floor with her eyes wide open, her feet up, and panting heavily. I was laughing my ass off because it was so funny. Serenity then glared at me and charged a **Night Slash** on her horn before hitting me on the face with it.

"ASSHOLE!"

I was on the floor clenching my face but still laughing while blood was dripping. I then said in a laugh, "So worth it! You should of seen the look on you face! Man that shit was priceless!"

I vein then appeared on Serenity's head when she walked up to me, "You're a bastard. You know that?"

I was still laughing, "You know, I get that a lot." She was still glaring at me when I got up and wiped the blood off my face and kept walking.

Serenity didn't follow me so I had to call out to her, "You coming or not!?"

She still didn't budge so I sighed and walked back to her. The look in her eyes was of pure anger. "Serenity, look, I'm sorry." The only reply I got was a "humph" and her walking away with her chin up.

I sighed at the sight, "Females! I swear!" I then walked after her.

After twenty minutes I was still walking with her and she was still not talking to me.

"So you're not going to talk to me anymore?" I was replied with silence. "Wow! You can hold a grudge. Look I don't know how many times I can say that I'm sorry before you can forgive me."

She then finally spoke to me, "Listen, let me just calm down. I know you didn't mean it but it was a low blow to me."

"I admit, it was uncalled for and you were already outside of your comfort zone. I won't do it again."

"You better not!"

"Looks like the cave gets more open here, but it also seems to fork on the path. Which way should we go?"

"Didn't Dawn put a map in your Poketch?"

"Yes but I doubt it has a map of the caves."

"It doesn't hurt to look, does it?"

With that I turned my Poketch on and looked for the map app. While I was shuffling through the apps I noticed that I had a 8 missed calls and 3 text messages. 4 call from Jean and one text message, 3 calls from Seras and one text message, 1 call from Dartz, and a text from Dawn. Serenity noticed them and asked me, "Do you ever pick them up or respond?"

I looked at her and told her, "On some occasions but normally I don't. But I do listen to the voicemails."

"You should listen to them now. I'm curious to find out what your friends sound like. Besides it's only 3 voicemails."

"I'll listen to them as we walk, let me just find the map app."

After a little while I found the map app and to my surprise it had a map of the cave with a green dot that represented my location. I took a few moments to study the map before I came to a conclusion. "We should take the path to the right."

"Okay, now let's hear those voicemails."

I sighed trying not to facepalm but I still complied and chose Jean's voicemail first:

"Hey Rick, it's Jean!

It's been a while since we've talked man, I just want to know how you're fairing. To keep you updated, I'm not in Kanto at the moment and I left the Johto region five days ago. Seras is so worried about me so I think I might head on over there soon. Don't think you're off her radar because she's worried about you too fucker! Listen man, I just want you to be okay, I know your in Sinnoh right now because I can track your Poketch with mine. Looks like you're going to finish it after so many years. Does this mean that you're going to come back home afterwards? Please tell me it is man. We can be a family again but I know not to push you so I'll leave the decision up to you. But in all seriousness man, come back home man. It's no good being alone. I know how much you hurt inside man, but we're here to help you. Well, if anything, you know where to find me. Love you bro! Jean out!"

Serenity was kinda sad after she heard that. "Aww he seems so worried about you. Maybe you should head back to him and Seras, you know, to give them some comfort. Also, what did he mean by hurting inside? His voice sounds assertive yet caring, like your's but deeper."

"That's just Jean. He's always worrying and saying things that he's in no place to say. I don't know if I'll go back permanently, but I did promise to visit and I'm going to live up to it."

We kept walking and Seras kept bothering me to play Seras's voicemail until I did play it.

"Hello Rick, it's your sis!

I heard that you're in the Sinnoh region. Finally you can end all this shit and come home! Since you're there in your species' land of origin, you should try to bring back a nice Gardevoir and bring her here. (Seras laughs) Just kidding there little brother, but seriously you should settle down already. You've fought enough for one lifetime, time to come home or make a home. If you do make a home then you bet your ass I'm going to visit. I want you to call more often or just give use some signs that you're still alive. Also, Jean tells me that you still have that red torn up scarf...why, why do you still have it? It makes no sense to me. But this is no time to judge your fashion sense, I wanted to yell at you for not showing your face in two years but I guess you have your reasons. Just call me back whenever you can, okay? Miss you! Big sister Seras out!"

Once again Serenity was moved by the call and by Seras's voice. "Aww she sounds so nice. Almost like a mother."

"Trust me if she is a mom right now, Dartz would of neutered Jean by now. And I'm not even playing. However, I doubt that they've mated, mainly because I know how Seras gets around her brother and she won't be able to hide it from him. Also, he would freak! He's too protective of her."

Serenity started to laugh at the comment and urged me to play Dartz.

"Okay, will do! I need to hear this one."

"Hey Rick! It's Dartz bro!

Let me just cut the bull shit, dude I need you here again. I need to keep Jean in check, because if he did or does anything to my sister, you can bet your ass he'll be dead. I don't mind them dating but if they go any step further then Jean is dead. So yeah, miss you man and call me back!"

There was a type of awkward silence at that moment. Dartz sounded genuinely mad or frustrated. All I could do was sigh at the voicemail.

"Well looks like I HAVE to call him back now, to calm him down. He has to learn that he has no say in the matter."

I then dialed Dartz's number (so I thought) on the Poketch and waited for someone to answer. To my amazement Dartz didn't pick up but Seras did. *I think I dialed the wrong number.*

"Hello, this is Seras."

"Umm hi Seras. Looks like I dialed your house phone. Long time no talk to." I said awkwardly.

"Rick!? Is this you!?" She said excited.

"Yeah sis it's me. How are you?"

"I'm great, I just got off work. This was an unexpected surprise." He voice sounded excited and happy. Almost filled with pure joy.

"I got your voicemail and I needed to talk to your brother."

"Sorry, he's not here. He's somewhere in town so I guess he'll be back later. How have you been? It's been too long?" I could hear some sadness in her voice now. Almost as if she was reunited with a long lost relative.

"I've been good dear. I'm here in Sinnoh as you've already heard and I've got myself a new trainee."

"Oh you did!? That's great! The usual you, helping others. Who are they?

"Oh she's an Absol name Serenity. I saved her from three other Absols and I decided to take her with me. But only until I deliver the amulet."

"Oh I see..." Her tone changed, "When are you coming home?"

I sighed, "I don't know Seras. You guys are my family but I...I don't know."

I could pick up her emotions and I could sense that she was about to cry, "I see... I just wanted everyone back together."

I immediately tried to comfort her, "Oh sis don't cry. Come on! I promised you I would visit and I'll do it. You know I hate seeing you cry. Please, cheer up for me, please?"

Still crying lightly, "Yeah, I'll try. We aren't going to be a family again are we?"

"Sis, we still are. We may not be together but we still are a family, don't forget that. Listen, I may not be with you right now but I haven't left you guys. I'll be back, I promise and I will be alive. Don't worry about it."

"I hope your right because I'm not prepared to bury you. Arceus forbid that ever happens! Which is why I worry when Jean goes off to find you guys."

"Oh don't worry too much about Jean, he'll be fine. He always comes out fine. However he is the subject of my call. I got a voicemail from your brother..."

"Oh Arceus.", she interrupted with a sigh.

"Yeah, he told me about how he'll kill Jean if you guys mate. Have you mated?"

"Ummmm no, not yet. Jean always sets out before we can and my brother is still here, thus preventing us."

"Well I just wanted to tell him to calm the fuck down. It's not his choice."

"Thank you! He's too protective!"

"You guys are mates in all but the physical sense. So it's technically your decision. Not your brother's not Jean's but your's. You're the female. I can understand his concern but it's not well placed."

"I am so happy I recorded this."

I sweatdropped, "You recorded our conversation? Why?"

"It's not everyday that you call. I want to show my brother this."

"Ummm ok."

"Speaking of mates, Rick did you find a mate?"

"No, why would you want to know that?"

"Because I'm just curious. You've never had a relationship and I wanted to see you with someone by now. You're 22 you shouldn't stay alone."

"I guess you're right but that's not a priority right now."

"You, my brother, and Celand are the same. Priority, priority, priority. Don't you guys do things you like?"

"Umm kinda hard to answer. I'm only trying to finish my mission. It shouldn't take that long."

"It took you 5 years! How is that not long!?" She said in a yell, she was obviously irritated.

"Seras, I...I don't know what to tell you."

"How about you tell me on average when you'll be finished? I would love to know this."

"Very well, I say within the next two weeks. If all goes well."

"Okay Rick, sorry for losing my temper like that. It's just that I grew too used to being with everyone and now they're all gone." She was about to cry again.

"Don't you dare cry. Sis listen, I will go back once this is finished. Hell you can hunt me down if you want, I'm not taking this Poketch off. You can track me if you want. Just don't cry, okay?"

"Okay."

"Very well then. It's been great talking to you sis. Give my regards to Jean and Dartz. Love you! Bye!"

"Will do! Love you too! Bye and behave!"

I then turned the phone app off and sat on a rock with my face in my hands. Serenity then walked next to me with concern in her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. This is why I don't call, I can't take this shit."

"Hey, it made her happy...and sad, but happy still."

"That's not the point! She and Jean want us all to be back together but they don't understand that it's not that simple. I understand their goals but they act like I'm the centerpiece that hold us all together. I want to make them happy but what happiness do I have to give to them anymore. This amulet has torn me and my friends apart...but it's also my honor. I need to do this, only then will I rest."

"Why are you like this all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, I just wasn't prepared to deal with Seras right now."

"I thought she was your "sister". Don't you love her?"

"Of course I do. But I didn't want to hear that right now. I wasn't in the mood to get sad."

"But..."

I stopped her, "Serenity, please let's drop it and keep going. The sooner this is done the better for all of us."

(Alara's POV)

I walked into the cave with Amber on my back, holding on for dear life. I knew she didn't like the dark, but damn! I was looking around while eating an Oran Berry and making a ball of light with my psychic powers. The ball illuminated just enough for me to walk without running into anything and the road was visible, which was very convenient for me. Amber was shaking and her head was buried into my shoulder, I had to pry her off with **Psychic** and set her next to me on the road.

"Amber, stop with that! You're 19 you'll be fine, don't shame yourself."

"I just hate the dark. That's why I enjoy the fact that you sleep in the room right next to mine that has a door to my room. Easy escape plan!"

I then stuck out my arm and offered her my hand. "Do I have to hold your hand like if you're a child?"

To my surprise she took my hand and held it tight.

I sweatdropped, "I guess I do."

"Sorry, but I'm not taking my chance if we run into Ghost types."

"They don't exist in these caves. You don't have to worry about them."

"Seriously?"

I sighed, "Yes, I'm serious. You can't keep being afraid of Ghost types just because of what happened 15 years ago."

"I know, I'm a coward. But at least I survive."

I glared at her, "And what about me?"

"You're brave and strong. That's why you survive."

I rolled my eyes and continued walking with Amber running to catch up to me after she noticed I walked away. After a few minutes Amber spoke to me and this time she sounded serious.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Not at all!"

She faceplanted and sweatdropped, "HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW!? THIS WAS YOUR IDEA!"

I immediately put my hand over her mouth and pointed upwards. To our horror, there was a gigantic colony of Zubats and Golbats. The look in Amber's eyes went from frustrated to frightened.

I then told Amber mentally, _"Listen, be quiet! Talk in your mind. Also, don't fall over anything, knock anything over, or step on a twig or something like that. I don't want to get attacked by these things."_

Amber nodded and tiptoed next to me. I then turned the ball of light off and used my psyching powers to make a path to walk on. I then shared my sight with Amber and she tiptoed on the path making sure not to step on any rocks or anything that will make a sound.

_"Alara, how far do we have to tiptoe until we're in the clear?"_

_ "I say about another three hundred yards."_

_ "Crap!" Oh well let's just get through this."_

_ "Amber! Stop for a second."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "Pay attention to the path I gave you. Don't look at me. You almost walked into that stalagmite."_

As soon as I told her that she looked in front of her and saw the stalagmite. She then stepped around the stalagmite and felt something wet and gooey on her feet. She almost shrieked when she found out what it was.

_"Alara..."_

_ "Yes?"_

_ "I just stepped in guano didn't I?"_

_ "Umm...yes...I would think so."_

Just then she shrieked and started bawling out loud to my horror. I was waving my hands to try to get her attention so she could shut up. But in the end all I could do was facepalm.

"WHAT THE FUCK!? FIRST I GET ATTACKED BY A SCYTHER, THEN I HAVE TO WALK THROUGH A ZUBAT FILLED CAVE, AND NOW I HAVE BAT SHIT ALL OVER MY FOOT! WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!? AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH!"

I then walked over and put both my hands over her mouth. I then looked up and didn't see any of the Zubats stirring. I sighed a sigh of relief before I cleaned Amber's foot with **Psychic** and turned to her with an angry expression on my face. I was mad as hell. I didn't even bother to tell her anything, I just looked back up and saw that they were all still asleep.

"What the fuck are they deaf?"

As soon as I said that I heard squeaking and chirping. Then a swarm of them were headed our way.

"OH YEAH RIGHT! YOU CAN'T HEAR HER YELL BUT YOU CAN HEAR ME TALK...RUN!"

We got the hell out of there and I created a ball of light again to light our path. I looked around me and I couldn't find Amber anywhere. All of the sudden I felt a weight on my back and looked back to see Amber holding on to me for dear life.

"Amber, what are you doing?"

"Using you to get out of here alive."

"You're faster than me. If anything, you'll be fine."

"But I'm not going to leave you behind."

"Aww...shut the fuck up!"

I ran with her on my back and then she did the only useful thing she's done in the whole day. She fired **Ice Beams** at the swarm. She then leaned back and asked me, "Why does this always happen to us?"

"Because you always do things that lead to these situations and I'm forced to ignite them."

"Point taken. Anyways, freezing time!" She kept firing them and soon she gave up because of the sheer number of Zubats. "Ok there's too many for me to shoot down. Can you electrocute them or something like that?"

"No, I don't have enough space between us to charge it, fire it, and then presume running. Besides, already using energy, can't charge it regardless."

"Well that gap between us is closing and fast."

I almost hated looking back but when I did I saw that the swarm was gaining ground and Amber could barely keep up the firing. One of the Zubats got close enough to her to nearly bite her on the nose. I knew that I needed to make a decision and fast. I then used **Psychic** to put Amber in my arms and then my eyes began to glow as she started to talk to me, "You better not do what I think you're about to do." Just then we disappeared into thin air and materialized behind a rock wall with my hand over her mouth. We stayed put until I could sense that the Zubats were gone.

I finally sighed in relief and let go of Amber who glared at me.

"I hate it when you use **Teleport**. It feels so uncomfortable when we materialize."

"It saved our asses, didn't it?"

"Yes, but you could of electrocuted them or used Psychic to knock them into each other."

I rolled my eyes, "True, but do you want a solution that might work or a solution that WILL work?"

She sighed, "Point taken."

We then looked around and realized that we had no idea where we were and Amber was become frustrated.

"Well this is great. We're in a cave, way deep in it, and we have no idea how to get through it. Also, I have no idea where we came from and there's no way I'm following the road back."

She then stared back to the place I was standing at a second ago to see that I wasn't there. I was walking down a tunnel that was across from us. She ran towards me and noticed that I was walking towards a light that was at the end of the tunnel. Needless to say I was apprehensive to actually walk towards it so I drew my sword to be safe. Amber did what she does best and jumped onto my back for protection.

I was feeling like a ninja as I kept advancing but still hiding behind every stalagmite in my path. I then saw the end of the tunnel and lifted my sword to my fighting position and walked towards it. I peaked my head over a rock wall that I was hiding behind but to my surprise there were no living creatures only all these gems on a wall that were reflecting the light of the sun that was going through a small hole in the wall. I was kinda happy to see this room because I didn't need to concentrate my power on the light orb above my head. I took the time to rest there for a minute and Amber jumped off and went running towards the gems.

"Wow these gems are all in different colors. We should take some with us."

I sat down on a rock that was near the center of the room and told her, "No, we don't need some unnecessary weight."

When she heard that she grabbed a yellow gem and pulled it out of the wall. To her surprise the gem had a flame symbol on it.

"Alara, it's a Fire Stone."

"What?"

"Yeah I think this room is filled with evolutionary stones." She said as she pulled a Water Stone from the same wall.

"Wow I think this could be useful. Look for Dawn Stones, they're more important for us, and then we can head back home."

"Really!?"

"Yep, told you I knew something was waiting for us here. Oh screw it! Grab as many stones as you can."

With that we grabbed a large amount of stones, especially Dawn Stones. We had about 20 Fire, Thunder, Water, and Leaf Stones, 15 Dusk and Shinny Stones, 17 Moon, Sun, and Ever Stones, and over 50 Dawn Stones. We were surprised when we saw that they all fit in the bag. I then lifted the bag and put it on my back, it was surprisingly light.

"Wow that's amazing. Alara, how are you lifting that?"

"I have no idea. This bag is virtually bottomless (yes I took the Generation 4 bag rules, unlimited storage)."

"Oh well it's convenient. Let's get the hell out of here already!"

We were about to leave through the tunnel we came in from. The whole extraction of the stones took all the light out of the room, to make up for this I made another ball of light so we could see. However before we left Amber noticed another Shinny Stone sticking out of the ground.

"Wait up! We missed one."

"Umm Amber I think we have enough."

"We can never have too much, can we?"

With that she ran towards the stone and pulled on it but it seemed to be stuck. She kept pulling and wiggling it until it finally came loose. She then tossed it to me so I could put it in the bag, which I quickly did. She started to take a step towards but just then the floor collapsed with her free falling. I quickly ran to the edge.

"Amber!" I then did what I knew I might of regretted, I was probably not thinking too well, I jumped in after her. However I then thought about it, *Wait, I could of just used Psychic to grab her and take her to me...OH FUCK!*

[600 ft. Below] (Rick's POV)

It's been about an hour and a half since I called Seras and me and Serenity have hiked pass 5 floors of the mountain's cave system. Serenity's questions have started to irritate me but I wasn't losing my patience just yet with her. Somehow our conversation went from going home to finding a mate all in a long process cycle started by Seras.

"Rick, I think you should do what Seras says. You know about finding a nice Gardevoir and settling down. It sounds like a good idea since there's no point to be a warrior after you finish your mission."

I looked at her, "While that is true, just remember that it is not a priority of mines and I have no interest in mating right now."

"Well keep that attitude up and let see if you can find a girl." She said while laughing.

I just sighed and facepalmed and walked forward, "Listen, the day I will start caring about a courting a female is the day females start falling from the sky.

Just then we heard screaming coming from above us and I could sense something falling down. *Well fuck! I had to open my big mouth.*

I then stuck my arms out and caught an obviously shaken Lopunny, who was gasping for air.

"Well what do you know, it's raining females. Hey Arceus, can you please send me down a Gardevoir to make my friends shut up?" I then put the Lopunny down and then heard another scream, so I stuck my arms out again and caught, to my surprise, a Gardevoir who was just as shaken as the Lopunny. "Well... Hallelujah! Thanks Arceus!"

The Gardevoir then stopped panting and looked at me, she was obviously confused but seemed to recover quickly.

"Do you mind putting me down?"

With that I helped her to her feet and then crossed my arms thinking about what the hell just happened. My thinking was then interrupted by the Gardevoir analyzing me.

"Umm can I help you?"

"It's just odd."

"What is?"

"I've never seen you before. I know all the Gallades from the Sanctuary and I've never seen you before. What's your name?"

I was confused on why she wanted to know who I was, "My name is Rick. What is this Sanctuary that you speak of?"

She looked at me confused now, "Well it's true that you're not from there because there are no Gallades named Rick there. Also, how do you not know what the Sanctuary is? It's the Gallade and Gardevoir homeland here in Sinnoh."

"Well I'm not from here. I'm from the Hoenn region."

"That's no excuse. Usually parents tell their children what the Sanctuary is since it's the homeland of all of us."

I quickly tried to change the subject because I knew it would lead us to a dead end in the conversation.

"I'm sorry, I'm forgetting my manners. May I ask you your name?"

"You may, my name is Alara. The Lopunny over there is my best friend/sister Amber."

"Charmed to meet you both. As we established, my name is Rick. The Absol over there is my trainee, her name is Serenity."

Serenity then stepped forward with Amber on her back.

"You two are lucky we appeared when we did. It seemed like a long fall."

Alara's expression switched to a face of realization, "Oh yes, I never thanked you. Thank you for saving us." She said as she bowed her head.

I bowed my head as well and waved my hand, "No need to thank me. It was my pleasure. Anyways, I guess that's the end of the formalities. Serenity let's go! We still have a long way to go."

"Wait, you're just planning to leave us here."

"Of course not. Want to join me too?"

"Do you know how to get out of here?"

With that I showed her my map on the Poketch, she took her time to study the map while I waited patiently for her to finish.

"Very well. I will join you to get out of here."

"Well that was quick. Also, will your friend there be okay?"

I pointed at Amber who was shaking on top of Serenity's back. The poor thing was in shock.

"She'll be fine. Just give her a moment."

"Is that so? Very well then. We're moving out."

Not to long after I started to walk, one of Amber's ears shot straight up and pointed at the trail behind us. She then shrieked and hid behind Alara.

"Amber what is it?" She received no response.

With that Serenity looked back and I said, "Do you guys hear squeaks and chirps too?"

Alara's eyes grew wide and she paled. She quickly darted behind me for protection.

"Miss Alara, what's going on?"

"Zubat colony... thousands of them. We need to run."

Serenity also ran behind me and I sighed, "Is that it? Amateurs!"

Alara seemed to of not liked the comment and stood forward next to me and charged a **Thunderbolt** in her arms. We waited until the colony was visible, just then she fired multiple **Thunderbolts** at the colony. Once she finished she looked at me and said, "Who's the amateur now?"

"Still you. Now take out the other ten thousand."

"What!?" She looked back only to see an even larger group of Zubats headed towards us. She then darted back behind me and I sighed again.

"Watch and learn!" I then extended my blades and charged **Psycho Cuts**.

"What are you thinking of? You're the physical combatant of our species. Unless you expect to slice them all to bits without getting mauled, you should think about a new plan."

"Who said we Gallades are limited to physical combat? I'm about to send them all to oblivion. Now stand back!"

With that Serenity took the other girls and moved them back about twenty feet. Just then the **Psycho Cuts** turned from purple to white and I yelled, "**Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun!" I then slashed into the air at a rapid amount of speed, thus firing a barrage of glowing white blades at the Zubats, defeating all of them and making the the mouth of the tunnel they came through cave in. The destruction caused a thick cloud of dust to enter the cave and it enveloped us. When it cleared I was still in my battle pose and I retracted my blades and walked back to the females.

"Well now that that's taken care of, shall we leave?"

"Hold on a fucking minute! What was that!?"

"It's called a **Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun. It can only be used by us Gallades...well those who are trained well enough to use it."

"What are you?"

"I'm a Gallade my dear female. No more no less. I'm just extremely well trained and have a lot of experience in battle."

Serenity then walked next to Alara and told her, "It's true. He saved me from three other Absols who wanted to rape me. He managed to defeat them almost effortlessly. He also defeated a trainer and three of her pokemon, and trust me they were not weak. They were probably more powerful than the Absols. I've been following him ever since the Absol incident and he's been training me as well. It's hard but it's been rewarding."

Alara seemed to have paid attention and stopped with the interrogation. I then walked towards the direction we had to go to much to the girls' dismay.

"Wait, aren't you going to rest? That attack must of taken a lot out of you", said Amber with a concerned look.

"My dear nothing has been accomplished from just standing around and doing nothing. Let's move out!"

Alara then confronted me, "You know you shouldn't strain your body out so much. I can tell your strong but not invincible." I chuckled, this got Alara's attention. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing...well see I didn't bring you guys along to sit down and rest. You guys need a way out and I have the means of getting out. You guys can sit around and sing Kumbaya around the fire but I'm getting out of here and I expect you guys to follow. Got it princess?"

Alara then pouted and stomped her foot, "Well I never!"

"Like what you want but if you don't want to have a scenario like the Zubat incident to happen to you again, I suggest you stay close."

(Alara's POV)

*What the hell is up with this guy!? He's not rude but he's not being extremely kind either. Oh what did I get myself into?*


	8. Chapter 8: Tension

Okay this one took me longer to write than any of the other chapters. I've been stuck on it for a week and it was only recently that I got all my notes together to actually write it down. So enjoy guys and tell me what you think.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

(Overall view)

Rick and the girls were walking through the cave, for what seemed like hours. Amber was still riding on Serenity's back and Alara was still walking next to Rick interrogating him about...everything. Needless to say, Rick's patience with her was being seriously tested and they've only known each other for no longer than a few hours, about three to be exact.

"How can you do all these things? Why do you have all those human items? Why is your Sp. Atk that strong? How..."

Rick let out a breath of frustration and interrupted her, "Oh my Arceus! What's with all the questions? I'm leading you out of here not explaining the crime scene to you Sherlock Holmes!"

Alara pouted and stomped her foot into the ground again, "Asshole!"

"Look I'm sure you want me to treat you like a queen but unfortunately we're in the same predicament. So don't worry your pretty little head about it love. When it's all said and done, we can go our separate ways and you won't have to worry about me ever again."

Alara didn't answer Rick. She just stood there with her eye twitching and a vein swelling on her head. She was obviously furious at him but she knew that he was her only way out.

Rick then sighed and said to her, "Look, I'm sorry. It's out of my character but a lot of weird and unwanted shit has been happening to me too."

Alara then looked up him finally spoke to him, "How do you know that I've been through shit?"

Rick sweatdropped, "Well..." he took a deep breath and quickly told her, "By the look of some of your wounds and Amber's wounds, you've probably of gotten into a fight with a Scyther that must of been a very good fencer. You somehow got chased by a colony of Zubats and by the way you were handling them gave me the impression that you've been chased by colonies of other swarm pokemon before in the past. You fell an approximate 600ft to where I caught you. Also, you seem to be pretty irritated with almost everything that comes out of my mouth, thus giving me the impression that you view Gallades that are confident in their abilities with contempt. Is that it? Did I hit that ball somewhere in that ballpark?"

All the females had their mouths wide open and as well as their eyes, especially Amber and Alara. Rick had completely identified their entire week in a matter of seconds without any information.

Amber was the first to speak, "He's good."

Alara then snapped back to her attitude, "Enough Amber! How did you know all of that? Have you been reading my mind?"

"My dear, I would have nothing to gain by probing that hollow ball that sits on you shoulders that you call a head. I simply used logic to identify everything. And they say Gardevoirs were the smart ones." As soon as he finished saying that, a sound was coming from Alara's mouth that sounded like an Arcanine growling. She was grinding her teeth and she had multiple veins bulging on her hear. Rick then apologized again, "Look, I'm sorry. We've started off rocky. Let's just calm down and maybe stop and rest for a while. Does that sound good?"

He was met with an elbow to the nose that Alara had dished out. She then took a deep breath and answered him, "Yeah, I'd like that. Also, sorry for elbowing you in the face. I had to let off some steam after all of that."

Rick still holding his nose but understood her, "I get it. I'm good. I deserved that last one."

Amber and Serenity were just watching Rick and Alara argue and sweatdropped the whole time.

"Well Ms. Amber, they seem to be the same."

"Oh you have no idea yet. That's Alara when she's angry. How does Rick get when he's angry?"

"I never seen him angry directly but I think he gets the same. Attacks on sight."

They both laughed at the comment and it made Rick and Alara stare at them. And then they both said in unison, "What's so funny?"

Amber answered, "Oh nothing...it's just that you guys act so similar and yet so opposite."

With that Rick and Alara pointed at each other and said in unison, "I'm nothing like him/her!" Once they heard each other they stared at each other and crossed their arms and said to eachother, "Stop copying me!"

Amber and Serenity couldn't hold their laughter in any longer and finally let them out in a large burst. Amber fell off Serenity and rolled on the floor while Serenity put her paw over mouth but failed to stop the laughter.

Rick and Alara were pretty irritated at this point and somehow still speaking in unison, "Stop laughing!"

Serenity was trying to stop but couldn't, "Sorry Rick, I can't." She then rolled on her back and laughed.

"Oh my Arceus! It's not that funny!", yelled Alara.

Rick then crossed his arms and stared at Serenity sharply. The mood in the room immediately changed for Serenity as she looked at Rick. She was immediately afraid and uncomfortable. To her the dim light in the room was gone and all that was visible were Rick's bright red eyes glowing in an angry stare.

"Serenity, don't make me call a training session right here and now. Because this time it won't be very pleasant for you. It might even cause a cave in. So choose your poison."

Serenity then sat in attention with a terrified expression on her face. The other two girls only watched in shock at how Rick dealt with the situation.

Alara then spoke to Rick, "Was that necessary? You scared the poor girl half to death."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't really do it. It was just in the heat of the moment and you wanted them to shut up, didn't you?" He then walked over to Serenity who was looking at him with fear. He then reached his hand towards her. Serenity flinched and closed her eyes, but instead of a hit she felt him pet her on the head, "Don't worry. I'll never hurt you on purpose, it's not the honorable way to do things. Usually I would do that to my friends for fun but to you I've grown kinda attached. Don't worry little one, I won't hurt you...I can promise you that much." With that Serenity kept her eyes closed and enjoyed the petting.

Rick then rose and walked back towards Alara, he then stopped when his shoulder was parallel to her's and he then spoke without looking at her and with his head down , "Listen, I'm not as bad as you might of gotten the impression of me being. We're going to be here for a little while so let's try to get along despite our differences. I can tell you were raised with many luxuries and you can tell that I was raised with little. That's only a statistic in my eyes but let's try not to make tension build. What do you say?"

Alara thought about what he said and then nodded, "Agreed! Don't worry I may of been spoiled but I choose not to act as such. I'd rather get my rewards from the sweat of my brow."

Rick then gave her a smile before walking off, "Good. You may be different from the rest."

Alara then turned to stare at him as he walked away, "What do you mean by that?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's go! Serenity we will have training but I'll go light since you're still a little injured."

Serenity then ran next to him, "Right! Let's do this!" She immediately jumped to a sand pit in the cave and took a battle pose.

Rick laughed, "Aren't you a cheeky one? I wasn't expecting to train now but if you insist." He then turned to the other girls, "You guys don't mind if I give her a bit of training, do you?"

Both girls shook their heads and with it Rick jumped and flipped onto the sand pit and drew his blades.

"Okay Serenity, come at me with all you've got. It's been two days since our last training session. Plenty of time to get rusty for a beginner."

"Let's see."

Serenity then charged Rick with **Night Slash** and went on their usual training with the other girls watching in amusement.

Amber was surprised at how fast they were moving in that one training session. "They're sure moving fast. Serenity keeps using **Quick Attack** but Rick keeps dodging it or blocking it."

"I guess he wasn't kidding when he said he was well trained."

As they were speaking Rick vanished into thin air, shocking all the girls as they searched for him. Then they heard a voice coming from somewhere in the cave. "Serenity, time to teach you how to dodge. I'm going to fire **Psycho Cuts** at you. Dodge them!"

With that two purple blades came flying from the across the cave at a fast velocity. Serenity slightly shrieked and ducked, successfully dodging them. She looked back the impact points of the blades and sighed in relief but only to be hit by another blade that Rick threw.

"Don't stop, the blades won't. Never let your guard down." Then more blades came from the opposite direction shocking Serenity, who did not expect them to come from that direction. She ducked and jumped to dodge three of the four blades but was hit in the air by the fourth. She fell to the floor and winced in pain before getting on her feet.

Alara then yelled, "Are you okay Serenity!?"

In gasps she replied, "I'm...fine...just a little...hit."

"Rick I don't think she can continue to take more of those hits. End this!"

Rick's voice then emanated from the ceiling, "She'll be fine. Don't worry, she's stronger than she looks. Just let her resolve rise a bit and she will surprise you."

"I hope you're right! But if she can't take anymore hits then end it. Got it!" With that Alara sat on a rock to see the training session.

"Loud and clear. Serenity...Dodge!"

Rick fired multiple blades at her with her successfully dodging them but then Rick began to fire them from another direction. The girls were confused why they couldn't see him or how he was moving from place to place so quickly. Serenity was successfully dodging the attacks but was becoming more and more exhausted from the exercise. However it was apparent that she was spotting a pattern to Rick's attacks. He will fire four attacks from one direction and then attack from the opposite direction with the same number of attacks. The only problem was that he will never attack from the same location in a row, so every ninth blade will be completely random in location.

Serenity dodged every attack successfully and stopped to breath and then Rick's voice came from the ceiling again. "Very good, you learn quickly and you identified my pattern."

"What's...the point...to this?" Serenity said while breathing heavily.

"The point to this is to teach you to dodge. I know how you feel, it seems pointless since dodging these attacks require basic skills that living creatures usually have...except for Snorlax. I thought the same when I was being taught this, then I realized how it eventually helped me. It was annoying, that much was true but now I can dodge pretty much anything you throw at me."

After he said that Alara threw a rock at the ceiling and two more in different directions, in a vain attempt to hit Rick. However she then saw three rocks being thrown her way and land at her feet. "How the hell?" She was astonished.

"Yep I can move...and fast. It's all in the training. I can be anywhere right now. The trick to this little skill is to not make yourself known when there are various hiding places. But you'll learn this skill in the future Serenity, until then start to dodge."

He once again fired **Psycho Cuts** at Serenity, but Serenity did not move her feet. She just ducked under three of the blades and then sliced one of the blades in half with **Night Slash**.

"Getting confident now are we? I'm going to tell you now, don't try to slice a projectile attack if you have allies behind you. Mainly because the attack will still travel until it hits something. Look behind you."

Serenity turned her head and saw Alara and Amber with their heads hunched back and halves of the blade stuck to the wall a few inches away from them.

"Oh girls I'm sorry. I didn't think that would happen."

Rick then started laughing and gave Serenity advice, "When you slice attacks like that to protect yourself, make sure no one is directly behind you. Also, this doesn't work for all projectile attacks. For example, you can slice a **Shadow Ball** and it will just fade away. This works for any projectiles that are not blades or beams. You can try to block projectile attacks with another that is of equal or greater strength. But you don't have an attack like that and **Water Pulse** might not stop my **Psycho Cuts**."

"Can't I shoot my Psycho Cuts?"

"Not yet, I haven't taught you. Besides, I think that's limited to only Gallades but I could be wrong."

"Can you teach me that instead today?"

"No, but I'll give you a little exercise you can do to learn little by little. However that's for another time." His voice then turned serious. "Serenity, get as far way as possible from Alara and Amber."

Serenity then sweatdropped and gulped, "Ummm...why?"

"Just do it...this is the last part of training for today. Just to see how much you've advanced."

Serenity immediately ran to the other side of the sand pit and braced herself for a barrage that she was expecting. She charged her **Night Slash** on her horn and tail, waiting for the onslaught but it never came. All of a sudden Rick burst out of the ground beneath her with **Psycho Cuts** on his blades. Serenity was shocked and jumped back only to fall on her back when Rick brought one of the blades down, cracking a nearby rock with the shockwave.

"What the fuck!? You almost killed me!"

Rick then lifted his head and smiled at her, "Looks like you can react faster now. Also, I don't think that hit would of killed you. Knock you the fuck out yes but not kill."

"That still doesn't sound good. Don't do that again! Also, when did you get underground?"

"I'll teach you how I move this fast in a future training session."

Alara was watching what happened and yelled at Rick, "Are you fucking insane, you fucking psychopath!? How was that part of training?"

"Now it's her first test. So she should try not to hold back and use everything I taught her. I taught her the basic points of battle. Don't worry, I'm not going to put her through anything I haven't gone through. If it gets too extreme then I will stop it and let her rest." He then turned back to Serenity, "Now time to see what you've got. Come at me!" He then back flipped away from her and struck his battle pose. Serenity got on her feet and got herself in her fighting stance.

Serenity swallowed her fear and surprisingly didn't charge Rick. She sat down on the ground and waited for him to make a move.

Rick chuckled, "So you're waiting for me to make the first move. Alright, I'll humor you."

With that he fired a Psycho Cut at her and ran at her at the same time. Serenity then jumped over the attack and was able to stop Rick's blades with her horn. As the were struggling for dominance in the clash, Serenity circled herself with water and fired it at Rick who quickly disappeared from sight before it reached him.

Rick then reappeared on top of a stalagmite and jumped into the air to hit Serenity with a **Focus Punch**. Serenity dodged the attack and saw that Rick's hand got stuck in the ground. She immediately tried to slash him with Night Slash only to have his left arm's blade block each and every attempt she made. He then tried to hit her with a contact Psycho Cut, which she incredibly dodged and tried to slash him again.

Rick was still stuck but managed to hit Serenity's horn and that caused her to roll on the ground and she rolled again to dodge another **Focus Punch**. By a stroke of dumb luck Rick's left hand got stuck in the ground as well. Serenity then took the opportunity to attack him and charged a **Night Slash** on her horn and lunged for him. Rick saw the attack coming and with a burst of strength he broke a giant chunk of rock from the floor, where his hands were stuck on. Serenity hit the rock, breaking it and setting Rick free, now she was in trouble again.

With his hands free Rick fired multiple **Psycho Cuts** while vanishing in multiple directions. Serenity had already gotten used to dodging the attacks and did as such. She then sliced through multiple and looked to see that Rick was no where to be found.

"Rick? Where are you?" She said as she started to backup, then she hit something that did not feel like a rock. *Uh-oh*

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a voice next to her ear, "Want to hear a secret?"

With that she ran away in fear, "No! I'd rather not hear it!"

"Okay, have it your way. Time for me to finish this training session." Rick then fired a **Psycho Cut** at her and she cowered her head under her front legs. But to everyone's surprise the attack was blocked, not by Serenity but by Alara's sword.

Rick couldn't help but chuckle, "Well well! Looks like I had you all wrong. I honestly thought you were limited to your powers, but it looks like you have a sword of your own and you reacted faster than I expected.

"I got bored watching you two train. So I thought, "why should I let them have all the fun", so I decided to jump in on this. Also, I think she's had enough of training for today. She probably wouldn't take more."

"You're right. Serenity you can rest now, looks like our lady friend here wants a stab at me...I hope not literally."

With that Serenity jumped towards Amber who was waiting with a first aid kit. Meanwhile, Rick was amused at Alara's sudden desire to fight with him.

"How cute! You want to take me on. Can I ask why?"

Alara smiled and lifted her sword, "Mainly because it looks like you need an ass-kicking and because I want to see how I fair against you. You seem very tough and I'll let you have the first move."

Rick then reached his hand out and waved in his direction telling her to go first. "It doesn't seem right for a lady to go last, try first and let's see how you do."

"Oh so smug, but I'm about to change that."

She then charged at him with the sword and swung at him, but only having him lean to avoid it. She kept swinging the blade but he just continued to either dodge her attacks or block them with his blades. She was quickly getting frustrated with him as he was treating this like a game. He then yawned, which quickly angered Alara.

"You're really pissing me off, you know that?"

Rick then looked at her and smiled before pushing her sword to the side and put his forehead on her's and grinned. He then got bold and pet her on her head which made her rage and yell in a fury. She then tried to punch him which he caught in his hand and he spun her around like if they were dancing. He then started a waltz with her. She was confused and then growled when she realized that he was taking her for a fool. She then tried to elbow him in the face but he kept ducking.

Alara then lifted her sword again and tried to stab him but he managed to grab her wrist and started to laugh.

"Well, I have to admit, you're kinda fun but not the fighter you want to be."

Immediately he felt a fist on his face but it didn't even faze him, surprising Alara and Amber.

Amber then said to Serenity, "Wow he actually took a head on punch to the face from Alara. Most of the males at the Sanctuary can't even take her punches without cringing in pain."

Alara was obviously confused on what Rick was made of. He was obviously unharmed from the punch and he just kept smiling even while her fist was still on his face. Rick then grabbed her hand and pushed her fist away.

"Tell me, was that supposed to harm me? It was a cute attempt but pointless nonetheless."

Alara then clutched her hand when she felt pain on it. She then noticed that it was bruised from the punch. "Ow! What the fuck are you made out of!?"

"Flesh and bone...and a lot of abuse to my muscle system. Training is hell but it's worth it."

"Who trained you?"

"My old trainer, he was a soft tough man."

"I'll ask you about this later, but right now I have to kick your ass without hurting myself."

"Is this really for fun or revenge?"

"A little of both."

She ran towards him with the sword and jumped into the air while swinging her blade. Rick then disappeared into thin air, making Alara miss and dig her blade into the ground. Her sword got stuck in the ground and Rick reappeared to see her struggling to free her sword. She then turned to see Rick standing behind her with his arms crossed and a sly smile on his face. She then tried harder to pull the sword out but to no avail.

"Wow looks like you're not the king of England there Arthur." Rick laughed loudly this time.

She immediate tried to high kick him but Rick blocked it.

She immediately looked at Rick, who still had her leg on his shoulders but he also had his other hand over his eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"You probably don't want to go for a high kick when wearing a dress. Just a quick tip there."

She shrieked slightly and put her leg back on the floor while holding the skirt of her dress. She then growled, "Oh shut up and help me get my sword out of the ground."

Rick then sighed and grabbed the grip of the blade and pulled it out with ease and gave it back to Alara.

"Can we just drop this little game now?"

"A little longer. I haven't hurt you yet."

Rick sighed and shook his head, "You'll never learn. Oh well, go ahead but your getting tired. You should stop. I may be taunting you every now and then but I do get worried."

"I'll be fine! Drop it!"

Rick then put his hands up and stepped back, "Sorry madam bad ass."

Alara then compressed her sword again and gave it to Amber. She then cracked her fingers and pointed her hands towards Rick. Then her hands started forming a ball of black mass that continued to grow in size. Rick immediately recognized what it was and crossed his arms, waiting for the attack.

"Here's my **Shadow Ball**. I hope you're ready."

Rick then opened his arms with a smug smile on his face and Alara fired the **Shadow Ball** at him. He then quickly hit it and it flew over him and destroyed a stalactite above him. Rick then sliced the falling stalactite in half and Alara decided to use it to her advantage. She used **Psychic** to forced the two pieces together to crush Rick. She then released the pieces and saw that Rick wasn't there and then she heard someone clap behind her.

"Bravo! You used your surroundings against me. It was smart but you should of known that it was going to be useless against me. Good effort though."

A vein appeared on Alara's head again and she then fired a barrage of **Shadow Balls**, **Thunderbolts**, and **Psychic** controlled rocks at Rick who dodged them all. Alara then began panting, breathing heavily and her back was hunching. She was obviously running out of energy to use.

Amber began to get worried, "Alara stop! You're going to knock yourself out!"

Rick also seemed concerned, "I think you should listen to Amber. You're running out of energy and, as you can clearly see, I'm easily dodging this storm of power."

Alara seem to still be mad and kept firing at Rick until her legs failed her and she fell back. Rick then appeared behind her and caught her.

"We told you to calm down. There was no need for that. Come on, let's put you to sleep for today, you lost too much energy."

Alara didn't respond, she was exhausted to do so. Rick then carried her bridal style back to Amber, who already had her sleeping bag ready. Rick put her in it and walked towards Serenity to check up on her wounds. She was alright so Rick turned his attention to Alara again. She was tired but refused to sleep as she was thinking. She then looked back at Rick who sat next to her just staring with an expressionless look on his face.

"What Rick? You have nothing cute to say this time? You're not going to make fun of me?"

"Now why would I do that? You fought me and there's no shame in battle. I kept my honor and didn't fight back. I can't harm a female who I am not training, to me it's just not right. Also, I was taunting you yes but I was also testing you. You need to control that temper of your's and you have to be a little less spontaneous and sporadic with your fighting style. I need you to get some sleep and take all the time to rest that you need. I don't want you to be slowed down. I'm in no rush. Hell if need be, I'll carry you out of here myself so you can rest some more."

Alara didn't say anything, she just kept staring at him. Amazed that his attitude was different than what she took it to be. She expected him to be a jerk and now he was acting like a gentleman to her.

"Okay now sleep. Get your strength back and promise me you won't go crazy like that again."

"I promise. But it's hard sleeping in this cave. There's no soft spot anywhere to rest my head and the sand doesn't help very much."

With that Rick took his red scarf off and folded it until it was a perfect square. He then placed it under Alara's head so she could rest.

"Better?"

"Much, thank you!"

Rick then looked at Amber who was settling in for the night.

"Amber, is there any way to put her to sleep faster?"

"If you have soft music it should knock her out quickly. I don't know why she doesn't want to sleep after a power exhaustion like that."

After hearing about the music part Rick pulled his bag towards him and shuffled through the contents until he found a green cube. He set the cube in his hands and used **Psychic** on it until it decompressed and revealed a green violin.

Serenity saw the instrument and was immediately curious, "Since when did you have that?"

"It was a gift from my mother. It's the only thing I have of her and I've prized it very much since the day she taught me how to play it. Now, I hope this puts you to sleep Alara. Enjoy."

With it Rick put the violin on his shoulders and started to play a nice soft melody that quickly put Amber to sleep followed by Alara and Serenity.

Even with the girls asleep Rick continued playing the string instrument until the song ended. Then he compressed it back into a cube and put it in his bag again.

"Sleep tight girls."


	9. Chapter 9:Q&A 1

Okay so I've written this story for a short time and I've received a handsome sum of questions. So I will make a Q&A to answer these questions. I do expect to make more of these as my story develops and grows. Anyways, I'm going to do this now so that I can answer your many questions. Anyways, let's get this show on the road.

1) "How did you come up with this story?"

A: Well I got the idea to make this story when one of my friends announced that he wanted to write a pokemon fanfic. I was kinda bored when I was like, "Fuck it, I have nothing better to do right at the moment." After that I started to write in my journal a plot idea and characters. I then wrote my pilot chapter a month later. It was more of a "Let me just write this and see what others think" kind of aspect. So that's how I started the series.

2) "How long does it take you to write a chapter?"

A: It takes me about 3-4 days. 2-3 days of writing and then one more for revision and alteration. On a good day or a day when I'm motivated to write, it will take me about a day or two. I really have no set pattern to the chapter writing.

3) "Do you like your series?"

A: I actually found this to be an interesting question. At first I did not, I felt like it was kinda mediocre and it was just as a little joke to myself. But then I began to like it as the ideas started flowing and the story developed in my head. Now I feel like sticking to it til' the end.

4) "What level is Jean in?"

A: I'm actually going to kill two birds with one stone with this one, mainly because I got two questions that I can answer on this one. I do not work with the level system in this story and I won't incorporate them. But if I had to guess I would say lv? because I have yet to make him a solid character. In the other term of the question which I could also interpret as the level of intimacy he has with Seras, I would say he's at least in 2nd Base. These are the frustrations of having a protective older brother, you can't make it to Home Base. Tough luck!

5) "How old are Jean, Seras, and Dartz?

A: Well let's compare them to Rick's age. Rick is younger than them and he's 22 which will make Jean 24, Seras 23, and Dartz 26. That should clear it up for now.

6) "How is Jean's name pronounced? Is it like the pants or does it sound like "John"?"

A: It actually is pronounced like the name John. It's a French name and the letters are pretty deceptive.

7) "Why is Rick that strong?"

A: As it can be guessed he has trained for most of his life by his trainer and there are more factors to it but just wait for me to advance the series a bit more to answer this question more appropriately, so that I don't spoil anything.

8) Does Rick have a human form?

A: Yes he does. Wait for future chapters for it to be revealed.

9) "Why did you choose to use a Gallade and a Gardevoir as the main characters?"

A: Mainly because they both are my #1 favorite pokemon and I felt like using them for this story since it seemed appropriate in my eyes.

10) "Considering that Rick can play the violin, can you play it also?"

A: Why yes I can. I've been playing it for a few years now and I love to do so. I can play the violin, viola, cello, double bass, bass guitar, and piano.

11) "How did Rick's parents die? Also, what happened to his sister?"

A: All will be reveal soon young padawon lol.

12) "How long until the romance starts in the story?"

A: Just chill until I decide that it happens. It can happen next chapter, maybe another ten, or probably at the near end of the story. Only I will truly decide when the time is ready for it to be incorporated. Now I know what you're thinking, why stall out the romance? Well that's because I love to make things lead up to a crucial point in my stories. The more anxiety the better, keeps readers glued in.

13) "Who's your favorite character?"

A: While I love all my character, I will have to say that Jean is, mainly because of his personality which will be more prominent later.

14) "Will you ever right a lemon chapter or two in this story?"

A: I am not planning to do that. However, if requested enough I might make a special chapter for it only, but I will have to change the story's rating. But I'd rather not since I'm not very comfortable with the whole sex subject in my writings and I hope you guys will respect that. However, I might do it for fun. Only time will tell.

15) "What's with the constant POVs?"

A: I use the continuous changes in POVs to develop the characters and to tell the story from their perspectives. I started with the transitions from chapter to chapter but the more the characters are together the more I'll utilize the overall POV.

16) "Why do you mix the battle with the dialogue?"

A: This is a rather obvious question. I do this to make the fight seem more real time than not. I also explain in detail what's occurring in the fights to paint an image of the situations. Also, I like using fights to develop my characters and I like how they turn out most of the time.

17) "Does this story have a villain?"

A: Yes, but you will have to wait to find out who it is.

18) "Why did you choose Maylene as the object of the central mission?"

A: Good question. I chose her at random while writing the notes to this story. I was wondering, what extremely simple yet complex and mundane task I could give Rick. So the idea came from nowhere and I worked with it until I got what I have now. I also saw her as a perfect candidate because of how I could of made an interesting story just to get to her.

19) "Why do you have music to be played in the fight scenes?"

A: Well I wanted to try something new and incorporate music to my stories. Mainly to make the story seem more movie like to some of you but I just find it as a really good bonus when reading the fights. Yes I did reuse a song but that's because it works in a lot of Rick's fight and that's kinda of the theme I chose for him.

20) "Why did it take Rick 5 years to get to Sinnoh to finish his mission?"

A: Another good question, it took him this long because he had a lot of personal missions to do. I know this sounds stupid why he didn't just jet over to Sinnoh first to finish his main objective but he had a lot of other crap to take care of so he can leave with a clear mind. It was more of a personal thing than anything else.

21) "Is Serenity Rick's little sidekick?"

A: In a way yes. She doesn't have to be there but she follows him regardless. She's his little helper.

22) "Are Rick and Alara going to mate?"

A: Umm maybe. I'm not really going to get too in depth with mating in this story...I think.

23) "Is Rick's pokeball an Ultra Ball?"

A: Good observation. Yes it is. It's an Ultra Ball with a green slash in the center.

24) "Are any of your characters inspired by real people?"

A: Well yes. Rick isn't really inspired by me but he does have my name. Jean, on the other hand, is inspired by my real life best friend Jean.

25) "I've noticed your community, what's the other story that's there?"

A: Oh that other story is called Dark Legends and it's written by my best friend Jean. It's another pokemon fanfic and his ideas are really interesting. You guys should give it a look at.

26) "How lenient are you in your community membership?"

A: Umm I really don't care, to be honest. If you want to join it then the more the merrier, go right ahead. I'm kinda new to this stuff so I'm pretty lenient.

27) "I saw that you used French in this chapter (Chapter 4), do you know how to speak French?"

A: A little yes. I can have small conversations in French but nothing too fluent. The languages I can speak are English, Spanish, and a little Japanese, a little Mandarin Chinese, and a bit of French.

28) "Are you Christian?"

A: I really don't see how this is relevant but yes. I am a devoted Christian, but I'm very liberal. My denomination is Seventh Day Adventist.

29) "How many chapters do you expect to write?"

A: Really good question. I'm expecting a long series of about 40-70 chapters. But it might be shorter considering how much info I put into my chapters.

30) "How open are you with your viewers?"

A: I am actually pretty open. If you PM me I'll most likely reply to you and I might get into a conversation with you. I like having a relationship with my viewers.

31) "Will you collab with me?"

A: Kinda depends on what you're writing. I'm actually kinda surprised with this question that I get because I'm new to fanfic. I've only been writing for about a month now or so now. I don't know why you would want me to collab with me but I'm open to it.

32) "How long have you been writing?"

A: On this site, about a month. Overall, 7 years and it was just recently that I wanted to make my writings public.

33) "Do you have any other stories planned?"

A: Yes actually but I want to finish The Blade and the Embrace first before I actually write other stories.

34) "Do you do anything other than writing?"

A: Once again, I don't see how this is relevant but yes. I play music and I sing. I'm also a gamer with a large video game history knowledge.

35) "Can one of my characters be in your story?"

A: No. This is mainly because I want to make everything as my own ideas. Also, I might change this is I get to know you and your stories a little better. But for the time being, no they can't.

36) "What would you say is Rick's theme song?"

A: He doesn't have one. You can debate that **God In Fire** is but that's just a general battle song in my eyes. I'm open to anything you guys want to throw into the mix.

37) Final question: "Are you and Latiasfan1 friends?"

A: No we are not. I mean, I'm a fan and all but we don't know each other at all. But when they tell me things I tend to listen since Latiasfan1 is a more seasoned writer on this site than I am. Would I like to get to know them? Of course I would. Do I expect to? No, not at all. But hey, anything can happen, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

Well that's all the questions that I've received in the month and a half that I've been writing. Feel free to PM me more questions for a future Q&A and I hope this answered all your questions. Peace out!


	10. Chapter 10: Don't Worry

Well here's chapter 10. For all of you don't know, the Q&A counts as 9. Also, thank you all for 1,000 views. I want to do something special for you guys but I have no idea on what to do. So leave me suggestions on PMs and shows some love. Enjoy!

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

(Overall POV)

Alara woke up and lifted her chest until she sat up. She was sore and her joints crack at every little movement, no pain but still with a little discomfort. She opened her still tired eyes and saw Amber sleeping tight and Serenity was knocked out in a sleeping bag next to a fire. She looked near the fire to see Rick, wide awake and boiling something. He then looked back at Alara and smiled before standing up with a cup and walking over to her.

"Good morning. Slept well?"

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes before answering him, "Yes actually. Thanks for everything."

"Good to hear and you're welcome." He knelt down in front of her and then handed her the cup that was in his hand, which she just stared at apprehensively. He chuckled, "It's okay. It's just tea to help you feel better. Don't worry."

She reached out for the cup and took it, it was warm and the tea had a very sweet smell to it. She didn't drink it, she only looked at it and then looked at Rick who was still knelt down in front of her just chuckling.

"It's not going to kill you. Plus, it tastes good, it's made out of Oran Berries. Watch out it's still hot."

With that she sighed and sipped a bit of the tea before flinching, "Ow!" She scalded her lip slightly.

"Blow it first, I told you it was hot."

She then blew into the tea and then drank a bit of it. She smiled as the warmth filled her and it tasted delicious. She then chugged the entire thing down in a few seconds. Rick then took the empty cup from her.

"You sure were thirsty, weren't you?"

"Looks like our little fight last night took more out of me than I thought. Thanks for everything, I'm sorry I snapped on you yesterday."

Rick smiled at her again, "It's all good. I'm sorry for taunting you but I haven't had that much fun in a long time."

She then grabbed the folded scarf from the floor and handed it over to him, "Here, thanks for letting me use it. It was really nice."

Rick then stood up, "Throw it in the air."

She rose an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Just trust me, you're going to see something interesting."

With that she threw it in the air where it stopped in midair, that surprised her as neither of them were using **Psychic** on it. She then heard what sounded like a snarl coming from the scarf and then it bolted towards Rick and wrapped itself around his neck. The scarf then came to rest on his neck and its tail waved like fire, the ends floating and disappearing into thin air.

"Looks like you're still awake there Chaos."

Rick then looked at Alara who was clinging against the cave wall with eyes full of fear.

"Are you okay?"

"What is that thing?"

"It's called a Chaos Scarf. It was a gift."

"From who!? She yelled while being careful not to wake up the other girls.

"I can't say but that's not important. Don't worry, it's harmless...well unless I don't give you permission to use it."

She sweatdropped, "What happens if I don't have your permission?"

"Oh, it'll try to kill you."

Her eyes shot open, "And it doesn't try to kill you?"

"It recognizes me as its master. I can call it back from anywhere and it listens to everything I say. You guys are in no danger around it."

"Is that true? So I can touch it right now and it won't rip me to shreds?"

"Nope. Go ahead."

Rick then held his hand out to her, which she reluctantly took and he helped her up. She then inched her hand closer to the tail of the scarf but quickly retracted her hand in fear.

"Don't worry, I'm here. I won't let it hurt you."

With that she reached her hand out to it again and touched the tail and held it for a few seconds. She was confused, it looked like the end was blood red fire but it didn't burn. Then Rick whispered, "Go to sleep Chaos." Immediately the flame like tail died down and it stopped floating, returning to it's appearance as a torn scarf and not as a demon flame.

"I'm still curious on how you obtained this thing?"

Rick laughed slightly, "Doing a lot of favors."

All of the sudden a ringing came out of nowhere. Rick looked at his Poketch but it wasn't the source. Then Alara took a purple Poketch from her bag and answered the video call.

"Hi mom!"

"Hi dear! How have you and Amber been?"

"We're okay. Things are fine right now."

"Did you find something to bring back?"

"As a matter of fact I did?"

Rick then spoke out, "I'd say you did?"

Alara looked at him and he had one of the Dawn Stones in his hands and examining it.

"Who's that Ally?"

"First, don't call me that mom. Also, that's Rick, he's a Gallade that actually rescued me and Amber here at Mt. Coronet. He's actually helping me get out so I can go home. Also, he's not from the Sanctuary."

"He's not? Turn the Poketch around so I can see him."

"No need miss. I'll just walk over." Rick then stood next to Alara so her mom could see him. "Hello there my lady. My name is Rick, I'm charmed to meet you."

"Oh my Alara you snagged a cute one."

"Mom!" She yelled with an embarrassed look on her face. Rick just chuckled.

"I'm just joking. Thank you for saving my daughter. I really appreciate it."

Rick bowed his head in affirmation, "It's my pleasure."

Alara's mom laughed and then said, "Well more her pleasure, I'd reckon."

"MOM!" Alara yelled with a deep red blush and a vein on her head.

"Sorry, but is the first time I've seen you with a male without knocking him into a lake or beating the living hell out of them."

Rick then looked at Alara and said, "Wow you don't only do that to me?"

Alara's mom seemed to have heard that and said, "Well looks like I'm half right. But you seem fine."

"Rick is...complicated. He's tougher and stronger than he looks."

"I should tell your father this."

"Don't you dare!" Alara said with a harsh tone in her voice.

"And who's going to stop me?"

"Mom just do me a solid and keep your mouth shut."

Her mom sighed, "Fine I will, but you better bring him for your father to see."

"If I don't want you to tell him, what makes you think that I want him to see him?"

"Do you have something to hide?"

"No."

"Then this shouldn't be a problem now. Can I talk to Rick in private?"

"Why?"

"I need to ask him something."

Alara then handed Rick the Poketch and walked away to wake Amber and Serenity up. It was surprising that her yelling didn't wake them up.

"Yes miss. You wanted to speak with me? If it's about me and your daughter, then don't worry there's nothing between us."

"Yes I know, I was only joking. I just need to know, are you a Gallade of honor and integrity?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"You see, my daughter is not just any female in the Sanctuary."

"She's the daughter of the leader there, isn't she?"

She immediately looked surprised, "No... I mean yes, did she tell you?"

"Not at all. I deduced it by just the way she is."

"Oh you're good. But that's not why I wanted to talk to you. I want my daughters home safe, Alara and Amber. I want you to bring them here safely."

Rick didn't respond and he sighed.

"I know this is inconvenient but a mother's pain is something I don't want to go through yet. I need you to give me your word as a Gallade that you will bring them back to me in one piece."

Rick was reluctant to say the least, he didn't want to do it but he didn't want to see a mother sad. Rick then made a decision, "You have my word."

"Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you!"

"I'll be giving you back to Alara now."

She nodded and Rick walked over to Alara how was helping Amber wake up. He then handed the Poketch over and walked to a rock and sat to think.

*Great my impulse to preserve honor has gotten the best of me again. I guess it's for the best, but is it right?...A mother's pain, huh? I don't know how that even looks like but I know it must feel like hell or worse. Arceus forbid I ever let that happen! Mothers shouldn't lose their kids.*

Rick then snapped back to reality when Serenity nudged him with her nose. He looked down at her and sighed.

"Something wrong Rick?"

"No, I'm just thinking. Nothing to concern yourself with."

"I hope you're right."

With that Rick pet her on the head and walked over to Alara who had just finished her conversation with her mother and Amber had the Poketch and talking to her now. Rick then walked next to Alara and got her attention.

"Yes, Rick?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Privately?"

"No, because this pertains to Amber as well."

"Oh okay, what is it?"

"Your mother made me swear on something."

She then looked at Rick with a curious look on her face, "On what?"

"She wants me to take you to the Sanctuary and to protect you on the way."

"Did she now?" She smiled, "Well I guess you'll finally see your land of origin."

He still couldn't find the resolve to smile back but he nodded and shifted through his bag and handed the girls puffins that Dawn made for him and Serenity. Amber quickly dug into hers and fell in love with the taste immediately. Everyone laughed as she gorged her face into the pink pastry.

Not long after breakfast they got up to leave. Alara was happy that this would be the day that they finally got out of the infernal cave. Amber was riding on her back and talking to her while Rick was explaining to Serenity the exercises that will teach her to fire any aura based physical attack.

"All you have to do is concentrate the energy and let it go at the same time you release your hold on it. Does that make sense?"

She nodded, "I think it does."

"Then practice it whenever you get the chance."

"Aye! You got it!"

It took them about another two hours before seeing the exit, even though it was still quite a walk away from their location. Amber couldn't help but hop off Alara's back and hop on every rock that was on her way.

Rick was actually getting worried with her hopping about, "Amber be careful, in these caves not every rock is what they seem to be."

"Oh don't worry so much Rick. I think I would know a real rock from a fake one."

"That's not what I mean."

Before he could explain it to her she hopped on a rock that immediately moved and lifted itself and Amber up. It was a Graveler and by the looks of it it was pretty angry. It then lifted it's four arms to crush the rabbit on his head. Unfortunately Amber was too far away to jet over and grab her instantly so Rick did what he never though he would do in a while.

"Chaos wake up and bring me the Lopunny!" With that his scarf took the look of fire again and a figure that resembled a snake lunged itself towards Amber and grabbed her before the Graveler could crush her. The snake then put Amber in Rick's arms and he then handed her over to Alara.

Alara was pretty irritated with Amber, "It's always you! The last thing we need are his friends."

To her horror the Graveler let our a roar and hundreds of rocks around them came to life and they all seemed to be pretty furious with the four intruders. They inched closer but the Chaos Scarf woke itself up and turned into a snake head again and hissed at the approaching Gravelers and made them step back.

"Thanks Chaos!"

Serenity then hid behind Rick but she immediately noticed that she wasn't safe anywhere and leaned on Rick's leg. Suddenly she fell when she couldn't feel Rick's leg anymore, this also got the attention of the other girls. They looked for Rick and then they heard the roaring stop and they saw that Rick had knocked out the roaring Graveler with a **Focus Punch**.

"Girls move now!"

"What?"

"I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN, HURRY!" He yelled at them and then they hauled ass out of there.

Alara then told Rick, "You do realize that they're everywhere, right?"

"Yeah, you guys run and I'll cut them down."

Rick's blades then began to glow green and Alara recognized it as **Leaf Blade**. She then put Amber on her back and ran behind Rick who was slashing down numerous Gravelers until a clearing was present. She then stopped and put Amber down and looked at the Gravelers chasing them.

Rick then ran back to her and grabbed her shoulder, "What are you doing? Let's go!"

"I have an idea."

Rick looked at her pretty irritated and sighed, "It better be good."

Alara then lifted her hand to eye level and formed a ball of energy. She then slammed it on the ground and a loud crash was heard that stopped the Gravelers. Everyone waited for something to happen and the Gravelers were looking around and each other, but nothing happened.

Rick then sweatdropped and facepalmed, "You're useless."

"Oh shut up! I don't know what happened."

Immediately the Gravelers began their assault again but the moment one of them moved forward the ground caved in on them.

"See? I'm never useless."

"I take it back then, well if you can stopped them from climbing back up."

"WHAT!?"

She then looked down the chasm she created and saw that the Gravelers were indeed climbing back up and she backed up in fear.

"What do we do, what do we do!?"

"Well we could always run, the exit's right there. But I'd rather make sure these guys leave us alone."

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

Rick sighed, "Chaos knock down the closest ones to the top" With that his scarf came back to life and took the appearance of a dragon's head and charged multiple Gravelers and slammed them to the bottom of the chasm. "Serenity use Water Pulse and fill this chasm with water." Serenity did what she was told and fired a large amount of water down the hole. "Amber freeze the water." Amber then fired at the water turning it into an ice field. All the Gravelers were frozen in place. "We should go. That's only going to hold them for about two hours."

With that they ran towards the exit where they knew they were safe. The happiest people were Amber and Alara since they started dancing with eachother.

"Now girls don't go celebrating just yet. I still need to get you guys home, now show me where it's at on my map."

Alara then left Amber with Serenity and walked to Rick who had his map app out. She then pointed to an area south of Route 212.

*You've got to be kidding me* "How long did it take you two to get here?"

"A week but that's because we actually got a lift from an Altaria that took us to Solaceon Town."

Rick sighed, "So how long do you think this journey can be?"

"Two weeks, maybe 16 days."

"Well we have a lot of walking to do. Let's get going then."

She nodded and motioned Amber and Serenity that we were leaving. They quickly ran over to Rick and Alara with Amber jumping on her back and Serenity walking next to Rick.

"Okay according to my map there's a town down this route that should give us a chance to restock on supplies."

Alara looked at him confused, "How are they going to sell anything to a pokemon?"

"Don't worry about that, leave it to me."

They kept walking until they reached a grassy field which had a rock wall on the north side. It seemed quiet and still so they decided to rest for a bit after their little run in the cave. Rick then sat down on a rock and pulled a brown cube from his bag and decompressed it and reveled a guitar.

Serenity looked at him and said, "So you have a guitar now? How many instruments do you have in that bag?"

Rick didn't reply but started playing (Here would be a great time to play **Going Home by Shiro Sagisu**). The girls then sat down and ate while listening to the soothing music that Rick was playing for them. The song wasn't long but it was enjoyable to the girls. Rick had his eyes closed the entire time and then he suddenly stopped and looked behind him.

Serenity asked him, "What is it?"

"Nothing I just thought that I sensed something familiar."

"Is it something we should be worried about?"

"Nope...actually get over to Alara and Amber and hide."

With that Rick put the guitar away and walked a few steps away from the girls and looked at the rock wall and the short cliffs that were on it. He was trying to find out where he sensed a presence but he couldn't pinpoint it. Suddenly a Serviper lunged at him but he smacked it away but it just came back towards him with its mouth wide open. Rick grabbed it jaws and held it there trying to gain dominance over it, but just then he heard a laugh and clapping. He looked up to see a guy with a red bandanna on, red spiky hair, and a black shirt with a bright red R on it.

*Fuck! What the hell is Team Rocket doing in Sinnoh!?*

The man then spoke, "Bravo! Nice defenses for a Gallade. You'll make a great gift to my leader Giovanni."

When Rick heard that he slammed the Serviper's mouth shut and threw him at the trainer who grunted in pain when the snake landed on him. "Ow! Damn it! Serviper get off of me and use **Poison Tail**. The Serviper then lunged down towards Rick while swinging its glowing tail at him. Rick then fired a Psycho Cut at it which hit it on the head, throwing it off balance. It's tail hit the ground and then Rick grabbed it and slammed its head into the rock wall, cratering it. He then proceeded to beat it with **Focus Punches** and with the last one the wall collapsed onto it, rendering immobile.

The Rocket member then tried to recall his Serviper but the pokeball wouldn't work on it. He then looked shocked at what he saw. "Did you just kill my Serviper?" Rick answered by drawing his blades and walking towards the Rocket member.

All of a sudden Rick heard a voice in his head, _"Rick! What are you doing!?"_ He recognized it as Alara's voice.

_"This is a Team Rocket member. They're a criminal organization that steal pokemon for their goal of world domination. When I see a member I usually go for a kill."_

_ "But why?"_

_ "Alara! I do this out of revenge and honor."_

_ "Revenge for what?"_

_ "...They killed my family! So I erase them from their worthless existences! For my family's sake."_

_ "...Rick..."_

_ "Their pokemon are just as twisted as they are. So I put them out of their misery as well. I don't like to do it but I can't help it."_

_ "Look out!"_

Rick then looked back at the Rocket member and he felt something pounce on him and pin him to the ground. He looked up and saw a Mightyena on his chest snarling at him.

"Good girl Mightyena, now **Bite** his head clean off." The Mightyena then lifted its head and showed Rick its teeth before barring down on him but then it got tackled to the ground by a obviously mad Serenity.

Rick was surprised at Serenity's sudden outburst and the fact that she was snarling at the Mightyena and sizing it up. The Mightyena was doing the same and both of them were circling each other. Serenity was slightly taller but she was not an adult yet and the Mightyena seemed larger than her though, but she didn't back down.

Suddenly they both charged each other and Serenity managed to bite down on the Mightyena's neck and slammed it to the ground. The Mightyena then bore its claws onto Serenity's face, forcing her to let go of its neck. The Mightyena then headbutted her and **Sucker Punched** her, but Serenity then shook it off and hit the Mightyena with a **Night Slash**.

Rick quickly told Serenity, _"Why aren't you hiding? Oh screw it then! I'm going to tell you this now, you Dark types are not weak against many things so try to use something that isn't Ghost or Psychic type moves. Don't hold back, kill that thing."_

Serenity then nodded and pounced on the Mightyena and they both rolled on the ground and exchanged attacks. Serenity then took her training and started using it by dodging every attack the Mightyena dished out and landing hits on it.

Rick looked at the fight but turned his attention to the grunt who threw a pokeball into the air and an Infernape came out. The Infernape seemed like it has been in a lot of battles and it had the scars to prove it. It was larger than Rick and it immediately tried to hit Rick with multiple **Fire Punches** that Rick blocked and then countered one. The hit from Rick made the Infernape stagger back and then it composed itself and howled.

"You have no idea what you're fighting here. This is my strongest pokemon and it is a veteran fighter. I'd like to see you beat it."

Rick then took his battle stance and waited for the Infernape to make a move, which it quickly did by charging at Rick and the two got into a power struggle. Rick then back-flipped and kicked the Infernape in the jaw, but the Infernape was still holding on to his arms and slammed him to the ground and threw him to the rock wall. It then **Mach Punched** him into the wall, which cratered him about a foot. Rick then slumped out of the crater in disbelief that the **Mach Punch** did that much damage. He held his gut and stood up to only to barely dodge a **Flamethrower**. He then fired two **Psycho Cuts** at the Infernape which made it fall to the ground in pain.

"Infernape get up and kill that Gallade or injure it enough so I can catch it." The Infernape only looked at the grunt with squinted eyes and a growl. The grunt then pulled out a whip and whipped the Infernape that howled in pain. It then charged at Rick with a **Focus Punch** and Rick clashed it with another **Focus Punch**. One again they got into a power struggle but this time with their fists and Rick could feel himself getting dragged through the floor. This Infernape was stronger than he thought and he was having a hard time trying to keep up with it.

Alara and Amber were watching the fight from inside a bush that was nearby and they saw Serenity dominating and Rick struggling. Their attention immediately switched to Serenity's fight with the Mightyena and they saw Serenity hitting it with a **Water Pulse** and making it crack the rock wall.

Serenity looked at the crack she made with the Mightyena and a plan came to her head. She then ran towards that Mightyena and jumped on its head and hit the crack above with a her horn and it started to crack until rocks began to fall. She immediately dislodged herself from the wall and jumped into the clear. The Mightyena regain its composure until it felt a rock hit her head, and she then looked up to see the rock wall crumbling. It then tried to jump out of the way but Serenity hit it back to the wall with her bladed tail, also slashing her abdomen open. As the Mightyena hit the wall again the wall finally came down onto the Mightyena and crushed it.

Serenity then heard a voice in his head, it was Rick, _"A little bit of overkill there deary. But you got the job done. Congrats on your first true victory in battle. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to kill the crap out of this overgrown flaming monkey that I don't think is battling on its own free will."_

_ "Why do you think that?"_

_ "Because why would a trainer need a whip to control their pokemon and why would a pokemon be apprehensive about battling another pokemon. This pokemon was obviously stolen not earned."_

_ "So what are we going to do?"_

_ "Well I'm going to try to not kill this Infernape and the grunt just told it to use __**Mach Punch**__...dodge it!"_

_ "Wait, wa..."_

She was interrupted by a fist hitting her clear across her face and knocking her unconscious on the ground. Rick then tried to attack the Infernape but it kicked him out of the way.

"Nice job Infernape. Now kill that Absol with a **Focus Punch** clear on the temple. The Infernape didn't move but tried to walk away but the grunt whipped it into submission until it made its fist glow with the **Focus Punch**. Rick could barely hear it whisper to Serenity, "I'm sorry." Rick then lunged at it to save Serenity but the Infernape then kicked Rick clear in the center of the face, knocking him back and disorienting him. He then tried to lunge again at the Infernape but his limbs wouldn't move. He looked at them and noticed that they were bound to the ground, Rick immediately recognized it as **Grass Knot** and he tried to free himself desperately. The Infernape closed its eyes as it brought its fist down on Serenity only to have it stop in mid-motion with a purple aura around it. Alara then came out of the bush with her eye glowing, indicating that she was using **Psychic**.

_"Alara, what are you doing? I told you to hide."_

_ "Well, you're in no shape to protect Serenity. So I had no choice but to get into the battle."_

_ "Well help me out of this __**Grass Knot**__."_

With that Alara fired a **Thunderbolt** at the knot on Rick's right arm and he then cut himself free. He then grabbed the Infernape's still suspended arm and threw it a few feet away.

_"Alara don't kill the Infernape. It's not doing this on its own free will."_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "I can sense that it was probably stolen by that Rocket member. So we have to get rid of the Rocket member without harming the Infernape."_

_ "Can't you just attack the grunt?"_

_ "No, I psychically scanned his mind and he has a shielding unit that works like a mirror shield. It's well hidden and I didn't pick it up earlier. Also, my physical attacks may be a bit to slow and he might have enough reaction time."_

_ "How do you break all this down?"_

_ "Training, that's all I have to say."_

All of the sudden they heard the trainer, "Well looks like there's more of you. A Gardevoir huh? Hmmm who to take? Let's see how many pokeballs I have." The grunt then checked his bag and brought an odd looking ball from the bag. "Well looks like I only have one, a Rocket grade Master Ball. I can only take one of you. Who to choose: the Absol, the Gallade, or the Gardevoir?

_"Rick, any ideas?"_

_ "That depends, is the sun hitting me?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "Damn it! The Chaos Scarf won't awaken if it's being touched by sunlight."_

_ "Well that's a major drawback, isn't it?"_

_ "True but I don't use it that much to begin with."_

_ "Well looks like I have to do this."_

She arched an eyebrow, _"Do what?"_

Rick then charged forward and tried to slash the grunt only to have the grunt scream a command, "Infernape use **Blast Burn** on the Gallade."

The Infernape sighed and quickly charged and fired a cannon of fire at Rick. Amazingly, Rick didn't try to dodge the attack but blocked the attack so it didn't do a lot of damage. The blow sent him flying and he landed near Alara who quickly ran towards him and knelt down to see if he was still conscious. After a little bit of shaking him and no response she stopped trying and looked at the grunt who was laughing like a maniac.

"Well looks like your boyfriend and your little friend are down for the count there."

Alara didn't even try to respond all she could do was have a vein swell on her head and her eye twitching in anger because of his comment.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just take you since you're still pretty health."

*WHAT!? He doesn't want the two that actually gave him a fight?*

"Oh well welcome to Team Rocket!"

With that he threw the ball at Alara and she then yelled before the ball could hit her. All of the sudden Rick shot himself off the ground, pushed Alara out of the way, and took the hit of the ball. Serenity woke up at that moment to see Rick being sucked into the ball, all she did was smile because she knew it wouldn't work on him. The ball then fell to the ground and shook three times and stopped. When the ball stopped everyone held their breaths, even Amber who was still watching from the bush. The ball remained motionless and the rocket grunt began to laugh.

"It wasn't my initial pick but he is the strongest. So I guess he'll do."

Then a beeping sound came from the ball, a blue light appeared on the center, and then a voice followed it.

"WARNING! THE SUBJECT WITHIN THE POKEBALL IS ALREADY OWNED. WARNING! THE SUBJECT WITHIN THE POKEBALL IS DAMAGING THE POKEBALL'S FOUNDATIONS, RECOMMENDING THE RELEASE OF THE POKEMON IMMEDIATELY. WARNING! CAPSULE DAMAGE CRITICAL, THE POKEBALL HAS BEEN RENDERED USELESS."

Suddenly the Masterball was sliced open and a shot of white light appeared from the ball into the air and Rick materialized with his blades drawn and in front of the grunt smiling fiendishly.

_"Why hello there."_

"Y...yo...you can talk?"

_"In your head, yes. Physically, no. Now then, it has been nice chatting with you but it's time to die."_

"Infernape use **Blast Burn**!" He yelled out in fear.

The Infernape just stood there and crossed its arms.

The grunt then glared at the Infernape, "Damn it! Don't you ignore me!" He then whipped out his whip and snapped it at the Infernape, but Rick caught it as it snapped forward. He then wrapped it around the grunt's neck and threw him at the Infernape's feet while still holding onto the grip.

"Hey Infernape, why not take a few revenge punches? It'll feel great."

The Infernape smiled and nodded at Rick. He then proceeded to beat the living hell out of the grunt before Rick pulled him back and kicked him back to the Infernape, who took more punches. They repeat this process another ten times before Rick pulled the grunt back and the whip broke. The grunt then grabbed the Chaos Scarf from Rick's neck and fell on the ground a few feet away from Rick. Rick then walked towards the guard with his blades drawn but then the grunt stood up and flashed a handgun at Rick. Rick seemed unfazed and unafraid of the firearm in the grunt's hand.

_"What's this? You guys upgraded to guns now?"_

Rick then heard Alara in his head, _"Rick watch out!"_

_ "I noticed, thanks Alara!"_

"You thought that you could fight Team Rocket and win?" Rick nodded.

_"I've done it before."_

"Before not now. I'm to love killing you for this." He then tried to stand with the gun pointed at Rick, but he then fell back and rolled into a shaded area. Rick looked at the grunt's left hand and noticed that he still had the Chaos Scarf in it. Rick then started to laugh silently and smiled with his teeth showing.

"What's with the stupid grin on your face? Did you make your peace?"

_"Nope, you made the biggest mistake of your life."_ Rick then made the "bye bye" motion with his right hand. _"Bye bye now."_

The grunt was confused and then he heard a hiss coming from his left hand. He looked to see the Chaos Scarf awake and in the form of a snake's head brandishing fangs and letting out a loud hiss. The grunt then shot at the Chaos Scarf with no effect and then the Chaos Scarf wrapped itself around his neck and lifted himself up, along with the grunt, hanging him.

Rick then turned from the sight and proceeded to walk away. All of the sudden another shot rang out, the grunt succeeded to shoot at Rick before he died at the hands of the Chaos Scarf. Rick then fell on the floor and the Chaos Scarf then slammed the grunt's lifeless body to the floor and made the rock wall fall on the body. It then darted towards Rick and wrapped itself around his neck once more.

Alara and Serenity quickly ran towards Rick and checked on him. Amber then ran over with the first aid kit and the Infernape following. Alara then turned Rick over and noticed that the bullet hit his right shoulder and went out the other side. He was still conscious and cringing in pain, he then held his shoulder and tried to stand, but then had Alara holding him down.

"Don't move you idiot!"

"I'll be fine...ow..."

"It may not be life threatening, but you still shouldn't move so we can patch you up and to stop the blood from flowing."

Amber then cleaned the wound with alcohol, making Rick cringe in pain, and she then put a large linen bandage on each side of his shoulder. Quickly, Alara and Serenity hugged him, which made his sweatdrop.

"Umm you're embracing me. I understand Serenity, but why you Alara?"

Alara then let him go and glared at him before hitting him over the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For taking the risky way out! You knew about the gun but you got careless around it."

"Now listen, I can't plan out when they pull a trigger. I can only expect the best and prepare for the worst."

"You irritate me so much."

"Wow and this morning we were getting along. What happened to that?"

"I'm not about to argue with you!"

Amber then yelled out, "Enough! Both of you!"

Rick then tried to stand up again and then felt a pain in his left leg that made him sit again. He then looked at where his leg was and realized that he had landed on a rock when he fell.

"Well, my luck just gets worse."

Alara then helped him up and put his arm around her shoulder and helped him walk. Rick was surprised that she could support him and didn't say anything other than a few pain sounds every now and then. The Infernape the walked towards Rick and Alara and finally spoke to them.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this."

Alara then responded, "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."

Rick then spoke out, "It wasn't your choice. I had to kill that grunt to free you. Now you can go back home."

"Thank you. My colony will be glad to have me back. My name is Saul. Pleased to meet you and thank you. That grunt stole me from my home and my mate about a month ago and kept me in check with that whip."

"You don't need to thank me. I have to defend others, it's what we Gallades do. Now head home. Go back to your family."

The Infernape then nodded and climbed the rock wall and disappeared into the mountains. Rick then tried to walk on his own but fell quickly. Alara then picked him up again and kept scolding him.

"You know you're still hurt. I have no idea why you're trying to walk on your own."

"I appreciate what you're doing but you don't have to do it."

"Well you save all of us, I might as well help you in return."

Rick didn't respond he just let out a short breath from his mouth and started to walk down the path with Alara and the other girls. Suddenly they heard laughter and clapping coming from the path ahead of them.

"Well looks like trouble keeps finding Rick. How unfortunate but expected. I have to stop finding you like this Rick!"

Rick then looked with his jaw dropped and a look of surprise. He then whispered, "Oh hell no."

The girls then looked at the horizon only to see a Blaziken walking towards then and he then stopped and crossed his arms with a smirk on his face. Rick shook his head when he was staring Jean in the face after two years.

Jean then gave a hearty laugh and spoke, "It's great to see you again you son of a bitch! How have you been!?"

It was silent for a moment until Rick said, "Leave!"

Wow this one was a pain to write. I re-wrote it about 3 times and finally came to a good ending. Oh well show some love and leave me questions for the next Q&A. Peace out!


	11. Chapter 11: Unexpected Surprise

Hey guys finally got this one done. I took some recommendations from a friend of mines to develop some of the characters a bit more. Jean makes his return to the story and things should get interesting. This is going to be more of an emotional episode than anything else, but don't worry a huge fight will be coming. I'd like to give a shout-out to Species Unknown for reviews in every chapter and all the awesome suggestions. Also, apparently Canada and the UK have been having a view war for 2nd place in my story views. For the past 5 chapters they've been going back to back in most views. Good luck to both countries. 1st place) US with 708 views, Current 2nd place) UK with over 43 views, and 3rd) Canada with 41 views. Well enjoy guys!

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

"Jean leave!"

"What?"

"Leave! Get the fuck out of here bro!"

"But I missed you bro."

"I missed you too...now leave!"

"Hey you know how long it takes to track you down? I'm not leaving. I came to hang out with my best friend."

"Well who told you to track me down? Jean I love seeing you too but right now is not a good time."

Jean then paid attention to everything and everyone around Rick and laughed, "Well you sure leave a wave of destruction wherever you go and I see you got yourself a few females to follow you."

"Who them? I'm just protecting them for a while."

"Looks to me that they're taking care of you. Not the other way around."

"I thought you were watching the fight."

"No, I just sensed that you were fighting."

"How?"

"The Poketches are used for a lot of things. When your heart rate gets that high I know something is going down."

The girls were just listening to the two males talking to each other and Rick's constant attempts to get rid of him quickly.

Alara then spoke up, "Sorry to interrupt but who's this Rick?"

Rick looked at her and sighed, "Alara this is Jean. My best friend since I was 10."

"Yep and good job Rick, you finally snagged a Gardevoir after so many years."

Rick then used **Psychic** to beam a rock at Jean's face which made him cringe and grab his face.

"She's not my mate. I just found her and I promised to take her home." With that he started to collapse because of the use of energy. "Damn! That bullet took more out of me than I thought. I can't even use my powers without nearly passing out."

Alara then picked him up again, "It's because of your loss of blood. You won't have the energy to fight for a little while. Let me take care of you, I don't want you doing anything that will strain your body more than it is. Got that!"

"Yeah, I got it."

Jean sweatdropped, "Are you sure she's not your mate?"

Rick glared at Jean and then looked at Alara, who seemed to have gotten the message. Immediately she used **Psychic** to hit Jean with a flurry of stones.

"Okay okay I'll stop!" With that Alara stopped the rain of rocks.

"Now that you've seen me again Jean, will you leave?"

Alara then looked at Rick, "If he's your best friend why are you telling him to leave?"

"Because something bad will usually follows his arrival. Trust me, I consider him an omen of bad luck like I consider Amber to be."

Amber then glared at him and threw a rock at him which missed and hit a Wurmple in a tree. The Wurmple then shot a **String Shot** at Rick and left the scene.

"See what I mean?" Rick said while Alara pulled the string off of him with **Psychic**.

Jean then sweatdropped and spoke again, "Well I see how you feel about me now bro. How can you say that?"

"Because when I've met up with you in the past we've been attacked by swarms of pokemons, gotten into countless battles with trainers and pokemon alike, I've gotten critically injured and hospitalized, and I was almost sold in a pokemon auction. Do any of those things sound good to you?"

"But I got you out of all those things."

"That may be true but I'm usually the one that takes all of the heat."

"...sorry bro."

The girls kept listening to Rick and Jean talk to each other until Alara finally broke the conversation chain.

"So Rick, he's your brother?"

"In a way. My adoptive brother yes."

Jean then spoke to Alara, "Well, he's my adoptive brother and my sworn brother. If anything happens to him and he's unable to finish his mission to deliver the amulet to Maylene, I'll be the one to finish it."

Alara then arched and eyebrow, "Wait, Rick what mission is he talking about?"

"Oh, you haven't told her?"

"No I haven't. I only told Serenity."

"Who now?"

"The Absol hiding behind me. The one I'm currently training. I've told her everything about the mission and a bit about our past."

"Oh is that so? Pleased to meet you Serenity."

Serenity then stepped up from behind Rick, "Pleased to finally meet you Jean. Rick has told me a lot about you."

"Is that so? So you do care about me Rick?"

Rick then sweatdropped, "I told you to leave not that I hate you."

A vein then appeared on Alara's head, "Can we get back to my question? What mission?"

Rick then looked to his side and stared at Alara dead in the eyes and told her everything about the mission.

"So you have to return the amulet that is currently around your neck to the gym leader of Veilstone City and then you can live a long free life?" Rick nodded. "Why did you wait this long to do that?"

"Because I had to take care of a few things before I could do that."

"Like?"

"I'd rather not talk about this right now. Point is, the moment I finish this I will be somewhat free to live my life."

"What do you mean by that?"

Jean then stopped the conversation, "Let's not get into that. It's his own personal business and he'll feel a little too uncomfortable and trust me he can be pretty cranky when he's in that situation."

"Oh you know me so well Jean."

Alara then sighed, "Fine, I'll drop the conversation but we need to get you to a pokemon center and soon."

Jean then walked up to them and stared down at Alara. Alara was surprised on how tall he was and how he sounded so gentle for his tough look.

"If you need a pokemon center then you're out of luck. The nearest one is quite a walk away in Celestic Town, but it's 13 miles away to the east. There's no way to get there anytime soon and it's not safe to walk there at night. You'll have to wait until morning but I know he'll be fine. He just needs to sleep, but it won't hurt to walk for a little bit until the sun sets. At least you'll get closer than what you are."

Alara nodded and Rick just lifted his head to look at Jean.

"So I'm guessing that you're coming with us?"

"I spent days tracking you down. Yes, I'm staying."

Rick then sighed, closed his eyes, and nodded, "Fine. But please behave."

"I'm mature enough and you know that. Besides, you're going to need me if things get ugly. You can't protect yourself or the girls at the moment. So you need me."

"You're right."

Jean then tried to take Rick from Alara but she wouldn't let him.

"No, I owe him for protecting me and Amber. I'll do it."

Rick then spoke to her, "No, don't worry. You owe me nothing, and Jean will be able to carry me easier. Also, I can try to walk on my own."

Alara raised an eyebrow again and looked at Rick, "Really? Okay try it."

With that she let go of Rick who slightly cringed in pain when his left leg touched the ground. He then took a step and fell on his face.

Alara picked him up again, "Nope, you can't do it. See why I'm carrying you. Thanks Jean but I'll carry him. In the meantime, why don't you lead the way and help out Serenity. She's a little beat up herself and is limping a bit."

"I'll watch her for Rick then. Let's go, I want to play catch up with Rick for a bit."

For about another three hours they traveled with Jean and Alara raining questions on Rick who was having his patience tested, yet again.

"Oh Arceus! You guys are lucky I have a lot of patience or this conversation would of been over hours ago."

Jean then laughed, "Well you never change. Except you're not releasing your Aura this time."

A vein appeared on Rick's head, "If I do that then I pass out. Do you not remember that?"

Alara then looked up at the night's sky, "Well it's dark already so go ahead and pass out. Let's camp out here. What do you say Rick?"

"Rest sounds good right now."

Jean then helped Alara sit Rick on a stump that was nearby and set up camp. He then pulled a tent from his bag and set it up for the girls to sleep in.

Amber then told Jean, "Thanks Jean. You came prepared."

"Yeah, when you're a guy with a mate that has an overprotective older brother, you kinda learn to prepare for anything. I think Rick thought he was gonna do this alone, but looks like he's been taking care of you guys well."

Serenity then walked into the finished tent and enjoyed the secure feeling it gave her.

"This is so cool. I usually sleep in Rick's sleeping bag."

"Oh really? Where does he sleep?"

"Usually he sleeps on a tree branch or leaning on a tree or wall. Mainly somewhere he can sleep on and he can keep and eye on me."

Jean sighed, "Yep, that's Rick. Always on alert but never watching out for himself."

Jean then got a fire started so they can huddle around for a while. He then laid down and looked up at the sky while Alara walked over to Amber.

"Amber, where are the Hyper Potions?"

"In the top pocket of the bag. Why?"

"I'm going to tend to Rick's gunshot wound and change his bandage."

"Okay, try not to argue with him this time. He's been through enough today."

"Okay I'll try, but if he pisses to me off I will yell at him."

"He's hurt, what kind of fight can he put up?"

Jean then laughed out loud when he heard that, "You have no idea. He's like a rat, he'll fight when cornered but he will do more damage than you will."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Rick doesn't like being helpless or tended to. He's very independent and I'll won't be surprised if he gives you trouble, even in his weakened state."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Of course you will. He doesn't harm females without probable cause."

With that Alara turned and walked over to Rick who was still sitting on the stump holding his shoulder. Jean, Amber, and Serenity then started to chat out of boredom.

"Well Jean, how was life with Rick before this?" Asked Amber with curious look on her face.

"Well same as now but he tended to not argue so much with Seras around. Mainly because she didn't hesitate to put him in his place."

"How?"

"To him she's the older sister whom he loves deeply...and she'll deck him if it goes to far."

"Oh wow, so there is a female that CAN beat him?"

"In a way. In our little family she's the third female out of five. So out of sixteen there's only five girls. If things keep going the way they are with him and Alara there, we might have a sixth."

Amber then sweatdropped and told him, "Sorry to burst your bubble there, but those two aren't together and they really don't like each other."

Serenity then looked towards Alara and Rick and then told Jean and Amber, "Well I wouldn't say that right about now."

Jean and Amber then looked at Rick and Alara and saw them in a suggestive position. Rick was now on the floor and Alara was on top of him and grunting. It was not clear if they were fighting, playing, or getting fresh with each other. Amber then quickly covered Serenity's eyes and ears with her hands and ears.

Jean then got up and walked over to the two Kirlia evolutions. As he was walking towards them he could hear audible words between the grunts.

"Rick stop fighting!"

"Get the hell off of me! OW! You she-devil!"

Jean then sighed, *Well I guess I was wrong.* He then got closer to them and saw Alara trying to hold Rick's arms down but he kept fighting her. They both then looked at him when he reached them. "Wow it's true. You guys really don't get along. But can I ask what in Arceus's good name you're doing?"

"Well I was trying to treat Rick's wounds, but the bastard won't let me!"

Rick then shouted at her, "And I told you I don't need you treating me like I'm incapacitated!"

Alara then charged a Shadow Ball in her hands, "Not yet you're not!"

Jean then grabbed Alara's arm, "Okay cool your jet there girly. Rick just show her."

"Show me what?"

Rick then pushed her off of him and rose his chest. He then proceeded to take the bandages off to reveal that the bullet hole was already closing and the bone was somehow unbroken.

"See! I heal differently than you do. I still need a pokemon center to heal my leg though but other than that I'm fine."

"But you still need me to treat it and you're not battle ready yet. But how are you healing like that?"

"I don't know, I was probably born with an accelerated healing factor. I just heal quickly, but I'm still hurt and will stay this way for a few days but I don't need surgery."

"Even with healing like that I don't understand how your shoulder blade mended that quickly. But, I'm guessing that the healing factor had something to do with that."

Jean then chuckled quietly before speaking out again, "Rick just let her heal you, you're not risking anything. Also, lower your pride just a little bit and accept it when someone is trying to help you. Just a quick tip there and both of you should try to get along better. We're in this together for a while. I don't want to hear you guys bickering for a while."

Jean then walked back to Amber and Serenity and sat down by the fire. Rick then grunted while attempting to stand and Alara then made him sit on the stump. She then proceeded to spray the Hyper Potion on his wound. He cringed as the spray hit the wound, causing a slight stinging sensation.

Alara tried to speak to him while treating him, "You know, we have to stop doing this."

Rick didn't respond but he did look at her from the corner of his eyes with an expressionless look on his face.

"We've fought about five times in only one day. The only time we actually got along was this morning and that's because we were still getting to know each other. We're still not that familiar but I guess we've have quite the acquaintanceship."

Rick didn't respond again but she noticed that he was staring at the ground this time. He was obviously lost in thought. Was it about what she said or something else?

"Are you mad at me?"

Rick then snapped back to reality, "Oh no, I'm not. I'm just thinking."

"Well you do seem very lost in your own mind. Anything you want to talk about with me?"

"No, it just..." He sighed, "I didn't expect to see Jean again. Not yet at least."

Alara then pulled a fresh bandage from her first aid kit and started to wrap his shoulder with it. "Well you should be happy. He's your "brother", isn't he? Also, you haven't seen him in two years, this should of been an exciting gift."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see him alive and well. However, I feel like I've driven him into some sort of obsessive need to reunite everyone of our family members. I'm just wondering how he'll ever start a family if he keeps doing this and doesn't take the time to settle down with Seras."

"Well he has his reasons I guess." With that she finished patching Rick up.

Rick then moved his arm to make sure everything was alright. He then proceeded to continue his conversation with Alara. "You're probably right, but...I just like to see him carefree and without a worry."

Alara then looked at Jean and the girls and saw that they were enjoying each other's company. "I'd say that he's already like that. You don't have to worry about him much, by what I see."

"I can't help but worry about him. He's my brother and he has something to live for, a family that he can start."

Alara then stared at Rick, "Do you have something worth living for?"

Rick then looked at her when she said that, "No, not at the moment."

"Why not?"

"Think about it for a quick minute. My family is dead, I failed to protect my little sister, I have no home, I have no place here, no mate, and obviously no ambitions. There's not much for me to go back to. That's why I don't fear death, I'll embrace it when it comes, like a warrior should. An honorable death is all I ask for if I die. Nothing more and nothing less."

"I don't see that as the truth."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you do have a family and, by what I heard you and Jean tell me, they love you very much. Serenity also seems to be very attached to you, and quickly for that matter. You also seem to care a lot about her, even though you've only known her for a little over a week, like if she's your little sister now. I'd say that all that is something worth living for."

Rick then laid down on the stump and looked at the night sky. "I don't know Alara. I've brought my "family" nothing but trouble. I make them constantly worry and I just can't do anything right. They love me enough to forgive me and to dismiss all my failures, but I can't put them through this shit again."

"Again? So this isn't the first time you've isolated yourself from them?"

"No, I do this quite often. When they find me, I leave without warning so that I don't get them dragged into my own problems."

"I know that a Gallade's need to protect others is powerful but that doesn't mean that you have to alienate yourself from your family and friends. Hell! If anything, I'd go to my family to help me overcome my problems."

"Hmmmm you're a greater person than I. I don't know how to open up to others."

"You just did. Think about that." She said in a confident and playful tone.

"Well look at you! You've got me to do it."

"And it wasn't hard." She said with a smile on her face.

Rick then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Well this is strange."

"What is?"

"A moment ago we were at each other's throats and now we're talking without a hint of aggression."

"I guess Jean knows how to remedy a situation."

"Anyways, you should probably get some sleep Alara. You've wasted too much energy on me by carrying me. You must be tired."

"I guess I am a little but you've had it harder today. You took blows and a gunshot for me, Amber, and Serenity. However, I should have some energy left to help you get to the fire. If you want, that is."

"No, leave me here for tonight. Don't worry I'll be fine since Jean is going to stay outside as well."

"Okay but if something happens I want you to be safe. Also, if it rains feel free to go into the tent."

"Spit in the air won't bother me. I'll manage even with rain, just go to sleep and sleep well. Good night!"

Alara looked at him and sighed before standing up from the stump, "Very well, good night to you too."

She then retired for the night with Amber and Serenity following. Jean then got up and walked towards Rick who was still staring up into the night's sky.

"So I see you guys succeeded on getting along since my little chat with you."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You two are somewhat alike, if I can say that? What are your plans now bro?"

"Take Amber and Alara home and then head straight to Veilstone."

"And Serenity? What happens to her?"

"I told her that after we finish in Veilstone we'll go our separate ways, but now I'm not sure."

"I'm guessing she's grown on you?"

"You can say that and I've been enjoying her company. Also, she still needs a lot of teaching. She's all alone and I can't bear to leave her alone. She depends a lot on me and I've only known her for a week, but she sees me like a parental figure or an older brother."

Jean then took Rick's head on a one arm hug and bumped his chin with his face, "Aww you do care about someone."

"Maybe, but I'm not telling her that. Besides, if I manage to find her parents I'll just leave her with them."

Jean then sweatdropped, "Well that care was shortlived."

"Hey, I have to be realistic."

"Also, Alara and Amber told me of this Sanctuary place. Sound like a good place for you to settle down in."

"I'm not really interested."

"Why not? You'll be around your own species. Who's to say that you won't meet members of your real family there. It's an interesting idea."

"When I take them there I'll stay for a day or two to resupply, but I'm not going to live there. Understood?"

Jean sighed, "Aye aye, but get some sleep. You should be able to fight by tomorrow afternoon, but let's hope you don't have to fight until we reach the pokemon center. Goodnight bro!"

"Good night!"

Jean then walked towards the fire and fell asleep in his sleeping bag. Rick, on the other hand stood up and limped to a tree next to the tent and used his good leg to jump up and grab a large branch with his good arm. He then pulled himself up and rested on the branch before falling asleep.

Rick then woke up in the morning to see Alara standing on the branch staring at him with an angry look on her face.

"What the hell!? Damn it! Don't scare me like that, and what are you doing up here?"

"Keep your voice down. Everyone is still asleep, I just woke up. I'm kinda pissed that you kept moving after I treated you and you managed to climb this tree."

"Speaking of which, how did you get up here?"

"I levitated."

"Oh yeah I forgot we can do that. It would of been easier if I didn't pass out every time I tried to use my powers."

"So I can now tell that you used your arm and leg to get up here. Why did you move up here? I thought you were fine on that huge stump."

"I like to sleep at a vantage point so I can look out for you guys. A little movement never hurts, besides I didn't use my injured limbs."

She then shook her head, "It's not about that! It's about you relaxing and recovering."

"I don't see why you care. You barely know me and I'm used to getting hurt."

"Well I'm not going it back home without you and I feel responsible for your injuries."

"In what way?"

"Well you were trying to protect me."

Rick then shook his head, "That's not a good reason. If anything, I brought in onto myself for becoming careless. It wasn't your fault."

"I'm happy to see that you're noble but you like to blame yourself too much. Why are you such a dark and negative person? I can't understand you."

Rick sighed, "You probably never will but life just has a weird way of kicking your ass when you least expect it."

Alara stared at him with a concerned look, "If we make it to the Sanctuary, are you going to stay a while?"

"You're mother wants me to take you there, but once I finish I'll stay for a day or two and then leave."

"Aren't you curious about your species?"

"A little but not too much."

"Well, get to know them a bit. I promise you that you won't feel like a stranger."

"Why do you want me to go?"

"Because you seem so depressed and Serenity tells me that you've never been around your own species since your parents died. I just want to see you adapt to the life."

"We'll see. I'll see if there's anything there for me."

"I'm sure you'll find something."

"Jean already gave me this talk but I don't know what to do anymore."

"You told me that you're not certain about your life. Why not start over?"

"Well I'll see. Okay?"

"Okay."

Rick then looked around and breathed in and saw Alara levitating to an adjacent branch and laid down on it.

"How do you do this? Aren't you afraid of falling off this?"

"You get used to it after a while." With that he levitated to the ground and Alara followed him. He then made a piano of psychic energy and started to play it. (The song he's playing is **Kiss the Rain by Yiruma**)

"How and why did you make a psychic piano?"

"I just made an image in my head and my powers conjured up the piano. Also, playing music relaxes me."

"I've never seen you as the musical type until I saw you play your violin."

"My mother taught me how to play the violin, my trainer taught me how to play the guitar, and I taught myself how to play the piano."

"I'm guessing you wanted to relax. So you conjured a piano."

"That's right. I like to play it in the mornings when I'm not on the move."

He then continued to play with Alara enjoying his playing.

"You know, I only play this song when I'm sad or depressed. But I'm neither right now."

"Then what are you feeling?"

"Pain in my wounds and a slight happiness to have my brother here. I'm also loving how much company I'm getting."

"So you never play this when you're happy?"

"I only play it when I think about my parents and my sister."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Sometimes...I'm actually glad their dead."

"How can you say that!?"

"So they don't see how low their son has gone. I never wanted to upset them."

"Low?"

"I did a lot of wrong in my life Alara. My parents are probably crying because of me in heaven. I'm trying to redeem myself. Last thing they wanted is for their son to be a nomad with nothing to look forward to, but...that just something that was thrown at me with their deaths."

"So you think that they can't forgive you for never settling down?"

"No...for being weak. I couldn't protect them or my little sister. I couldn't deal with my past and I've been running away from it. But at the moment I have no other options. The past is an unstoppable force, it will catch up with you and make you pay."

"I wouldn't blame you."

"Why not?"

"You were a little Kirlia at the time. You were thrown into an adult world on your own with no one to guide you. Whatever it was that you did, I'm sure you didn't mean it. Also, if I was your mother I would be happy to see that you survived and grew strong without my help."

Rick then gave a quiet laugh and finished playing before he dismissed the piano.

"Thanks Alara. I'm happy you woke up in a good mood and didn't want to fight."

"Oh I may argue with you here and there but it's all in good spirit. I didn't know you had it so hard. But you have to remember that even if time forgets and you might never forget, it doesn't mean you have to punish yourself for it. Life is measure on how you live it not how you see others live it. You may do the best for someone else but you have to think on how to make yourself happy. And I mean, if you're going to live the rest of your life in a memory, you might as well make it a damn good one." She giggled and smiled at him.

Rick then leaned against the tree he slept on and sighed before wiping something from his face. He checked his hand and noticed it was wet.

"Have I been crying?"

"Yep. Even before you woke up. I picked up your emotions and woke up to check up on you. Your tears kept falling even after you woke up. So something was obviously bothering you and I didn't feel like telling you that you were crying. It's not everyday you get to see a Gallade cry. I was surprised that you didn't notice and I wanted to make you feel better. But considering how you were acting this morning something was affecting you, but I couldn't figure it out until you spoke about your family."

Rick didn't respond but he stared at his hand before sinking his face into it and Alara noted he was shedding his tough guy image. He then slumped down to the ground with his face still in his hand but not crying, just shaking his head slowly. He then felt Alara hug him which shocked him so much that it made him raise his head from his hand and stare at her.

"Ummmmmmm...what are you doing?"

"I have no idea. I just felt compelled to hug you. I'm the Embrace pokemon after all and I do this instinctively."

"Oh ok. Are you going to let go anytime soon?"

"It feels awkward to me too but I'm still compelled to hug you. Besides, I can sense that it's making you feel better."

"Oh shut up!"

As this was happening Jean was laying in his sleeping bag with one eye open listening to the conversation and a wide smile on his face.

He then chuckled quietly, *Good going Ricky boy. Step one complete, you've opened up to someone besides me and the family. Let's see how far you can go with this one and how long it'll take you to complete the other steps.* He then closed his eye and pretended to still be asleep.

Well I hope you guys like this chapter. It's not my usual strong point in writing but tell me what you think. Okay guys, review and keep send in your questions for the next Q&A. Peace out!


	12. Chapter 12: Colossal Battle

Hey guys, chapter 12 is out and this one has a bit more action then the other chapters. I'm going to elaborate more on the story in the next few chapter and some characters make their appearances in this chapter. Well enjoy guys and the final tally for countries with the most views is USA=1st place, UK=2nd, Canada=3rd (they were second this morning...what happened?), Philippenes=4th, and Italy=5th. Good luck next month guys. Canada and the UK were in a war this week but the UK was victorious.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

After Rick's emotional morning, he and the others got up and started for Celestic Town. He was hoping to get to the pokemon center before sunset. Rick didn't need Alara anymore since his leg was well enough that he could walk again, but with a little discomfort and pain. He and Jean were talking, Amber and Alara were doing the same, and Serenity was walking next to Rick while admiring the scenery. They were happy that the day felt calm enough and that everyone's spirits were high.

Amber then spoke out, "How much further is this town?"

Jean then answered, "About 6 more miles. So I'd say about and hour and a half to two hours. But when we make it into the town I'll have to switch to my human form and put Rick into his pokeball so they can heal him. You guys will have to act like my own pokemon."

"Human form?"

"Rick don't tell me you didn't tell them that."

"Hey I've only known them for about two and a half days. Give me a break!"

"Damn it! Yes, me and Rick can emulate human forms. We use this to go through human cities without drawing attention to ourselves. However, I can only hold it for about six hours at a time. I don't know how long can hold it and what he looks like as a human. The last time I saw his human form he was a Kirlia."

"I'm guessing that you're curious to see how I look now. My appearance has changed dramatically."

"Yeah, let's see it!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You'll see it eventually. Unlike you, I can hold my human form for as long as I want."

"Lucky bastard. Well I guess you have your reasons."

Alara then spoke up, "I wouldn't mind seeing your human form. Your's too Jean."

Jean then began to glow and his body morphed in the light until a tall man with shoulder-length, spicky, bleached blonde hair, a crimson and gold sleeveless shirt, matching pants with flame graphics, grey fingerless gloves, and golden combat boots. His face was chiseled, with a flame tattoo on his right cheek reaching his right eye and stopping over it. He also had a red flame tribal tattoo on his left arm.

When Jean finished transforming Rick yelled, "Ta da! This is his human form. It hasn't changed one bit since I last saw it."

"It doesn't have to if you don't want it to."

The girls were amazed at the fact that they knew how to transform and were curious on how to do it. However, Serenity was the only one that said something.

"Can we do that?"

Rick then looked at her and pet her, "Yeah, it just takes some practice that will last a few months...unless."

Serenity looked at Rick with a curious look, "Unless what?"

Rick then put his forehead onto her's and his red eyes brightened which caused Serenity's to follow suit. He then let her go and she backed up with her eyes still glowing red and she was then enveloped by a white light.

Alara then asked Rick in shock, "What did you do to her? Is she evolving?"

"One, Absols don't evolve. Two, I forced my transformation knowledge into her mind."

Jean was confused, "We can do that?"

"I can do that. I'm a psychic type, so I can invade the deepest parts of a person's mind. You on the other hand can't."

They then looked back at Serenity as she was changing shape. When the white light left a teenage girl with long, straight, white hair was in front of them. One of her bangs had a ribbon wrapped around it, she was wearing a white dress shirt with a Yin symbol on the center, underneath she had a black tank top, she also had a black belt with a Yin symbol, a white knee length frilled skirt, knee high black socks and no shoes. She then stood up before falling again.

"Serenity don't try to stand, you're not used to walking on two legs yet. Take baby steps at first and then pickup the rhythm."

She then looked at Rick, "What did you do to me?"

"I gave you the ability to turn into a human. You can revert back if you want."

"Let me just try to stand on my four...I mean two legs."

She then attempted to stand again and was helped up by Alara who grabbed her arm to help stabilize her. She then proceeded to walk forward and almost fell before she put her other foot in front of her first. She then seemed to have picked up the rhythm and told Alara to let her go. When she did she took careful steps towards Rick who grabbed her when she reached him.

"Good, now just keep practicing and you'll get the hang of it."

"Okay. Also where are my horn and my tail blade?"

"Just call them to your hands."

"How do I do that?"

"Jean show her!"

Jean then stepped forward and brought huge flaming claymore to his hands. "It's that simple. Just think about the weapon that you want and it'll appear in your hands. No skill, just logic."

With that Serenity took a deep breath and then closed her eyes to concentrate. Not long later a sickle and a scythe appeared in her hands.

"This is amazing!"

Rick then smiled and said, "The weapons aren't just limited to that form. They're a part of you." He then conjured two katanas into his hands. "See?"

Alara then told him, "Well it's useless to have them when you already have to blades on your arms."

"That may be true but it's good to still have them if you can't use your usual weapons. Either way, we rarely even fight in our human forms. We normally just use them to go into cities without people noticing. Ready to return to normal Serenity?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay just focus on your pokemon self and go from there."

With that Serenity began to glow again and returned to normal.

"That was a new experience, but amazing regardless."

Rick then looked at the other girls and asked, "Do you guys want to experience this?"

Alara then replied, "No."

Amber seemed to be disappointed, "Oh come one! I want to know how I look like as a human."

"No Amber, let's not waste more of Rick's energy."  
"It's not really using my energy."

"Still no. Maybe some other time."

"Very well."

Amber then faceplanted out of frustration.

The walked for about a mile down the road until Rick and Jean suddenly stopped in their tracks. They then stood still but their eyes kept looking around, as if they sensed something coming.

Serenity then asked, "What's wrong guys?"

"Something's here. Jean you sense it too, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's strong but nothing both of us can't handle."

"Can you tell what it is?"

"Can you?"

"I smell a rat."

"More like a cat."

They then sighed and turned to a tree line that was nearby and Rick yelled out.

"Okay you're not very stealthy or you just wanted to be found. So come out already Mewtwo. We know you're here."

"Show yourself already you son of a bitch!"

Afterwards a figure came floating out of the tree line and the girls hid behind the males. The figure had some sort of cybernetic armor on, it had a cat like figure, and a long tail. He then floated down and landed on the floor about fifty feet away from the group. Jean immediately let the flames on his wrists burn bright and Rick drew his blades.

Alara then asked Rick, "Did you guys say Mewtwo? We're looking at a legendary?"

"Tough to call him a legendary. He's just a clone of Mew and it's hard to figure out where his loyalty lies. We've ran into him a couple of times, all unpleasant."

Mewtwo then spoke in his low harsh voice, "Rick and Jean, it's been a while."

Jean then responded to him, "Yeah and we were having a great time until you came around."

"I feel like you guys are still sour towards me."

Rick the spoke, "Well let's see your record so far, you attacked us in Kanto, again in Hoenn, you led Team Rocket to us in Goldenrod City in Johto, and you've been a royal pain in my side for years."

"Hey, I have to do my job."

"You better know where your loyalty lies! It's either with the masters in the Hall of Origin or with Giovanni. You're lucky you were even named a legendary and not a target."

"I have to work for Giovanni but I won't do anything to harm the other legendaries. That I can assure you of."

"But I'm guessing you're here on Giovanni's orders. Who do I have to kill to get to you this time?"

Mewtwo then pulled out an orb and threw it towards the mountain range. Rick and Jean then looked at each other and then said in unison, "Rocket Colossus!"

The girls were confused and then Mewtwo threw a slew of smaller orbs that resembled marbles at the ground and they sunk in.

Alara then asked Rick and Jean, "What's a Rocket Colossus? And what are those orb things?"

"You ask too many questions but I'll tell you. Draw your sword too, it's going to get ugly here. A Rocket Colossus is a gigantic experiment that Team Rocket created. They are normally experiments that failed but still have a lot of potential in battle. They're no longer pokemon and have no conscious of their own. They just attack the enemy that they're told to fight. But it takes a while for them to appear since they need to sink into the ground and materialize on the surface."

"And the smaller orbs?"

"Jean, tell her?"

"Team Rocket refers them as Rocket Specters. They're summoned like the Colossi but they are smaller and smarter. They used to be pokemon as well but now they've been experimented too much and failed to yield substantial results. Now they're used as a mini portable army to take out any immediate threat the Rockets have. But these things are on the down low and no one knows they exist. They do a damn good clean up job since these things disintegrate when killed and Mewtwo will erase the memory of all who witness it. Also, they have the prowess to use weapons. Most do appear with them in hand."

"I'm guessing you guys have fought these things before...how?"

"Me and Rick have an extensive history of being at war with Team Rocket. We've killed countless of these things in the years we've known each other and we've killed a few Colossi as well. Let's just hope we've haven't gotten rusty."

Rick then cracked his knuckles and neck before feeling the ground shake and split open. Then about a hundred or so Specters appeared from the ground. All looking like humanoid, disfigured, pokemon with different weapons ranging from swords, axes, scythes, knives, and hammers. They all gave a blood curdling roars and shrieks as they emerged. They then felt an earthquake and heard a loud roar in the distance.

"Fuck! Rick that colossus is coming out of the ground already. That's was faster than I expected."

"Don't worry, let's just deal with these guys first and then deal with that behemoth. I'm going to probably open up my wounds again in this fight. But at least I have some help this time."

Alara then grabbed his good shoulder, "Are you sure you want to fight these things? You're still hurt."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I have a plan to get myself up and running again. Jean, let them come at me so I can steal their health."

"**Drain Punch**?"

"Yeah **Drain Punch**. It won't heal my wounds but it will give me the energy to fight, the ability to run again, and the power to take down that colossus."

"Do you remember how to take one down?"

"Go for its power core. First thing's first, we need to deal with these guys and then find that Colossus's power core to kill it."

"Well get ready, here's they come."

"Girls hide!"

Then a few Specters rushed Rick but he managed to kill them with well placed **Drain Punches**, giving him back his battle strength and healing his leg.

"Time to kill!"

Jean then laughed, "Time to send them straight to hell! Feel the inferno you ugly fucks!"

(Song for battle scene= **Stand Alone by Godsmack**)

Jean then stretched his arms and the claymore appeared in his hands, and Rick brought the katanas out in his hands before charging the Specters. Alara had her sword out and Serenity took her fighting stance, just waiting for some to attack them. Amber fired Ice Beams at some of the Specters so that Rick and Jean can kill them with ease. Alara then joined in with **Thunderbolts** and **Shadow Balls**.

Rick and Jean were fighting in sync with each other, Rick would kill one and Jean will follow suit. Jean then fired a **Fire Blast** at a group of Specters killing about nine in one shot. Rick was fighting one with a great axe, he blocked it and sliced it in half and kicked one into the air where he slashed it three times before it disintegrated.

Jean was fighting a huge Specter with a war hammer. He dodged an attack from the Specter and hit it with a **Fire Punch** that went through its chest. He then used the dying Specter's body to block an attack from a Specter's axe. He quickly took the Specter's axe and killed it with it before pulling his arm out of the dying Specter, who then roared at him.

"Oh Arceus! Just die already!" With that he snapped its neck and attacked more of them with the axe. He then noticed one charging Rick and threw the axe at it, slicing it's neck and killing it instantly.

"Thanks!"

Rick then charged a number of Specters, jumping over one and landing on one and stomping down on the side of its head, breaking its neck. He then threw the katanas at a large Specter and used them like a diving board to jump over it and grab its war hammer. Once on the ground he jumped over a large Specter that had its back turned to him and hit him in the face with the war hammer, making it fall back onto the Specter with the katanas in its chest. The katanas then skewered both Specters, killing them.

While the males were giving the Specters hell, the girls were busy dealing with some that broke away. Alara and Serenity had the combat skill to deal with them and Amber was a great support with **Dizzy Punch**, **Fire Punch**, and **Ice Beam**. She then jumped off of Alara's back and leaped into the air, disappearing from sight. Alara was looking for her in the sky but turned around when she felt a Specter lifting its sword to slash her. She blocked the attack but was onto a knee from the sheer strength of the Specter. All of the sudden Amber crashed down on the Specter's head multiple times and finished it off with **Fire Punch**.

"Thanks, if you didn't use **Bounce** I would of been in some serious trouble."

"No problem sis...Now pay attention!"

They got back into the fight and saw Serenity killing the Specters in droves. Then they all fell as they felt the ground shake.

Rick then yelled out, "Damn it! That thing's out! We only have a few more minutes or maybe even a few seconds. Where the hell did that bastard Mewtwo go off to!?"

"Bro forget about him. Focus on the Specters."

"Well let's fight them as a team. Just like old times."

"Hell yeah!"

They then fought the army together. Jean then threw Rick at a large Specter, whom he killed with his blades and Rick fired **Psycho Cuts** at three Specters that were attacking Alara and Serenity. He then rejoined Jean in the onslaught.

Rick jumped on the treeline above Jean and Jean then hit a large Specter with a **Sky Uppercut** and Rick jumped on it, using it as a landing pad and rolled to kill two Specters with his blades. He then ducked under a Specters sword and grabbed its arms so Jean could hit it with a flying **Blaze Kick**. Then they got surrounded by a large number of Specters, forcing them to get back to back, while scoping out their options.

"So Jean any ideas now?"

"I have to admit. There sure are a lot of them and you've been giving them hell. I've got nothing but to force my way forward and kill all in my way. Don't worry, we can take them. I'll take the guy on the left and you take the fifty to the right."

A vein appeared on Rick's head, "Not a very fair plan."

He then chuckled, "I'm just messing with you, calm down."

Just then the earth shook and everyone fell to the ground, Jean and Rick took this opportunity to fight their way out of the onslaught and killing a large number of Specters.

"Well that was convenient but don't drop your guard Jean."

"Yes, dad." He said sarcastically.

"Let's just kill these things already. In the our favorite way."

"Mix attacks."

"Yeah, kills them faster than taking them all on one on one."

"Hell yes!" Jean then turned his head and yelled into the air to get the Specters' attention, "ATTENTION ALL EXPERIMENTALLY FAILED BITCHES! LINE UP TO GET ERADICATED IMMEDIATELY! COURTESY OF ME AND MY ASSOCIATE HERE! NOW WHO'S FIRST!?"

They were immediately charged by every Specter in the field, even the ones attacking the girls.

"Jean this better work."

"It was your idea."

"No, I suggested it and you went and taunted all the Specters."

"Just fight already. Ready?"

"Ready when you are."

The Specters then jumped in the air and tried to pounce on them. Then they heard Rick and Jean scream, "Shadow Wave!" They then fired a **Heat Wave** mixed with a **Shadow Ball's** energy, which caused an explosion around them but didn't harm them. The attack killed all the Specters within a 15ft radius and stopped the Specters' approach. Rick then emerged from the smoke with his fist glowing purple and he charged a Specter.

"Thanks for the fighting power Jean and now...Psycho Uppercut!"

"And thank you for the shadow power...now, Black Flame Kick!" He yelled as he jumped out of the smoke and kicked a group of Specters with a leg covered in shadow.

Rick continued to hit the Specters with his super charged fist. One Specter tried to block the fist with his great axe, it stopped the first hit but it cracked the axe and the second hit broke threw and knocked its head off. Rick then noted that he was getting surrounded by a small group of 5 Specters who approached cautiously.

"Come on! One of you better kill me now or the next few second of your lives are going to be filled with pain and agony, or maybe a quick death."

One of them suddenly grabbed him from behind and restrained him while another tried to stab him with his spear. Rick quickly headbutted the Specter that was restraining him and moved out of the spear's way, making the spear kill the Specter. He then grabbed the spear and pulled the Specter into a Psycho Focus Punch. One then tried to slash him with a sword, he grabbed the Specter's arm and twisted it and used it to block another sword attack from another Specter. He then punched the blocked Specter and twisted the Specter's arm more until he made it stab itself. He then pushed the final Specter's spear attack to the side and twisted its neck before going towards a downed Specter and punched the back of its head at full force, turning it into mist.

As he was finishing the attack another Specter ran towards him and he put his arms up to block its axe attack, but it suddenly stopped and split in half, revealing that Alara had cut it in half. She then offered Rick her hand which he took and stood up from the ground.

"Thanks! I owe you one."

"Oh so we're going to start counting now?"

"Go back to the girls and protect them."

"Don't worry. Those Specters have been dealt with and still are...gruesomely."

Rick then look at where Serenity and Amber where and saw Serenity slaughtering groups of Specters in quick and painful manners.

"I think I trained her too well."

"I'll be helping you now. Also, heads up!"

Rick then turned and flipped a Specter that was attacking him, Alara then stabbed it.

"Good eye! I didn't see that coming. Also, Specter at your six."

She then spun with her sword and decapitated the Specter before turning back to Rick and driving the sword forward, narrowly missing Rick's head and killing a Specter that was behind him.

"See? I can fight too."

"That kill still counts as mine."

"How?"

She then looked down and saw that one of Rick's blades were in its chest. He then withdrew the blade and the Specter dematerialized. Afterwards they both stabbed a Specter that ran up to them and both kicked it off their blades.

Rick then laughed quietly, "I guess we are similar in some ways."

She then smiled and threw her sword at a Specter, impaling it to a tree and then recalled her sword with **Psychic**. "You think?"

They then heard Jean, "I hope I'm not interrupting but...A LITTLE HELP!" He then donkey kicked a group of Specters and ducked under multiple weapon attacks and killed a few.

"Crap! That's right! Alara head back to the girls or kill more of these things. There's only about, I believe sixty left. So head on back, you should be fine." He then fired **Psycho Cuts** at a few Specters in the way. "Now go and be careful."

She nodded and ran towards Serenity and Amber, killing a few Specters along the way.

Rick turned and ran towards Jean, who was blocking an axe strike from a large Specter. Rick then jumped on the axe and slashed the Specter dead.

"Nice save bro!"

"Hey I'm here for you."

They then started to fall as the earth shook and the Rocket Colossus was finally visible. It was probably about 50ft tall and had the appearance of a deformed Salamance with no wings. It was also black and grey and had a large red crystal on its forehead.

"Damn it Jean, it's here. Also, I found its power core. We take that thing out and we may be able to turn this thing back into a normal Salamance. But that's the hard part, how are we going to destroy that thing without killing it."

"Most likely it's protected from special attacks. So we're going to have to climb that thing and take it out."

Suddenly Rick fell to the ground and began to lose his breath, the pain also returned to his leg. He looked to his gunshot wound and saw that it reopened.

"Damn it all to hell! My wound reopened. There's a trail of blood and I didn't notice this until now. How much blood did I lose?"

Rick's vision was slowly failing as well and he feared he was going to pass out. Jean then knelt down next to him and Alara returned to do the same.

"Rick? Buddy stay with me now."

"Rick, are you okay? Speak to me at least."

Rick then opened his mouth, "Why are you here? Go back to the girls, things are going to get nasty here."

A Specter then charged him and he hit it with **Drain Punch** so he could stay conscious and to stand.

"**Drain Punch** only gets me so far. I might bleed out in a bit. We need to end this quickly."

"Rick you're in no shape to keep going. Come with me to the girls. I hope Jean can handle this, can't you?"

"I'll be tough but not my first rodeo."

"See? I just need to patch you up first."

They then saw the Rocket Colossus near them and it brought its massive paw down near them when it saw them. With the shockwave they went flying in the air and landed on the main road, with Rick landing on his face, Alara in a bush, and Jean in a tree. Both Jean and Alara were okay but Rick seemed to be in bad shape. Serenity and Amber then met up with them and Amber quickly pulled out the first aid kit and a few potions to treat Rick.

"Rick? Are you still with us here? Serenity, help me bandage him up."

The two girls got quickly to work on Rick's wound as Alara and Jean met up with them. They noticed that Rick was barely conscious and was grinding his teeth in pain and frustration.

"Damn that Mewtwo! If I wasn't injured I would...damn it!"

Alara then knelt down next to his head and Jean scoped out the Colossus.

"Rick please try to calm down. Don't let your blood boil. You lost too much of it as is."

After Alara said that three Specters appeared out of no where and tried to attack them. Suddenly they all were sliced into little pieces and a mesh of wire could be seen followed by two flying bladed fans that killed two more Specters.

Rick then spoke again, "What the hell? Garrote Wire, bladed fans...no...fucking...way!"

He then turned his head and saw two figures walking towards them. One was a human male with long black strait hair, a black trench coat, a black muscle shirt, cargo jeans, boots, and his hands were controlling the wire around them, forming a barrier. The other was a human female who caught the fans in her hands, she had a pink gown, back length pink hair, no shoes, and necklace similar to Jean's.

Rick then sighed, "Dartz...Seras, what in Arceus's good name are you guys doing here?"

Serenity then said in shock, "These two are Dartz and Seras? I'm guessing in their human forms."

Dartz then released the wire from around them and Seras ran towards Rick.

"It's nice to see you again little brother. Well not in this scenario, with you bleeding and hurt. But two years is a long time."

Dartz then appeared behind her, "Good to see you again but if you'll excuse me, me and Jean have a colossus to kill. Move out bird!"

They both then charged towards the Colossus. Seras then waved at Alara to get close, which she did.

"I know you don't know me but you need to let me go into your mind to teach you a move called **Healing Pulse**. I myself can't use it but you can. You can use it to give Rick his vitality back and heal the wound. However, you will become exhausted after you use it. May I do that?"

"Yes of course!"

Seras then put her hands on Alara's head and concentrated until Alara's eyes began to glow purple. Alara then placed her hands on Rick's wound and let out a purple pulse onto Rick's body. Rick then got up and held a tired Alara.

"Seras, was that necessary?"

"You want to live to fight another day?"

"You're right. Serenity come with me. You're going to fight your first Colossus. Seras watch over the girls."

"Will do, and I'm guessing this is Serenity? It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Serenity was happy to hear her voice. It was soft and motherly even for her young appearance, it made her feel safe. "Likewise!" She said with a wide smile.

"Go now little one, Rick and the males are waiting."

Serenity nodded and chased after Rick.

(Song for battle= **Counter Attack from Shadow of the Colossus**)

Jean and Dartz reached the Colossus and were trying to find a way to get on it without being killed.

"Hey Dartz any ideas on how to take this thing down?"

"Not yet. Give me a minute. I hate fighting in human form, but it's a better option when dealing with these things. At least I can use my wire. Now I think we can try getting on its tail and taking out the core when we reach its head."

"You do know that it's quite the run to get to its tail and there's still a few Specters along the way?"

They then heard Rick yell out, "No there's not. Me and Serenity took care of them."

They all then jumped out of the way to avoid a **Flamethrower** from the Colossus. Alara then appeared on the field with Seras and Amber in pursuit. Rick was not pleased at all with her presence.

"Alara go back to the clear! It's not safe here! Besides, you lost energy."

"That may be true but I also happen to have some Energy Root in my bag which I chewed on until I got my energy back. It tasted horrible but it helped. Now I can help."

Just then Seras caught up with her, "Don't do something like that again! You worried me and I don't even know you."

"We'll introduce ourselves later but let's kill this thing now."

They then dodged another **Flamethrower** and Rick came up with a solution to their latest problem.

"Dartz do you think you can hold that thing down with your wire?"

"It's possible, I didn't think of that. One hogtied lizard coming right up."

With that he manipulated the wire and tied it around one leg of the Colossus. He then made the wire wrap around the other leg, but the beast wasn't going down.

"Problem, I can't make this thing heave!"

They then saw Jean drop kick the back of the behemoth's legs, forcing it to kneel.

"Rick, it's now or never. GO!"

Rick then ran towards the Colossus, but it turned its head and fired a **Dragon Pulse** at him. Rick stopped to block the attack but Alara got in front and took the hit herself. She then flew through the air and landed on her feet with little damage.

"Don't worry, I can take anything it can dish out. Just keep running, I'm fine. Kill this thing!"

Rick then continued to run as it fired more **Dragon Pulses**, which the girls all successfully blocked with mixes of **Shadow Ball**, **Water Pulse**, **Ice Beam**, and **Thunderbolt**. The Colossus then fired a **Draco Meteor** into the air and it came down towards Rick. Rick saw it and jumped into the air and sliced it with a loud yell before his blades managed to absorb it and his fists and blades began to glow yellow. He then crashed one of his fists onto the top of the behemoth's head, making it hit the ground and Super **Focus Punched** the power core. With that the creature gave a loud roar and Rick brought a gigantic golden yellow blade down onto its neck, finishing it.

Rick then jumped off the Colossus as it began to implode into itself and landed next to Jean and Dartz who passed out from the strain of holding down the Colossus, with his fingers bleeding. Rick looked back at the Colossus who was shrinking down into a normal Salamance again. The Salamance then woke up and looked at Rick with a growl. The Salamance then walked over to him and smelled him for a second before licking him and speaking.

"Thank you so much for releasing me. When Team Rocket turned me into that thing I thought that was the end of it. That I would be stuck as a gigantic ugly creature made for nothing but destroying. You seem to know exactly what you were doing and I am so happy to be free and so grateful being cured of my alterations."

The Salamance's voice gave it a gender, it was female and a young one at that. Rick then pet her snout and spoke to her.

"It wasn't our first Colossus battle and we never kill them. Once the power core is destroyed it will revert back into its former self when killed. The former self will still be alive though and cure of any experimentation. The Rockets are smart and resourceful but never too discrete."

"That's very true. Let me express my gratitude, any favor you want I shall do."

"I actually do have a favor but, if you'll excuse me, let me rest first."

With that he fell onto the ground and tried to catch his breath. Alara then walked over and sat on his stomach with her arms crossed.

"Trouble seems to find you everywhere Rick, but at least this time you got something out of it."

Rick groaned in pain when she sat on him and then her told her, "Well I guess you're right...also how long do you intend on sitting on me like that. I mean I'm flattered but I think this is a bit too fast for me."

"What are you talking about?"

Amber then got her attention and she saw that the other males had their hands over their eyes as so did Rick as well. Amber then pointed down to her dress. She looked and saw that her dress had sections burned off, revealing her underwear.

"Rick you bastard!"

She then hit him over the head.

"Ow! What the hell did I do!?"

She then continued to beat him with everyone sweatdropping and then laughing.

Jean then said to Seras and Dartz, "He still got something bad out of this little fight either way and what he got was a woman's unreasonable wrath. I wonder where Mewtwo went."

Dartz then said, "Like it matters anymore."

They continued to laugh as Rick kept trying to shield himself from Alara's blows.

"Alara stop! What the hell did I do!?"

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter guys, keep reviewing, and keep leaving me your questions. Ciao!


	13. Chapter 13: Q&A2

It hasn't even been two weeks since the last Q&A and I have received a slew of questions and requests. I'm happy that you guys are getting really into my story and that you guys have questions that I'm more than happy to answer today. Anyways, I've received so many in two weeks that I've decided to make the next Q&A so quickly. Note, I will not normally do this so quickly but due to the sheer number of questions I will just get them out of the way while I still have answers to them. So here we go, Q&A #2.

1) "Will Lucian, as well as the other members of the Epic Trainer's (Rick's trainer had to be epic so...Yeah...) team make an appearance in future chapters?...And, who are the other members of Rick's "family" besides Lucian, Jean, Seras, and Dartz...and Serenity, I guess...?"

A: I'm actually kinda happy someone actually brought this up. Rick's trainer can be called epic and I'll finally get into that in future yet nearby chapters. Anyways, if you want me to give you the list right now, I will and by captured order: Winston(Alakazam/m), Wayland(Machamp/m), Gloria(Pidgeot/f(then Pidgeotto), Jean(Blaziken/m(then Combusken)), Celand(Sceptile/m(then Grovyle)), Seras(Espeon/f(then Eevee), Dartz(Umbreon/m(then Eevee)), Anna(Flygon/f), Aleerah(Altaria/f), Rick(Gallade/m(then Kirlia)), Lucian(Lucario/m), Amari(Scizor/f), Bolt(Raichu/m), Richter(Nidoking(then Nidoran/m)), Shadow(Gengar/m(then Haunter), and Sage(Absol/m)).

I know in the chapter 3 I said that Rick's trainer had 5 pokemon with him when he captured him, not that he had only 5 pokemon captured. Rick is #10 not #6. Also, Serenity is not a part of Rick's "family", he just found her afterwards. Don't worry, they will all appear in the story in the future. When? I do not know yet, but I have an idea.

2) "If Jean and Seras mate, what will their kids look like? Also, are you going to be using live birth or eggs?"

A: This one got me thinking, what will their kids look like? I kinda always wondered if they'll just automatically pop out as Flareons with a martial arts complex. I don't have a definite answer to this question yet. Also, I'm keeping the birth by what I see as appropriate. So if they're mammals I will make them have live birth and if not then the other way around.

3) "Why do you use Mewtwo?"

A: Because Rick's hatred is centered around Team Rocket and Mewtwo is Team Rocket's ultimate creation.

4) "Are you finally going to push the romance in?"

A: Bear with me for a little while longer, I'll get to it but I need to create a relationship between characters and a plot. It will happen soon, I promise.

5) "Is there any instrument that Rick can't play and can Jean play any instruments?"

A: So far the instruments that are seen are the only ones he can play and Jean can play instruments as well but you'll have to wait and see.

6) "Dartz should get laid!"

A: This isn't a question but I kinda agree, not saying that I'm actually going to incorporate that.

7) "Are you ever going to write a lemon in this story? I think it will fit nice with this kind of story since your making a romance and are planning to make the story kinda lengthy."

A: Thanks for trying to help me by giving me the suggestion, and to keep you guys happy I will write it in the story. I got this question a couple of times but this version of it caught my eye. I know I said that I probably wouldn't but I got curious to see if I could do it. So congrats frat boys, you got your wish. When is it going to happen? Beats me! We'll just have to wait and find out.

8) "Why did you create those Rocket Specter and Colossi things?"

A: I made them to make Team Rocket still seem like a threat and that their experimentation of pokemon did not end with Mewtwo. To make them seem more despicable is my main goal and I also use them for more fights.

9) "Why does Rick's luck just get worse?"

A: Mainly to make the situation more difficult for him but to show that he's still vulnerable despite his strength. But he should have some relief now...for a while at least, I haven't jotted any more notes past the next 4 chapters in my notebooks.

10) "Why is Dartz human weapon wire?"

A: Mainly because I love Garrote Wire as a weapon, especially in anime. It's a hard weapon to master and it is just so interesting how it works. Also, it kinda goes well with his personality. More will be revealed in time.

11) "Are you sure you're not friends with Latiasfan1?"

A: I'm not. I've chatted with them a few times but I don't know them all too much as a person than I writer. I wonder how all 3 of you guys that ask me this get this idea. I'm really curious now.

12) "When are you going to reveal Rick's human form? I'm so curious to know how it looks."

A: It'll be coming out soon, just wait a little while. I don't see how this is a big thing.

13) "They are still so far from the Sanctuary. How many more chapters until they actually make it since the last three were generally in the same place?"

A: Don't worry I'm not going to write chapters based on ever step they take. I'm also anxious to get there but I have to be realistic. There has to be a story not just a clip show of bit of story. We'll be getting there soon.

14) "I kinda see a romance igniting between Rick and Alara. Am I right?"

A: If you count trying to get along and her wailing on him multiple times romantic, then I've got news for you. It's hinted right now but not necessarily a romance yet. They just act like high school friends with drama.

15) "How did Seras and Dartz get to Sinnoh so quickly?"

A: You'll find out soon. Just keep reading because I'm writing the next explanation.

16) "Is Amber the team medic? She seems to be doing the medic job constantly."

A: Good eye! For the moment yes. I had to make her useful for something other than complaining to everyone or throwing a fit. But she has seem to calm down in the last few chapters.

17) "Why does Rick always use Drain Punch to solve all his energy problems?"

A: If you had that ability you'll be using it too as a pick-me-up. Also, he does state that it can only take him so far as just a quick boost.

18) "Is Rick even a real pokemon? He can fight like a warlord, can regenerate to a point, can transform into a human, has a scarf that can kill anything he commands it to kill, and (based on chapter 12) can absorb energy and use it to his advantage."

A: He's a real pokemon with training and he did some favors to get the Chaos Scarf. The regeneration is also a gift and he cannot absorb energy. He just manipulated it. It will all be explained in chapter 14. I can promise you that much.

19) "Why did you bring in the Chaos Scarf into the story? Like Rick isn't uber enough.

A: Rick rarely uses it and it has one major drawback...it doesn't work in sunlight. He got it from doing some favors. From whom? That will be explained soon. I have a lot to explain to you guys and I don't like giving spoilers in these Q&As.

20) "Did Rick cause the Goldenrod City radio tower scenario?"

A: Nice connection, I didn't think about that until I read that to be honest. I guess you can say that he did.

21) "Why does Alara just teleport everyone back to the Sanctuary or to a pokemon center so they can heal Rick?"

A: Try to imagine this, you're hundreds of mile from home, Teleporting uses energy, and you have to take many people with you. I doubt you will go very far without passing out or dying.

22) "Is it okay to send you PMs to just chat or something?"

A: Go ahead, feel free. I don't mind it and I encourage it. I would love to talk to you guys. I'm not one of those misanthropes that hates everybody. Okay? The same _pendejo_(dumbass or motherfucker) you see here is the same one you'll see when you send me a message. Go right ahead and I will try my best to respond to you guys.

23) "Do you have any other projects planned?"

A: Yes I do. I have The Blade and the Embrace PSA's which are going to be posted separately from the story but have all the characters that have appeared in the regular series. It's a fun little series of shorts that I have been wanting to do. So if you want to stay up to date on them then follow my profile and you'll be alerted to when they are out.

24) "Did you really have a small contest for the country that had the most views in the month and who did you side with in the Canada vs U.K View War?

A: It wasn't really a contest but I guess I can start making it one. Also, I didn't side for either. I was holding a maple leaf in one hand and a Union Jack in the other, so I didn't pick a side even though I have more British friends.

25) "Do you mind helping me with my story?"

A: I do not. Go ahead and PM any ideas that you might have to put into your story and I will give you my suggestions. I won't tell you what's right or wrong but I will give you some tips.

26) "Are you Hispanic?"

A: I was surprised on how many times I have gotten this question. Yes I am. I'm from the Dominican Republic and Spanish is my native tongue. Moving on. I moved to the US at a very young age so I assimilated and now speak perfect English without an accent...well a slight southern accent here and there but that's because I was raised in Texas and now live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

27) "Do you get help to write your work?"

A: No I do not. I do it all by myself and I intend on doing it that way unless I ask for it. I pretty much know how this story is going to play out.

28) "Who is so far your most loyal viewer?"

A: Interesting question, I have two. Species Unknown and KingInfinity25. Well they make it obvious to me. I'm sure I have many more but they get involved constantly.

29) "Do you read other people's fanfiction?"

A: Of course, I started my account to read some of them. I actually started coming to to read Latiasfan1's works and then read many more and was surprised to find many interesting stories. So I decided to start writing my own in here.

30) "Did any videogames or movies or other story influence some of your story's content?"

A: No, not really. The colossus idea did come after playing Shadow of the Colossus but other than that no. Unless I can say that Pokemon influenced it.

31) "When is the next chapter coming out?"

A: That is not for me to actually say. It might come out later this week or in the next few weeks. College started again here so that's going to be what I'll be focusing on right now and I'm on a job hunt so that will be a little drawback. I will keep writing though, whenever I can.

32) "Why do you post stories so quickly?"

A: Because I have a lot of free time, too many ideas, a broken tv, and a laptop with internet. I need something to do.

33) "Will you see the story until the end?"

A: Hell yeah! Why start something you're not going to finish? I have way too many ideas to just leave hanging.

34) "Is the story going to get darker?"

A: I might but I'm trying to make it depressing now. This is an adventure and romance, there's no need for a pitch black story.

35) "How long does it take you to write a battle scene with all that detail?"

A: I honestly believe that I don't give the fight scenes enough detail but I'm not going to write pages onto pages on how they swung their fists now. It usually takes me about a day or two to write it and then the revision takes up another day sometimes.

36) "Do you listen to music while you write the story?"

A: Yes, considering what I'm writing. If I'm writing a fight scene I'll usually be listening to a rock song or a videogame/anime fight song. If I'm writing an emotional scene I'll listen to something soft and emotional. It helps by putting me in the mood and helps me write the story's tone. While I'm writing this I'm listening to **Sugar by System of a Down** and it's making me write quickly.

37) "Is Gallade your favorite pokemon?"

A: Yes, Gallade and Gardevoir are both my #1 favorite pokemon. I don't put one above the other.

38) "What kind of relationship does Rick and Serenity have?"

A: More like a parent and child relationship or older brother and little sister relationship.

39) "Is it going to be hilarious when they make it to the Sanctuary or tragic?"

A: I might mix both =)

Final Question: 40) "What are you doing? Hope to the next chapter already."

A: Okay =) but I choose when it comes out.

Okay so that was the second Q&A. I'll be leaving you guys to get back to your lives now. So please keep sending me your questions and I'll post another Q&A as time goes on. Peace out!


	14. Chapter 14: A Hearthome City Night

Here's chapter 14 and my longest chapter yet. I kinda like how I tried to mix different elements into this one chapter so I'm just going to leave it here hopeful that I did well. Also, thanks for all the new questions. I have received them and I will make a Q&A in probably the next seven chapters or so...considering how many I get. If you want to know the current view standings it's #1) US #2) Canada (revenge time I see) #3) Norway #4) Mexico #5) Italy and UK. Well give me some reviews guys and I'll leave you to enjoy your little bit of reading here.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

It's been about three hours since the fight with the Colossus, now a Salamance named Fang. Alara was still chasing Rick and he was running away. Seras and Jean were cuddling up by the fire, Dartz was speaking with Serenity and Fang, and Amber was trying to stop Alara from continuing her assault so she could tend to Rick's wounds.

Rick then dodged an attack from Alara and said, "Seriously Alara!? I did nothing, saw nothing, and you're lucky you had a spare dress. Why are you attacking me for?"

"I have no idea, I need to take my frustration and embarrassment out on something. Now hold still!"

"That's a horrible reason to be attacking me."

Seras then lifted her head from Jean's chest and told Rick, "Rick, cut the crap and end this. We need to get you patched up before you run out of energy and your wounds open again."

Rick nodded and stood still and Alara then tried to punch him but he caught her fist with a smug smile. That action only infuriated Alara more than it did stop her. Rick then sighed and put her fist down and amazingly she didn't attack him. He then walked over to the others and sat down, trying to get comfortable.

"So now what guys? Do we stay here for today or do we keep going? It's only about four in the afternoon."

Seras then looked at him, "We need to get going. You need a pokemon center before your wounds reopen for whatever reason."

"Which is why we have fang here for the time being. Fang!"

Fang then moved her head over to Rick, "Yes?"

"I only have one favor, can you fly us to this location on my map." Rick then pointed to a section south of Route 212 on his Poketch."

"That's an easy request, but I'll do it. It'll only take about and four hours to get there."

Seras then told her, "Just take us to Hearthome City. We'll be fine on out way over there. Thank you!"

Rick looked at Seras with a confused look, "Why there?"

"We need a day off don't we. To catch up and the like. Let's just go, it wouldn't hurt would it?"

Rick sighed and looked up, "I guess not. I also hear that Hearthome is quite the eye-candy of a city. With its centerpiece being the contest hall and the cathedral. I've also heard of its park, Amity Square I believe it's called. I'd like to wander there for a while."

Seras smiled, "Sure you can, but after we get you healed up. It shouldn't take too long, but I'll need you to be in your pokeball so that Nurse Joy doesn't suspect your gunshot wound."

"Actually I want to head to the center first and go to the park tomorrow. No doubt she'll have to operate and I'd rather just get completely healed than have it heal and get complications later." She nodded and then looked at Fang who also nodded. "You should stay with us for the time we're there Fang. Have some fun with us."

"That sounds nice but won't people be a little apprehensive about having a group of pokemon walking around their town. More with me since I'm a dragon and am larger that all of you. Besides I'm rare and some of them might want to capture me."

"Oh there's no danger with that around us. We'll just make it seem like you're one of our pokemon."

She looked confused at Rick, "What do you mean?"

"Look at the two "humans" next to you and the one with black hair. Don't you wonder how they can understand you and how they helped me turn you back to normal? Aren't you wondering what happened to the Blaziken? Well there's your answer. We can take the appearance of humans, it's a little skill we picked up a long time ago. It used to be for Psychics only, but we shared it with every one of our friends."

"So you can do that too?"

"Yes, but I choose not to transform."

Seras then looked at Rick, "Can you please transform Rick? I haven't seen you in your human form since you were a Kirlia. I want to see what you look like now."

With that everyone looked at Rick who sighed and began to glow, "You guys owe me big time." Everyone saw him morph into a human and then two red eyes were visible through the white light and it disappeared. They then saw a young man with mid-length spiky green hair with a silver tint that, it also had a bang that went over his nose. He also had a green sports jacket, a white dress shirt that had the last two buttons undone, black fingerless gloves, green cargo pants, and black combat boots. His chest and back spike was gone, his face was chiseled, he had bright sharp red eyes, the spikes on the side of his face were gone, no mustache, and a green goatee. On his neck he had the Chaos Scarf, his trainer's amulet,and a locket that had a red crystal on it.

Rick then said, "Ta da! Happy now guys."

Seras, Serenity, Fang, and Alara were speechless while Jean, Dartz, and Amber were clapping.

Jean then spoke, "So this is what you look like now? I've got to say, it's an improvement."

"Okay shit for brains, you got your wish. You got to see my human form for the first time. Now don't go criticizing it now. Also, now what?"

Seras then spoke, "We leave, what else do you think?"

Rick then nodded and looked at Fang and wondered how she was going to carry all of them. She was a large Salamance but it would still be a challenge for her to carry all seven of them.

Rick then told Jean, Seras, and Dartz, "Guys give me your pokeballs so Fang can carry us easier." Jean then passed him an Ultra Ball, Seras gave him a Love Ball, and Dartz gave him a Dusk Ball. "I should also put Serenity into one." Serenity then looked at him with a shocked expression. "Don't worry Serenity, I'll release you from the ball once we arrive to Hearthome."

Dartz then told Rick, "No, you'll go into your pokeball. You're still hurt and need to rest. Seras will stay outside of her ball to watch the girls. Agreed?"

"Okay you have a point...but if I sense anything happen, I will burst out."

Seras then grabbed his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I didn't tell you this but I saw Mewtwo fly away before we got to you guys earlier today."

"In that case, knock yourself out", Rick said as he handed her the Love Ball and his Ultra Ball. She then pushed the center button and Rick was sucked into the ball. She then recalled Jean and Dartz and placed the balls onto her belt. She then turned to the other girls.

"Shall we go? I'll explain things on the way over to Hearthome."

All the girls then nodded and climbed onto Fang's back and Fang then took off. Amber was holding onto Fangs neck for dear life and the other girls were sitting comfortable on Fang's back.

Seras then spoke up, "I'm guessing you guys want to know more about us. Mainly Rick, right?" Alara and Serenity nodded. "Well let me start from the beginning. I wasn't there when our trainer actually caught him, I was at home with my brother and two other members of our "family". Our trainer brought him to us a day after he found him and when I first saw him he had a large bandage on his side. He didn't really feel comfortable around us at first and spoke to me first after about a week or two. He was always shy and used to hide behind me if he got scared. He became attached to me since I was older and looked motherly. It was odd because I evolved a week prior to meeting him and I was surprised to quickly going from the team baby to caring for another pokemon."

Alara awwed and Serenity kept listening attentively.

"About a month or so later, he finally started to talk to Jean and the others but was still a little scared. He then sparked a friendship with Jean and started to open up to everyone but never abandoned me. He still relied on me for a lot until his wounds healed."

Alara then asked, "What caused his wound?"

"I don't really know but I think he was shot. If you look closely at his side, you can still see that he still has the scar. But after he healed he went straight to training with our trainer, which I felt was still a bit too early but Rick didn't mind."

Serenity then asked, "Can you tell us about your trainer? By what Rick tells us he seems to be pretty powerful for a human."

Seras sighed, "Don't worry he's still human but he has quite the record. He used to be a ranger in his youth and then, if I remember correctly, he helped out a Mew and he got some gift from the other legendaries. Mainly, the knowledge on how to train his pokemon into champions. He then took the Sinnoh League challenge and became the champion for about the next ten years before retiring after one of his dearest pokemon were killed by some group. He then released most of his pokemon, except for his and settled down in the Hoenn region. He got married, started a family, and then lived his life for a while."

Alara then asked another question, "Which pokemon of his died and then what happened?"

Seras thought for a second, "Well, if I remember it correctly it was a Gallade like Rick. I also believe that he was his first pokemon. I can understand how that would of driven him into retiring from the Champion's seat in the League. But I don't understand why he released all his pokemon...except for Winston...the Alakazam."

"I guess it was to start over."

"Perhaps but I'd like to know why? But it's too late to ask him. Anyways, he moved to Hoenn afterwards and got married and had two kids. Then his kids grew up and left and his wife died. He then caught us and made a new family. Also, if Rick hasn't told you, he got sick one day and died soon after." Her voice sounded sad at the end.

Alara seemed to have picked up her emotions, "I'm sorry."

"Oh it's okay. It's been five years since then and we've all moved on." She said with a smile. "But Rick was never the same. He became more reclusive and began to keep to himself, even from me and Jean. I made me sad to see him alienate himself from the rest. Even the others wanted him to be back to normal, but once we decided to go our separate ways he became the first to leave. It was a sad day for me and the others, the one that we all saw grow from a timid little Kirlia and turn into a powerful happy Gallade, leaving us in a depression. Needless to say, it was hard on me and Jean but we knew he'll be fine."

Alara then picked up another group of emotions, mainly irritability and annoyance but with a bit of sadness and remorse. She immediately knew that it was Rick, even though he was in his pokeball but he could still hear them or was listening through one of their minds. Alara then tried to channel Rick's mind to figure out what was wrong with him.

_"Rick? What's wrong with you?"_

_ "Nothing. I just don't like hearing this story."_

_ "Then why are you listening in...and how are you listening in?"_

_ "By listening through your mind. Well now you know about my past. Are you happy now?"_

_ "Why didn't you tell me about this?"_

_ "I didn't think you would care. We've only known each other in a few days and didn't think we would spend this much time together. Also, I can't believe she told you though, I even avoided the conversation with you. Only Serenity knew about this...to a point. Mainly because I'm going to be stuck with her for a while."_

_ "Well you're going to be stuck with me for a few more days so I guess you should open up to me."_

_ "I'm going to rest now. Leaving your head...Now!"_

"Rick you ass! Don't ignore me!"

The girls were looking at her when she yelled out.

Amber then asked her, "What's wrong with you? You just froze for a while and then started screaming at Rick. I'm guessing you were talking to him?"

"Yes and he says that he wanted us to not know anything about his past."

Seras then sighed, "I expected that. He doesn't like to talk about it much, but he has to tell someone eventually."

After about two hours Fang announced, "We're here!"

The girls looked at the city below them and were in awe of the beautiful sight. Alara noticed the Super Contest Hall on the north side of the city, Seras noticed the cathedral that was found on the west side of the city, and Amber noticed the Poffin house in the center of the city.

Fang then asked, "Where do I land?"

Seras responded, "Just outside the city so we can let the boys transform back into their human forms without anyone noticing."

Serenity then asked Seras, "Oh, they automatically change back when they go back into the balls?"

"Yep. Somehow it cancels out the human form."

Fang then landed in a clearing outside the city's entrance and Seras released Jean and Dartz, who were back in their normal forms and the girls finally saw that Dartz as an Umbreon. Seras then tried to bring Rick out of his ball but he didn't come out despite her efforts. Alara could feel a mixture of emotions coming from the ball but dismissed them. Seras was confused on why he didn't want to come out but she figured that it was for the best so she put the ball back on her belt and walked towards Jean who quickly turned human, along with Dartz.

"Okay so let's go to the pokemon center and then enjoy the city for the remainder of the day and then book a few hotel rooms."

Jean then pulled her close and told her, "Yep, a room for me and you, Dartz and Rick, and the remaining girls."

Dartz then grabbed his shoulders and told him with a stern voice, "Oh no you don't! Not while I'm still alive."

"Want to try the dice game?"

"Fine, I'm down for it."

Alara then asked Seras, "What's the dice game?"

Seras responded while slightly laughing, "It's a game that we used to play to see who get grouped up with who. We still use it when we go to hotels and such to see who will be our roommates. Since both opposite sides of a die add up to 7, so it's mainly for only three groups. Here are the pairs: 1-6, 2-5,and 3-4."

Then they heard Jean and Dartz making the rules, "Okay Dartz, Rick is 1-6, Seras is 2-5, and you're 3-4. Only two of us will get a room with someone while the remaining three have to share a room with the last one chosen."

Fang then spoke out, "Oh don't count me. I want to sleep in the park tonight. Don't worry no one will mind. I've done that before I was captured by Team Rocket."

"Alright then, so the remaining three share a room."

Seras then sighed and rolled her eyes, "Can this wait until we get to the hotel you two?"

"Fine, but I will get your room no matter what."

She then giggled, "We'll see!"

They then entered the city and immediately arrived at the pokemon center so that they can start their sightseeing.

"Hello! Welcome to the Hearthome City pokemon center, how may I help you?" said the Nurse Joy that was behind the counter.

Seras then greeted her, "Hello! I'm hear to heal my pokemon."

"The Gardevoir, Lopunny, and Absol?"

"No their fine but I need my Gallade healed. He got shot on the shoulder a couple days ago but my Gardevoir used **Healing Pulse** to heal him from any serious injury."

"That's still a really serious injury. How did it happen?"

"A Team Rocket grunt shot him when he beat him."

"Those damn Rockets, ever since they appeared in Sinnoh they've caused nothing but trouble. May I have him so I can treat him immediately?"

"Sure."

Once she said that, Rick burst out of his ball and staggered to stay on his feet and his wound was open again. He seemed to be fighting to stay conscious and he then passed out on the center's floor. Alara and Seras then quickly ran to him. Alara was shaking him trying to wake him up and Seras was checking his pulse, which he still had thankfully. Out of nowhere two Chanseys came out of some double doors with a stretcher and quickly placed Rick onto it and disappeared through the doors.

The Nurse Joy then turned to Alara and Seras, "Don't worry. He'll be fine, I just need to check up on him and check if I need to operate on him. Don't worry Ms. Gardevoir, your mate will be fine."

Once she said that a vein appeared on Alara's head and then Nurse Joy left the room and Alara then facepalmed hard. "For the last time, he...is not...my...mate!"

Amber then jumped on her back, "Oh drop it! He'll be fine, so let's go sightseeing."

Alara nodded and they turned to leave only to see Serenity in her human form. "What? I wanted to try it out again."

They then left to tour the city with everyone going to different areas. Alara, Amber, and Serenity went to the Super Contest Hall, Jean and Seras went to the cathedral, and Dartz went to some shops to resupply.

[At the Super Contest Hall]

Alara and the girls were looking around the contest hall with wonder. It was very well decorated and large, nothing like what they expected but it was amazing to them. Serenity was still in her human form to give the impression that Alara and Amber were her pokemon.

Alara then spoke telepathically to Serenity, _"Let's talk like this since humans cannot necessarily understand us."_

_ "Good thinking."_

_ "Anyways, this place is nice. I want to compete in a contest one day. Just to show myself off to hundreds of adoring spectators."_

Serenity then giggled, _"Don't worry. You can do that some day, but we don't have time today and there's no contest this week apparently."_

Alara sighed, _"Oh well another time then. But while I'm in this city I would love to get some new clothes."_

She then ran into someone and she then looked at who she ran into. She saw a woman in a violet ball gown and with violet hair tied into four woman then looked at her and smiled before speaking to Serenity.

"Excusez-moi(excuse me) but are this Gardevoir your's?"

"Yes she is. Her name is Alara."

"What a beautiful name."

"Sorry about her bumping into you. She was just distracted with the contest hall. My name is Serenity by the way. The Lopunny on Alara's back is called Amber. And may I ask you your name?"

"Oui(yes) you may, mon nom est(my name is) Fantina. I am the the Gym leader of this city."

"Oh my, I wasn't expecting to meet a gym leader and even less here."

"You don't know much about me, do you? Serenity nodded. "I'm not just the gym leader but je suis aussi(I'm also) a contest superstar here." She then looked at Alara and back to Serenity. "Are you planning to enter into a contest?"

"Oh no. We're just visiting but we might want to enter her in a contest in the future but I'll have to go buy Alara some new dresses."

"Oh ne vous inquiétez pas(don't worry) allow me to give her some."

"That's really nice of you but I don't want to bother you."

"No worries, I like to give pokemon makeovers. So now my dear Gardevoir come with me."

The girls followed Fantina to a room at the end of a large hall that had many clothes and accessories. There were also many people in there that had something to do with preparing pokemon for contests. Fantina then clapped twice and all the people in the room stood in attention.

"Alright mes amis(my friends), I have a little task for you. We're going to give this Gardevoir a make over and I expect the best." Immediately all the people got to work, taking Alara's measurements, fixing her hair, and giving her multiple new looks.

After about three hours of all the make over, Alara wanted to leave. She already had many new dresses and a hairstyle that she loved. Her hair was now wavy and want over her right shoulder. She was in a hurry to leave before the people thought of more styles for her. Once she got all the dresses and accessories she started to push Serenity and Amber out while the people thought.

_"Let's get out of her before they decide to dye my hair a different color!"_

[The Cathedral (a hour and a half prior)]

Jean and Seras walked into the cathedral after they left Dartz at the Pokemart. They wanted some alone time and saw the cathedral that Seras wanted to go to. They entered it and Jean sat down at a nearby bench while Seras walked around for a bit. After about five minutes she joined Jean on a bench at the back of the cathedral and they both looked up at the stain glassed windows.

"I love seeing these kinds of windows Jean. I wonder they managed to make those pictured with the glass. Oh well, something for me to research at another time."

"Yep, why did you want to come here? I mean, I'm all for church but it's Tuesday."

"I just wanted to have some fun and look around. This places was just interesting for me."

"Well I still want to have some fun." He then pulled her closer. "What do you say?"

She giggled, "Not now Jean. We're in a church. Last thing I want to do is get struck by lightning."

"I'm not saying 'let's mate here and now', I just want to make out."

"We're still in a church?"

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please? Pretty please?"

"...alright."

Jean then looked up, "Thank you for this gift Arceus."

Seras the rolled her eyes and lunged at him with a hug and a kiss. Amazingly they were alone in the cathedral so no one was going to stop them. They kept making out for a long time until they heard someone come through the doors. They quickly separated and Seras fixed her hair with **Psychic** before turning and seeing Dartz walking in.

Jean saw him and sighed, "Always cockblocking me!"

"What were you two up to?"

Seras then answered quickly, "Nothing, just admiring the architecture."

"You were making out, weren't you?"

"...yes. Sorry brother."

"It's okay. You guys are together...if you guys were mating I would of killed Jean. Not for this though. However there's a difference between showing affection and desecrating a church."

Seras then laughed slightly while Jean was not amused.

Jean then told Dartz, "You know, I was enjoying myself."

"And guess what, I don't give a fuck."

"Aren't you supposed to be shopping?"

"We split an hour and a half ago."

"Wow! How long were we making out?"

"Let's go. We're supposed to meet the girls at a fountain in the southeast section of the city."

They then left for the fountain, which thankfully appeared on the Poketch. They made it there in about ten minutes and saw the girls sitting on a bench, looking at Alara's dresses.

Seras greeted them, "Hi girls!"

They all responded in unison, "Hi guys!"

"How was your sightseeing?"

"It was great, we went to the contest hall, ran into the city's gym leader, she was nice enough to give me a make over and give me all these dresses. I even got a new hairstyle that I love."

"Looks like you guys had a great day."

Serenity then looked up, "There's a storm coming. I can feel it."

"Oh yeah, you're an Absol. You can sense when storms are going to arrive."

"Yep. There's going to be one tonight."

"I feel like we're forgetting something...oh crap that's right! Rick!"

Jean then facepalmed, "Crap I forgot about him! I need to see if he's okay."

They immediately walked back to the pokemon center where they saw Rick sitting in a chair with his arms crossed and his right shoulder in bandage wraps. He looked bored and glared at the group when they walked in.

"Nice of you guys to remember that I'm still here. Nurse Joy finished treating me two hours ago. You guys have been gone for four hours."

Serenity then spoke to him, "Sorry, we got preoccupied with a few things."

"It's okay. I needed some alone time anyways. Can we go to the hotel already?"

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

Once they left the pokemon center Rick transformed into his human form and they went down the street until they saw the hotel towering over the other buildings.

Rick then turned to look at Alara and Amber, "You guys will either need to go into pokeballs or allow me and Seras to turn you two into humans."

Amber then asked, "Why?" Rick then pointed to a 'No Pokemon Are Permitted Within The Rooms' sign. "Oh I see. I choose human."

Alara sighed and nodded, "I'll go human too...does it hurt?"

"Not at all. Just relax and hold still. But we'll need to hide first so no one sees us. I think we should go into that alley for a second. It should take no longer than a minute."

They then walked into the alley and Rick turned Alara into a human. She hair was the same but her dress seemed more formal as it was still white and green but longer, more like a ballroom dress. She was slightly taller but kept the same body shape. Her face was rather striking with deep red eyes and her head spikes were gone. Her chest and back spike was gone, like Rick's, but she did have a necklace with a red crystal that seemed to be an imitation of the spike. She also wore white ballroom shoes, green gloves that were connected at her middle fingers but all her fingers were still visible.

Seras then took Amber to the alley and turned her into a human. When they came out Amber had the appearance of a teenage girl with a tan tank-top, a brown cardigan, brown pants, brown boots, a tan belt, and long wavy brown hair with tan highlights.

"How do I look?" Seras handed her a mirror and she also gave one to Alara. "Wow I'm hot! But what's new?" She laughed.

Alara studied herself in the small mirror and said, "So this is what I look like as a human? I'm kinda surprised to say the least. But I guess it's worth it. Let's go in already. The sun is already setting."

Everyone the nodded and entered the hotel. They were immediately greeted by the receptionist, "Welcome to the Hearthome City 5 Star Hotel. How may I help you?"

Rick immediately walked up to her, "Yes, I have a reservation for three penthouse suites for one day and two nights."

"Oh yes, I remember. You called two hours ago. Your rooms are ready and here are the keys to each room, we only give out two keys per room. Your rooms are on the top floor and are the only ones there so it shouldn't be hard to find. Enjoy your stay Mr. Rick!"

"Thank you very much." He then handed her 1,000 pokedollars. "And here's something for all your trouble."

Rick turned to look at the others who were staring at him with shocked expressions. "What?"

Jean then spoke out, "How can you afford that?"

"Oh I never told you? I'm loaded."

"How much cash do you have?"

"In US dollar amounts I'm in the hundred millions."

"How?"

"Stocks. Yeah, you didn't expect that, did you? I bought stocks in Silph Co., Poketch Co., and something called Facebook. But they were all great decisions...besides the fact that I don't even use that much of my money."

"Well that explains a lot and yet so little. What the hell do you do with all your money?"

"Absolutely nothing. I invest it mainly in charities and other organizations that I know have a future. Just some of the great things about being a Psychic type. You know who's going to fail and who is going to succeed."

Seras then ended the conversation, "Okay let's just drop it. Let's be happy that we're having good rooms."

They all then entered the elevator, which Serenity was kinda apprehensive about going into since she's never seen one. Eventually she entered the elevator and they went to the 15th floor and got off to see only three doors in the hallway. Rick then opened the first one and put his stuff in it before heading out to see the guys playing the dice game.

Jean was once again stating the rules to everyone around, "Alright, who wants in?"

Alara then spoke, "I want to try this out. It seems fun."

"Fine little lady. You roll first. Best of luck on whoever you get." She then shook the single die in her hand and let it go, rolling a 6.

"Who's number was 6?"

Jean then fell to the floor laughing his ass off, "6 is Rick!"

Alara quickly asked, "Can I get another roll?"

Jean handed her the die back, "Sure."

She threw it this time and rolled a 1, "Who's that now?"

Jean started laughing again, "It's Rick again! Also, no you cannot have another roll. You're stuck with him."

Alara and Rick then both facepalmed while Jean picked up the die and started shaking it in his hand.

"Alright now to get Seras!"

Rick then leaned and told Alara, "He keeps forgetting that he sucks at this game."

Jean then rolled the die to reveal the number...

[Later that night]

In the Dartz's room there was an awkward atmosphere since Jean rolled a 4 and got stuck with Dartz after two rolls of 4. They were laying on the bed just looking at the ceiling, Jean had a 'well this is awkward' look on his face and Dartz had a 'you've got to be fucking kidding me' look on his face.

Jean then decided to speak, "Sooooo Dartz, did you catch the game yesterday?"

"Don't talk and go to sleep." He said with an angry tone in his voice.

"Just trying to make the situation less awkward."

"We're two grown men in a bed together in a penthouse suite. There's NOTHING less awkward than this right now and NOTHING more indignifying!"

"Calm down, not meaning anything bad by this."

"You and your stupid idea."

"What?"

"It was your idea to play the dice game."

"But you agreed to it."

"But you made me one of the options."

"...sorry."

"J...just go to sleep damn you."

Jean then shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, but there are a few things you should know about me sleeping."

Dartz eyes shot open, "Such as?" He then saw Jean's shirt being thrown to a chair next to him. *Oh hell to the no!*

"Such as, when I'm in human form I like to sleep in the nude."

Dartz then shot up from the bed, "What the hell dude!? Put your clothes back on or go pokemon."

"I'm a flaming bird."

"Fine then put your clothes back on and put that thing away!"

"Dude calm down. I won't bother you."

"You better be right." He then felt Jean's breath on his neck. "Oh my Arceus! Sleep on your other side!"

"But I'm used to sleeping on my left side."

Dartz was now riddled with bulging veins and his right eye was twitching, "Fine! Switch sides!"

"Ok."

They then switched sides of the bed and Dartz rested his head for some much needed sleep, until he heard Jean sing.

"What do tigers dream of, when they take a little tiger snooze?"

Dartz's eyes shot open again, "No...fucking...way!"

"Do they dream of mauling zebras or Hallie Berry in her Catwoman suit?"

"What the fuck are you doing!?"

"I like to sing this before I go to sleep."

"Does this look like The Hangover!?"

"No, I just like singing it."

"GOOD ARCEUS IN HEAVEN! GO TO SLEEP!"

"Okay okay...damn!"

Over in Sera's room they were all sleeping tight. Amber was sleeping on the couch, Serenity was sleeping on the bed since it was her first time on a bed, and Seras was also on the bed but on the left side. They were all out cold and Amber could be heard snoring comfortably.

In Rick's room the atmosphere was almost as awkward as in Dartz's, but at least he was sleeping with a female in his room. They were both in their pokemon forms and Rick was in the bed trying to get some sleep but Alara was fixing her hair,...again, before sleeping and she left all the lights on.

"How long does it take for you to go to sleep?"

"Go to sleep if you want. I won't stop you."

"I can't sleep with the lights on. I like my room to be dark when I go to sleep."

"There I'm done. Happy?"

"Quite! Now then good night."

They settled in for the night and then Rick heard what sounded like thundering outside but he didn't pay too much attention to it. All of the sudden a loud thunderclap sounded and Alara shout up and held onto Rick who was shocked at the sudden action.

"Ummm Alara...Alara you're holding onto me...Let go already! What's wrong with you?"

"I hate thunder."

"You can't be serious. It won't hurt you, it's just a sound. Also, it's super rare to be hit by a lightingbolt...well not from a pokemon but you know what I mean. Can you let go of my neck now?"

She then let go of him and tried to sleep again until she heard another thunderclap and went back to how she was. Rick didn't try to make her let go this time, he knew that she was really afraid and didn't want to act insensitive.

"What does Amber do when you get like this?"

"Usually she tries to calm me down and then puts some music on to put me to sleep. I know it seems stupid that an adult Gardevoir like me is afraid of thunder, but I've been afraid of it all my life."

"It's okay. Everyone had a phobia, I'm not judging you."

"Do you have one?"

"Yes, a few."

"Like?"

Rick then began to think, "Well...I hate spiders. That's one. I get uncomfortable with heights as well. So those two phobias are dumber than your's. See? Nothing to be ashamed of."

She smiled, "Thanks. I guess you're not so mean."

"We've established this." He said as he gave a quiet laugh. "I'm not a mean spirited person. I'm actually very kind and sincere with people. I just like to play around from time to time and you happen to of gotten around me when I wanted to play around. Yet it feels so good to be at 100% again."

"Well you're not there yet. You still need to heal a bit."

"True but that shouldn't take long."

A loud thunderclap then sounded and Alara went cowering in the corner of the room in a fetal position.

Rick looked on with concern this time, *Wow she really is afraid of thunder.* He then walked towards her and knelt down to check on her. "Alara are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just hate thunder. I can't take it when I hear one that loud."

"That reminded me of my little sister."

"Oh?"

"She hated thunder too. She would always run into my room when it started to roar and wake me up because she was scared. I never minded though, I knew she was scared and she was my little sister. As a big brother I had to comfort her if anything. I would usually cradle her and sing her lullaby to her so that she could sleep. When she finally did fall asleep I would carry her to her room and tuck her back in. I would never leave her room on those nights. I would sit at a chair that was across from her bed and just watch over her and eventually fall asleep there. It always made her feel safe and it always made me feel great because I knew I was doing my job right and I was taking care of her." Rick then stopped talking and Alara could see, even in the dark of the room, a tear fall from Rick's eye even though he was still smiling.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Yeah...today would of been her 19th birthday."

Alara was shocked at what Rick had just said, "I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I think I made it clear when I refused to leave my pokeball. Seras and Jean should of already known."

"Oh so those were the emotions I picked up earlier today. You were crying in your ball, weren't you?"

"I only cry because of my past, I cry for nothing else. She would of been 19 and I would of never seen her grow up to be big. I remember that she evolved into a Kirlia on her 4th birthday after I gave her my present. She evolved because she was very happy and I was happy because of that."

"Sounds like you two were very close."

"I would of died for my little sister but apparently she died before me. She was so little, she was only 4. Why the hell would Team Rocket want to snuff out someone that young? It made me hate them with a dark passion, I even swore revenge. But no matter how many of them I've killed, it was never enough for me. It will never be until I ultimately destroy them, all of them. But enough of my dark talk, let's go back to bed and get some sleep. What do you say?"

Alara nodded and stuck her hand out towards Rick who took it and helped her up to her feet. They then walked back to the bed with Alara holding Rick's arm, trying to comfort him but he tried to convince her that he was fine. Rick then stopped at the base of the bed and began to countdown, "3...2...1." Just then a thunderclap roared and Alara flinched but didn't cower.

"How did you do that?"

"We psychic types have a tendency of being sensitive to a lot of things. I just used that sensitivity to pinpoint when the next thunderclap would come. Try it, it should help you get over your fear if you can feel it coming."

"How do I do it?"

"Just try to sense the energy in the sky and when the energy starts to vibrate just count down from three."

"I'll give it a shot." Alara then closed her eyes and concentrated, she then started to count,"3...2...1" A thunderclap then roared and she began to laugh in surprise.

"Oh my Arceus! It actually works!"

Rick then smiled wide, "Told you! Now good night Alara. See you in the morning." He then laid down on his side of the bed and Alara laid down on her side.

"Good night to you too Rick."

Wow this one took a lot of brainstorming and free time that I almost didn't have with school back on. Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to bring the next one next week or so. Well have a great day guys!


	15. Chapter 15: A Hearthome City Day

Hey guys, wow this one took me a lot of free time, that I usually use to play games or do work. But I had no work this week and my tv broke so I have time to burn. I can't believe how long I made this chapter but hey my friends requested it and it seemed like a really good idea. So enjoy this chapter, it took me forever to write. Anyways, keep on reviewing and sending me questions and suggestions guys. I do read them and I do pay attention. Current view standings #1) US #2) Canada #3) UK (look out Canada. They're coming for you.) #4) Norway #5) Italy.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

[Seras's Room]

All the girls woke up and felt great after finally sleeping in a bed after many days. Seras woke up first, Serenity about three minutes later, and Amber after about thirty more minutes. After a while they all got ready for the day and were about to walk out to check on the others until they heard a knock at the door. Seras answered it and soon a tied up Jean fell to the floor with an irritated Dartz stepping in.

Seras was confused at the sight, "Umm what's going on Dartz?"

"Here! Take him! Worst roommate ever! I don't care what you guys do, just take him! He's your headache now!"

He then left the room and slammed the door behind him. Serenity and Amber just looked on and sweatdropped and Seras untied Jean with **Psychic**.

"Thanks. Your brother really knows how to make rope hurt around your neck."

"Be happy he didn't decide to strangle you to death." She then smiled at him. "So I'm guessing your plan worked?"

Jean then chuckled, "Like a charm. I'm stuck with you now."

Amber then asked, "Wait, you acted like the roommate from hell on purpose?" Jean nodded. "For what?"

"So I can stay in a room alone with Seras and do...you know."

"Oh." She said as she took her hands off Serenity's ears.

Dartz then opened the door and peaked his head in, "By the way, I have very good hearing. Thank you for explaining all that to me and your staying in my room Jean. Also, if you try anything I will kill you, and that's a promise." He then left and closed the door.

"Damn it we spoke too soon. Well that backfired tremendously."

"We'll try again another time. For now we should get ready for another day of sightseeing and shopping before we leave tomorrow. I also need some breakfast, so...roomservice time!"

She immediately took a menu that was on the penthouse table and grabbed the phone before dialing the number on the menu.

"Hello, this is roomservice how may I help you this morning?"

"Hi I'd like to order some breakfast up to Penthouse #2 on the 15th floor."

"Of course madam. What would you like?"

"One moment please." She then went around asking Jean and the girls what they would like to eat. She then returned to her call. "I'd like four orders of pancakes with a side of assorted fruit and four glasses of Oran berry juice."

"Very well madam your order should arrive in 10 minutes. Thank you and goodbye."

"Goodbye. Thank you so much."

[Rick's Room]

Alara had finally woken up after being able to sleep during the storm last night. She immediately sat up and looked around and then to her side. She was surprised to see that Rick wasn't there and began to look around again. She then heard what sounded like a guitar being played coming from the balcony, so she went into her human form and walked towards the sliding door. When the door was in view she saw Rick sitting down in a chair playing his guitar, he was playing the same tune he played the first time he played his guitar in front of her (**Going Home by Shiro Sagisu**). She then opened the door and stepped onto the balcony and Rick turned and saw her.

"Good morning Alara! Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did. I saw that you weren't in the bed so I went to look for you. How long have you been up?"

"About an hour now. I woke up at 7:30am, freshened up, and came here to the balcony to play my instruments."

Alara looked to his side and saw his violin leaning on his chair. She could also deduce that he probably conjured a piano earlier.

"So, what's up? Want to join me or get ready for the day?"

"I'm going to freshen up first. Then I'll come back."

"Okay, you do that. I'm going to order us some breakfast in a few minutes."

She nodded and walked back into the room. She then heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. When she opened it she was greeted by Amber who quickly walked into the room and hugged her.

"Hi sis! How was your night with Rick? By the looks of this room I'm guessing you guys didn't kill each other."

"Oh no. We didn't fight last night, amazingly."

"I heard there was a thunderstorm last night. I slept through it and I'm hoping you did too. If not then Rick had quite the night."

"I didn't sleep through it. I freaked out as soon as I heard the thunderclaps and I held on to him for dear life."

"Oh Arceus! What did he do?"

"He was actually understanding and comforted me. He kinda helped me with my fear a little and told me about how his sister was also afraid of thunder."

"Really?"

"Yes, I was taken by surprise by his attitude as well. I thought he would of laughed at me or even ridiculed me, but he didn't. He helped me go to sleep."

"Wow." Amber then smiled wide.

"What's with that weird smile?"

"You two didn't hook up now did you?"

Immediately Rick peeked his head into the room and said, "Don't even think about it Amber."

"Wow he has good hearing. I didn't even know he was awake...oh wait that will explain the music I heard before I came here."

"Amber we didn't hook up. I'm just stuck with him as my roommate until we leave. Anyways, go back to your room. I need to get ready. I'll see you later sis."

"Okay. Bye Alara, bye Rick!"

"Good bye, Amber and tell Jean to behave because I know he's up to something."

"Too late."

"Damn it Jean!"

She then left the room and Alara went into the bathroom to get ready. Rick was in the balcony and heard the shower going on."

"Alright, peace and quiet again, just what I need." He then proceeded to put the guitar down and picked up his violin. He began playing it until he heard someone call out to him from the balcony next to him.

"Good morning Rick!"

Rick looked and saw Serenity, Seras, and Jean sitting on the balcony listening to him.

"How long have you guys been listening to me play?"

Serenity responded, "We just got here. I like it when you play your music, it's so calming."

"Well then, Jean catch!" Rick then threw a guitar at Jean who caught it and looked as Rick conjured up a guitar with his psychic powers. "A little jam session like the good old day."

"Gotcha! Whenever you're ready."

They soon began to play the guitars together. Seras and Serenity were just sitting in the chairs relaxing to the soothing sounds of the duet. Serenity was surprised that Jean could play the guitar just as much as Rick can but he seemed to play it in a faster rhythm. Rick played his softly, slower, and with his eyes closed trying to relax within the sound. Soon they both ended their song and Seras quickly applauded.

"Nice piece of music boys. Well I'm going back in to watch some tv. Jean are you going to join me?"

As soon as she said that Jean handed the guitar back to Rick and followed Seras and Serenity back inside. Rick then put his instruments away and walked back into his room. He looked towards the bathroom and couldn't hear the shower running, so he figured Alara had finished. He then sat on the couch and turned the tv on and switched the channel and found a movie to watch as he waited for Alara to come out so he could order breakfast.

After about ten minutes Alara finally emerged from the bathroom and walked over to Rick while drying her hair with a towel and then fixing it with **Psychic**.

"So what are you doing now?"

"Just watching tv and waiting for you."

"Why?"

"You need breakfast, don't you?"

"Oh yeah."

"Check the menu for what you want. Get whatever you feel you want and I'll pay for it. Here's the menu."

He handed her the menu and she examined all her options before coming to a conclusion on what she wants.

"I'd like an omelette, some assorted fruit, and a cup of ginger tea."

"I'll take that too. When I read the description of the omelette it sounded delicious."

Rick then picked up the phone and dialed the number for roomservice, he was then greeted by a woman on the other line.

"Hello, this is roomservice how may I help you this morning?"

"Hello, I'd like to order two orders of a breakfast omelette, with a side of assorted fruits, and two cups of ginger tea."

"Of course, the omelette comes with a side of bacon. Would you like us to add some to the order?"

"One moment please." He then looked at Alara and asked, "Do you want bacon with your omelette?" She nodded and Rick returned to the call. "Yes, I would love bacon on both orders of the omelette."

"Very well sir. It will be done in fifteen minutes. Can I get your room number?"

"Penthouse #1 on the 15th floor."

"Thank you for the time sir. Your breakfast is currently being prepared. Thank you and goodbye!"

"No thank you. May I get your name please?"

"My name is Jasmine sir."

"Well expect a nice tip to be given to you by the process of today. Goodbye and good life."

"Thank you so much sir!"

"It's the least I can do. Goodbye again."

Rick then hung up the phone with Alara staring with a smile.

"What's with the smile?"

"What's with you and giving away money like that?"

"Well I rarely use it. Might as well give it to people, to help them with anything they may need. I love to help."

"That's really kind of you. So let's just wait for our breakfast."

"What do you want to do?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. Want to watch tv with me?"

"Sure, what's on?"

"Nothing really. It's still morning but I guess we can just watch this movie or I can go play music, if you want?"

Alara then looked at the baby grand piano in the room, "Can you teach me how to play the piano?"

"Well I don't know too much about teaching, but I'll show you a bit. Come on!"

They then walked over to the piano and Rick sat the right end of the playing bench and Alara sat on the left end of the playing bench.

"Okay, each key on a piano has a name. They are all named after a number in the alphabet but the letters only go from A to G and then the pattern repeats itself. The black keys are notes that are slightly more augmented than the previous keys. Those notes are called accidentals, yet it would be incorrect to call the black keys that."

"Slow down please."

"Okay, let's see how I can put this. Umm if you play the black keys it will sound slightly higher than the white key before it or it will sound slightly lower than the key after it. It makes a huge difference when playing. Go ahead, try it out."

Alara then pressed some of the keys and heard the sound change after each key. She then made the analysis on how it worked.

"Okay I get it now. Now what?"

Rick then pointed to a key and then to key that matched it on another side of the keyboard. "This key is always called C. I want you to play something called a C Major Scale. That's when you play all the keys, one at a time, from this key to the same one on the other side. It's only about eight keys and you need to play the black keys on this one."

Alara nodded and played the keys as he asked. Rick then told her, "Good, now try that with both your hands. This part might take you a while but it's good practice. All you need to do is play the original one that I told you to play with your right hand and play the C eight keys to the left with your left hand and just let the music flow. Now try it."

The next part surprised Rick as she did it without trouble.

"Like that?"

"Perfectly but how did you do that in one try? You must have very nimble fingers."

"I know how to play an instrument."

"Really? Which one?"

"The harp. My mom taught me how."

"Well that explains a lot."

"I want to try and play something but I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

Rick chuckled, "No, you're not. But maybe you can help me play something."

Alara looked confused, "Like what?"

Rick then put his forehead to her's and mentally showed her which keys to press and at what time.

"Okay, so let's play one of my favorite songs called Pachelbel's Canon. When ever you're ready start pressing the keys like I showed you. Besides, they should glow in your eyes."

Alara then looked at the keyboard and saw a glowing key (Start playing **Variations on the Canon by George Winston**) and pressed it and it then stopped glowing, then another key began to glow and she pressed it until it stopped glowing. She then played every key that came up. Rick then began to play on his side another part of the song. Alara liked it and was enjoying the sound of the song very much. It was soft and beautiful and then it picked up speed but remained soft and beautiful. She got to a part where she practically knew the notes by memory at the moment and she took the time to look at Rick. He was playing with his eyes closed, taking in the melody of the music, he was slowly bobbing back and forth yet his hands played in perfect harmony with the rhythm Alara was playing. All this made her smile, she felt happy to be playing with him.

"Wow I can see why you love doing this so much now."

Rick looked at her from the corner of his eye, "I can sense that you're happy. Yes, I love this a lot. It's relaxing and because it just makes me feel good."

After a few more minutes of playing Rick ended the song and made Alara play the last notes to the song. They started to laugh at one another and then heard a knock at the door. Rick got up and answered it, there was a young man with a cart that had their breakfast on it. Rick let him into the room, where he put the food on the table and walked out but not before Rick gave him an enormous tip. After Rick shut the door he walked over to the table where Alara was sitting waiting for him.

"You know you don't have to wait for me. Dig in if you'd like."

"Well it doesn't seem fair that I start to eat before someone else does. Sorry, I was raised with etiquette and I usually abide by what I was taught."

Rick chuckled and gave her a small smile before sitting down on the table with her. They both then ate their omelettes and were amazed by its flavor. It was delicious, it was well seasoned and salted, and cooked just right.

As they were eating Alara asked, "So what are your plans for today?"

"Well, I mainly wanted to go to a mall that's not too far from here and in the afternoon I wanted to visit Amity Square. For a little walk and to relax and unwind before I take you home in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan. I want to do some shopping today. Mind if I join along?"

"Nope, not at all. This is basically the last full day we'll be together so let's enjoy it while we can."

"So I take it that you're not going to stick around the Sanctuary for a while?

"No, I don't think I have the time. I'll go in to take you to your parents, meet them, and leave."

"At least stay for a night."

Rick then sighed, "To humor you, I will. But only for a night."

"Good."

They then continued to eat and soon finished their breakfast. Afterwards they got up and went to the other rooms to check on everyone. They soon couldn't find anyone and were curious as to where they went, until Alara looked over the balcony of Seras's room.\

"Rick, I think I've found them."

Rick went over and looked and saw all of them at the swimming pool enjoying themselves.

"Good Arceus! At this hour, it's about 11am. We have plenty of time to enjoy that later. Oh well, I guess we're going alone then."

Alara shrugged her shoulders and followed him out the room and soon out of the hotel. Rick was then looking around the town for something and Alara noticed that he was very attentive.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just looking for a vehicle rental shop."

"Why?"

"Do you want to walk around all day? I want to save my energy for Amity Square."

He soon found a motorcycle rental shop and rented a motorcycle for the day. Alara was kinda scared to get on one even with a helmet on. She's been in a car before but never on a motorcycle.

"Scared?"

"A little. How safe is this thing?"

"Very. Don't worry, I know how to drive one. Just get on and hold tight."

He then turned the motorcycle on and took off and Alara held on tight to him. After a while she calmed down and enjoyed her first motorcycle ride. Rick picked up her emotions again and smiled and turned down a street to where the mall was located.

At the mall Rick walked around with Alara holding onto his arm, looking at every store with awe. She wanted to go into every store and Rick always complied. She did this for the first ten stores and then stopped going in them.

Rick was puzzled by this and asked her, "What's wrong? Why don't you buy anything?"

"I don't have money. So I have no need to go in the stores other than to see the clothing."

"Go ahead and pick anything you want. I'll buy it for you."

"Really?" She said with a wide smile and a joyful tone in her voice.

"Yeah, I thought I might treat you today. Go ahead!"

Alara almost shrieked but she held it in and dragged Rick into multiple stores and bought many clothes, accessories, and sweets. Amazingly, Rick was able to carry all the items in his bag, which seemed bottomless. Alara then saw a movie theater in the mall and decided to take Rick to see a movie.

"Choose one Rick. Action, Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense, Drama, or Horror?" She said as they read the movie options.

"It's your choice today. Go ahead and choose one. I'll watch it regardless of what you pick."

"Very well. Let's watch a horror movie."

Rick looked at her with a surprised look, "Are you sure?"

"Yep. I want to see one right now."

"Fine...but don't come crying to me tonight if you're scared."

"Come now Rick, I'm an adult like yourself. I'll be perfectly fine."

"And so it begins."

Rick then pays for their tickets and they walk into the theater. After about an hour Rick is watching the movie unfazed and Alara was clinging to him in fear. Rick then rubbed her shoulder to try to calm her down and then told her, "Told you so."

"Shut up!"

This went on for about another forty five minutes until the movie finished and Alara walked out of the theater with a proud stride and Rick following behind her.

"See I told you it was nothing."

"So why am I still picking up fear in your emotions?"

"Stop probing my emotions!"

Rick then laughed. Alara was feeling a little embarrassed but Rick then told her, "Hey don't feel bad, a lot of people get scared at those movies. I'm just used to them."

Alara then took his arm again and walked with him in the mall. She had no idea what she wanted to do next so Rick told her, "Say do you want to eat? There's a lot of restaurants here."

Alara's stomach then growled which made Rick chuckle slightly.

"I guess I should of bought popcorn when we went to see the movie, huh? Yes, I'd love to go to a restaurant right now."

As they were walking in the mall Rick received a call on his Poketch. It was Seras and Rick wondered if they finally had enough fun in the pool for one day.

"Hello?"

"Rick, where are you? We've been searching for you and Alara since noon."

"It's three in the afternoon and now you're wondering where we are?"

"We were in the pool until noon. We though you guys were still in your room. So no one bothered to even go check on you guys, until we realized that being in your room all day is not your way of doing things. So we came to some conclusions."

"I don't want to hear the conclusions. Because I kinda know what you're going to say."

"What was I going to say then?" She said in a annoyed tone.

"That we either left the hotel, went back to sleep (which is highly unlikely), or were mating (which is even more unlikely)."

"Wow! Spot on! But seriously where are you guys?"

"We left for the mall at 11am."

"Okay we're heading over there."

"Very well but we might not join you guys until later."

"Why not?"

"I'm taking Alara out for lunch at a restaurant."

"Aww!"

"Shut it! I'm only being friendly."

"We'll see. Well bye then."

"Bye!"

After the call Rick asked Alara, "So did you choose a restaurant yet?"

Alara nodded and pointed to a restaurant called The Sunset Rendezvous.

"Looks fancy. Let's come back here in a few minutes. I need to make a call, so let's go to a store for the moment. Okay?"

Alara nodded and walked into a clothing store that she had missed earlier in the day. Rick on the other hand stayed outside of the store and made a call before heading inside to pay for Alara's purchases. Amazingly she didn't buy anything but only browsed around.

Rick then walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look at him.

"Alara hold off on a big lunch today. We're going to the restaurant, but later tonight. So, I suggest you get dolled up tonight as a little gift from me to you."

"Really?" She sounded excited again.

"Yeah. So let's get some fruit to last us until tonight."

"Why are you spoiling me so much today?"

"Because this might be our last day together and you're the only Gardevoir, besides my mother, that I've spent a lot of time with."

"Aww thanks."

"So let's just head to Amity Square until sundown and then go back to the hotel and get ready for out night out. What do you say?"

She closed one eye and smiled, "Slick, I like it."

"Excuse me?" He said with a smile.

"Nothing."

"Well here's the plan. We go to Amity Square and that will complete my requirements for this city, go back to the hotel, get dressed to the gnaws, and then have a nice dinner at a restaurant."

"Sounds like a great plan."

They soon left the mall and got back on the motorcycle and headed for Amity Square and they passed by the Seras and the others, who were walking, on the way. They didn't seem to notice though so they moved on ahead. They soon arrived at the park and dismounted the motorcycle and headed for the entrance. As they were walking towards the entrance a group of guys in motorcycles immediately blocked their paths.

"Aww how cute! A little couple trying to have a walk in the park. But in these parts you have to pay a toll to enter."

Alara immediately hid behind Rick and Rick just smiled at the gang. They then took Alara into notice.

"Say that's a pretty little lady you've got there. How about you have her our way and we'll let you pass? Sounds fair to us." One of them said with a laugh and the others joined in.

Alara then held onto Rick's arm tighter and kept hiding behind him. Rick then said, "You said something about a toll. What kind of currency are you looking for? Your teeth, your spine, or your brain-matter?"

The larger of the group then stood up from his bike. "Smartass! I'll show you what we do to smartasses around here."

"Play a game with them and then have a snack? Are we done here cue ball?"

"I'm going to break every bone in your tiny body for that one!"

"Are you going to keep barking little doggy or are you going to bite?" Rick said with a smug smile.

The thug then tried to punch Rick but he caught his gigantic fist in his hand. Rick then flipped him over and stomped on his elbow before punching him in the head, knocking him unconscious. The other thugs were shocked at what they just saw, their largest member being taken down so quickly.

Rick then sighed, "Well that was pathetically easy." He then reached into the thug's pockets and pulled out a cell phone. He then dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. "Hello, yes can you send a couple of ambulances to the West Amity Square parking lot? How many? Let me count. 1...2...3...4...5!" He then dropped the phone on the ground and smashed it with his foot. He then cracked his neck and knuckles and made Alara let go of his arm. The other thugs then approached him with bats, crowbars, brass knuckles, and steel pipe and surrounded him. He then put a hand up to get their attention.

"Hold up guys! This is a new shirt and sports jacket." He then took them off and handed them to Alara. "Okay continue for now and let's see how you fair."

They immediately attacked Rick but he was far too skill for them to handle. One tried to hit him with a crowbar, Rick twisted his arm to block an attack from the guy with a steel pipe. He then headbutted the one with a steel pipe and took it to hit the guy with the brass knuckles. He then broke the arm of the thug with the crowbar and took it to knock out the thug that had the steel pipe. The thug who had the bat then tried to hit him but Rick continued to dodge the swings until he caught the bat in his hands.

Rick then looked at the thug and smiled, "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" He then headbutted him and hit him with the back, breaking the bat, and knocking him out. Rick then looked around and only counted four knocked out thugs. "Wait, where's the other guy?" He then sensed Alara's emotions being shot at him and he turned to see Alara being held at knife point. This didn't faze him at all. "You know. That's the wrong person to take hostage."

"The hell are you talkin' about!?"

"You're about to find out."

Alara then elbowed him in the stomach, twisted the knife off the thug's hand, stabbed him in the shoulder, and roundhouse kicked him into submission.

"Don't underestimate me asshole!"

Rick then started to laugh, "Well you sure fucked him up and here come the ambulances...and the cops."

Alara then heard multiple sirens coming towards then and she handed Rick his shirt back. Before she gave him back the shirt she noticed a large scar on his side where Seras told her it would be. It surprised her that he actually survived an attack like that but made no remark about it.

After explaining their story to Officer Jenny and the EMTs, they were finally able to enter Amity Square, at about 5:30 in the afternoon. They walked into the park and were greeted by a woman behind a booth wearing a uniform.

"Welcome to Amity Square. Are you here to spend time with your pokemon or just to walk around for the day?"

"We're just here to walk around and have a good time."

"Very well. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you!"

They then began to walk around the square. Alara was in awe on how beautiful the park was and of all the nature within it.

Rick then got her attention, "You know. You don't have to worry about staying in your human form here. Pokemon usually come here to walk or rest. So you can be in your normal form now."

Alara nodded and returned to being a Gardevoir again, Rick then followed suit and walked towards a pond that was a few feet from them. He then knelt down and tap the water with his finger, causing ripples to appear and soon an image could be seen in Rick's reflection. The reflection was of a Kirlia with a large wound on its side. Rick saw this and immediately stepped back in shock. Alara couldn't see the reflection but could tell that something bothered Rick.

"What's wrong?"

Rick then looked at her with a blank face, "It's nothing. Don't worry."

"I hope you're right. So what are going to do here?"

"Well it's a large park. Let's go look around. Shall we?" He said as he offered her his hand.

"Sure." She said as she took his hand.

"You know. I always wanted to come here. My old trainer used to tell me how he used to come here to relax. I've only been here once before but never came here to Hearthome. So to be here makes me happy. I can't explain why but I am."

"I like it here too. Well let's get on with the walk."

Just then Rick received a call. It was Seras again so he sighed and answered it.

"Hello?"

"A lunch at a restaurant cannot take two and a half hours."

"Oh yeah, we're not in the mall anymore."

"The fuck Rick!" He heard Jean yell in the background.

"I'm guessing Jean isn't too happy about that?"

"No. Where are you?"

"At Amity Square. Seriously we passed by you guys on the way here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, didn't you see a motorcycle with two people pass by you earlier today?"

"Yes...oh that was you guys?"

"Yeah. I thought you would of known. Anyways, we're going to be here until sunset. which is two hours away. So head on down here. We'll be waiting this time."

"Okay gotcha. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Rick ended the call and looked around and couldn't see Alara. This surprised him since she was right next to him a second ago.

"Alara!" He called and then heard a response soon after.

"I'm over here! At some fountain. It looks beautiful."

Rick then teleported to where her voice came from and saw her looking at the fountain with her back turned to him. She then looked back at him and then back at the fountain.

"Are you going to stare at it all day?"

"I'm just amazed on how humans were able to make such a beautiful piece of art."

Rick then walked up next to her and leaned with his arms on the fountain, "Well you have to give them credit. Compared to pokemon, they are a bunch of weaklings but they are super intelligent and crafty. Their is the thing I love most about them. The music, paintings, sculptures, and their literature."

"I know. I admire it too. Just because I live in a Ralts line community doesn't mean that I don't see humans or their customs."

"The reason the Sanctuary exists is because of human contribution. They donate things to us or help us all the time. But only certain humans are allowed in. Those that we detect no malice within. That's how we stay safe."

"Don't you guys have guards or soldiers?"

"We do but they only respond when called. There are guards at the gates though and they do their job well."

"Who trains them? Does your father do it?"

"No, my dad's personal guard Warlord Daedalus does. He took the responsibility of training the Gallades and Gardevoirs who enlisted to be battle ready."

"So I'm guessing he didn't always have that job?"

"No, his brother was the trainer of the our combat force. His brother was the former Warlord, but he's dead now. So he took up his job so that he can preserve his brother's legacy."

"What does a Warlord do?"

"Besides being the supreme commander of the army, other than the chief himself?"

"I kinda figured that would be his job. Anything else?"

"He trains the soldiers, keeps the town safe, enforces the laws, makes arrests, and even has a say in government. That's all I can remember."

"Wow warlords do a lot at once."

"I know! I don't know how Sir Daedalus does it but he's doing fine even with all the work. I kinda wish he had his brother back so that he can rest more but that's not going to happen."

"Why not just get someone else to be the Warlord?"

"It's an honor thing and it's passed down to the strongest warrior in the tribe. Sir Daedalus took the job after his brother's death, not just so that he preserve his honor but because he was the second strongest member of the tribe."

"And your father?"

"Third. So if Sir Daedalus dies, he'll take over. It's a concept of skill and strength. Those three guys were the best of friends in their childhood. Sir Daedalus's brother was closer to my father though, so my dad took it pretty hard when he got the news of his death."

"I can imagine. If Jean, Seras, or Dartz died I would be messed up myself."

"And Serenity?"

"I just met her almost two weeks ago. Yes, I look out for her and yes I will be sad if she died."

"Oh well I guess that makes sense."

Rick then sat on the edge of the fountain and took a coin out of his bag. He flipped in the air multiple times.

"Call it in the air but I'm calling tails."

Alara looked on as he flipped the coin in the air, "Heads then!"

Rick then caught it and checked it, it was heads and he chuckled, "Spot on!" He then handed her the coin.

Alara studied the coin for a second and then noticed that it was a two headed coin.

"You would of won anyways."

"You don't mind losing? That's odd for a Gallade."

"Losing is just a basic part of competition. You win some, you lose some. You can't win at everything but you can try to win. That's what matters to me. I don't go into battle fearing that I might die. It might happen but I have to have the mind set and determination of wanting to win, but if I don't win I have to accept my loss."

"You're a strange case."Alara said with a smile and a slight laugh. She then handed him the coin back.

"I'm complicated but I have to remember that I'm mortal. Make a wish!"

He then flipped the coin behind him and it landed in the fountain. He then looked at Alara who had her eyes closed while shacking her head.

"Okay done. I made my wish. Now let's go."

They then left the fountain and went on their way down a path that led to some structures in a rocky area. Alara was fascinated as usual and ran ahead to check it out with Rick in pursuit.

"You've got to stop running ahead like that."

"Sorry, everything is just so interesting here."

Rick shook his head with a chuckle and he then picked up the presence of someone familiar.

"Hey Fang! Come out it's me and Alara."

Immediately Fang came out of the tree line and landed in front of Rick and Alara. She quickly pulled both of them in a hug.

"How was your night you two? Rick how are your injuries?"

"I'm fine now, thank you for asking. Also, we had a good night. How about you?"

"I had a great night. I'm well rested and ready to go tomorrow. So what are you two doing at Amity Square? Are you guys on a date?"

Alara sweatdropped and responded, "No, he's just treating me on a day out on the town."

"Well weren't you trying to kill him yesterday?"

"Yeah but at least we're getting along. We haven't fought all day and that's a milestone since the day I met him."

Rick chuckled, "Yep, usually it would be an attempted beating a day but we got to know each other better and managed to get along...for the moment."

"What do you mean by that Rick?"

"Nothing I'm just stating that we haven't fought."

"What was the whole 'for the moment' part?"

"Oh Arceus! Not now. We were having a great day. Just calm down and try not to fight."

"Fine!" Fine she said as she attempted to not argue.

Fang was laughing, "Wow that one comment almost set her off."

"Yeah, it used to be that easy to get her mad at me, but now we're fine."

"Well I'll see you guys later. I need to sleep before flying you guys over to the Sanctuary tomorrow. Bye loves!"

Rick and Alara then said in unison, "Bye Fang!"

Fang then disappeared into the treeline again and Rick and Alara continued on their way.

"So what do you want to do now Alara? The guys will be here in a few minutes so we can go back home."

"I don't know, this was your idea."

"True that, true that." He then looked around and saw a section full of hills that had a few fruit trees on it. "Let's go over there."

After some time they managed to make it to the hills, just then Alara's stomach grumbled again. Rick laughed and elbowed one of the trees and an apple fell onto her hands.

"Sorry that I'm making you wait for dinner. Eat some of the fruit now if you want."

Alara nodded and devoured the apple. Rick started laughing when she finished eating.

"What's so funny?"

"Your mouth took up your entire face when you bit into that apple."

She giggled, "Sorry, I was hungry. Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, but I can hold it."

"I hope you're right."

Rick then felt Seras and the others entering the square. "Well we have company. We've had a good day today, don't you think?"

"Yeah, we played music, went to the mall, made you waste a small fortune, rode on a motorcycle, beat the shit out of some thugs, and we're now in a very beautiful park. I'm actually going to miss it."

"I might visit sometimes after this. But I'm not going to promise."

"We'll see." She said with one eye closed.

"I'm not even going to respond to that." He said with a quiet laugh.

After some time they were joined by the others and spent about an hour in the park just socializing and then the boys started sparring. At the end Jean was tied up in Dartz wire and Rick tied Dartz in his own wire.

"That was fun guys but next time, don't bring something I can easily exploit."

The guys couldn't respond because of their mouths were muzzled with the wire. Seras then untied them with **Psychic** and she couldn't stop laughing. They then went back to the parking lot and Rick noticed an Escalade next to his motorcycle.

"Who's Cadillac Escalade is this?"

Jean then opened the driver side door and got in. He then put the window down and said, "Does this answer your question? I rented it before we came here. I'm taking it back now. Try to top this Rick."

Rick then had a wide grin on his face, "Oh don't worry. I have something planned for tonight. You will get astonished and jealous."

"Let's see if you're telling the truth."

Rick and Alara then mounted the motorcycle and took off with the others following. After a ten minute drive Rick arrived at the motorcycle rental shop and he and Alara walked back to the hotel, which was nearby. They then waited in the hotel lobby for the others and they arrived about fifteen minutes later and Rick had the unfortunate luck of having to explain to the others his plans with Alara.

There was a sudden quiet in the room and then the sound of Jean's laughter could be heard. "Oh Arceus that's gold! Oh I can't breath!"

Seras, Amber, and Serenity were all clapping and Dartz smiled.

Seras then said, "Aww a little date?"

"No...maybe. Depends on your definition of a date. I'm just showing her a good time since this is the last day I'm going to spend with her."

Seras then looked at Amber who was chatting with Alara. She then got her attention, "You're not getting mad that you're not joining them?"

"Why would I be mad? I ate like hell today. Let them enjoy their night."

Just then a man that looked like a butler approached Rick and asked him, "Excuse me but are you Mr. Rick?"

"Yes I am."

"Well sir your order has arrived in your room, your other package is in your friend's room, and your..."

Rick then stopped him, "Don't say that last one. I want it to be a surprise, I know what it is."

Jean looked at him with a face that says "what the fuck?"

Rick then told Alara, "We're leaving at 9pm. Go to Seras's room, I left a gift for you there." He then turned to the girls. "Go with her." They all nodded and got on the elevator. He then looked at the guys, "Let's go to my room boys." They then got onto the second elevator and went up to Rick's room.

In Rick's room there was a suit bag on the bed and he took it and walked to the bathroom.

"I'll be out in ten minutes gentlemen. Wait a little bit."

Both of them then shrugged to one another and Jean sat on the couch to watch tv and Dartz sat down to read a magazine that was on the table.

Ten minutes later, Rick emerged from the bathroom wearing a black tuxedo, black dress pants, black dress shoes, white dress shirt, and a black tie. He then said, "Eat your heart out James Bond!"

Jean then laughed, "Step aside 007 and Jason Statham."

Dartz then chuckled, "Well I guess you're going to turn some females' heads."

"Well I hope I do. But this is only a friendly dinner."

Jean then replied, "Haven't you learned anything? When you dress like that, your intentions are not to be friendly. You're either going to fuck some women, kill some people, save the world, or take down a crime syndicate. Maybe all four in the same pool."

"Let's go down stairs. I'm going to call Alara to come down when she's done."

Rick then turned on his Poketch and called Alara.

"Hello?"

"Hey Alara, I see that you've fixed your hair and makeup."

"Yes I did. Also, thank you so much for the gift. I'm sure your going to like it too."

"We'll see. Now then, meet me downstairs when your done. I'll be with the guys."

"No need, I'm done. Just come outside of the room."

"How did you get all that done so fast?"

"I'm in a room with three other girls and two of us are Psychic types. Go figure!"

"Okay see you in the hallway."

He then ended the call and the guys opened the door for him with a loud laugh from both of them.

"Oh shut up guys!"

Once they got outside of the room and closed the door the door to Seras's room opened and Alara and the girls walked out and everyone gave a collective "DAMN!"

Rick knew that he ordered a black dress for Alara to use tonight but that took him by surprise. The dress was black with a red lining, it had a had a cloth belt in the center. Alara had her hair done again, it was wavy and was put over her right shoulder. "Well...we should go. Also, guys follow us downstairs, I'm about to shut Jean up."

They all then got into the elevator and walked into the lobby where they received many stares by the clientele and staff and a few wolf whistles. Rick then walked outside and told the group, "Wait here for a second."

Rick then disappeared around the corner and Jean and company were wondering what he managed to get this time. They then heard what sounded like an engine revving.

Dartz then said, "You guys are hearing an engine revving too, right?" Everyone nodded.

A few seconds later Rick appeared in a black Lamborghini Aventador and stopped in front of the group, but not before stepping on the gas twice. He then got out of the car and told Jean, "Suck it bro! I never spent this much money to shut you up before."

Seras then asked, "How much did it cost you?"

"400,000 American dollars. Plus, another $200,000 to get it shipped here in six hours from Italy."

"All this to shut Jean up?"

"I love a friendly competition."

He then walked up to the surprised group and slapped Jean back into reality.

"Thanks, I needed that. So what are you going to do with the car after today. Aren't we riding on Fang's back tomorrow?"

"I'm keeping the car! It's a Lamborghini Aventador! I'd be crazy to get rid of it. But you and Dartz are riding in it tomorrow."

"Thanks man!"

"You're welcome but if you so much as scratch the car...you're going to die. Anyways, let's go Alara." He then opened the door for her and let her in and closed it before heading to the driver side and taking off.

Ten minutes later they arrived at the restaurant next to the mall and Rick gave the valet the keys to the car but not before telling him not to damage it in any way. Alara then took his arm and they entered the restaurant where a French man was at the check in table.

"Bonsoir monsieur et mademoiselle(Good evening sir and miss), do you have a reservation?"

"Why yes we do. We have a reservation for 9:15pm, table for two, all under a Mr. Rick."

"Oh oui (Oh yes)! I remember. Right this way please."

The man then led them to a table in the back of the restaurant and gave them menus to choose their meals from. "Very well a waiter will come in a few moments to take your orders. Please enjoy your night."

Alara seemed happy at the attention, "Well this is exciting. It's so much better when someone else is picking up the tab."

"Oh well. I figured to treat you tonight."

"I want to know where you came up with this idea."

"One of the Chanseys at the pokemon center suggested that it will be a good way for us to bond for the last day. Also, we've been in the wilderness for a long time. Might as well pamper ourselves."

A waiter then appeared to take their orders, "Hello, I'm Alex I shall be your waiter for this evening. Can I get you two anything to start?"

Rick then ordered, "I would like the Scotch Egg to start."

"Very well and you miss?"

"Umm...same."

"Okay, can I get you two some wine?"

Rick and Alara then said in unison, "Sorry but I don't drink." They then realized what they just did and laughed to one another.

Rick then ordered, "I'd like a Shirley Temple with ice, shaken not stirred." Alara laughed again.

"Wow Rick really? Just because you have the suit doesn't mean you're James Bond now. I'll just keep having the same as him. He seems to know what he likes."

The waiter then finished writing all the orders down, "Very well. I shall return with your drinks and your food."

Rick then thanked the waiter and returned to his evening, "You know, this night is off to a pretty good start, if you don't mind me saying?"

"I don't. It's nice here, I haven't been to a restaurant like this is a long time."

"Aren't you the chief's daughter?"

"Yes but the only place we ever go to is Pastoria City. Mainly because it's nearby and because it's a town full of people that help us."

"Oh I see. Oh well, enjoy the night."

"Are we going to do this again some time?"

"I don't know. I told you that this might be the last night we see each other."

"There you go again. But I guess that you've already made up my mind."

"It's not official. Let's just see how tomorrow goes."

Alara nodded and then noticed the waiter coming back with their order. He then gave them their meals and then asked, "Well, while you're eating your appetizers, may I get your main courses and desert?"

Rick then said, "Well since we're ordering the same, I guess we'll both go with the Filet Mignon with white rice and black eyed peas on the side. I will also take some chocolate cake as desert. Nothing to fancy." Alara nodded.

"Very well. Enjoy your meals and drinks. Your main course should arrive in fifteen minutes."

They both thanked him and then proceeded to eat the eggs that were in front of them. Alara waited until Rick began to eat his eggs and after he dug into them she began to eat. She like the flavor of the egg and the meat and bread it was wrapped inside of. She tried not to eat quickly though she was very hungry but a look from Rick let her know that she could indulge in the food, which she did.

[Outside the restaurant]

Jean and the gang were outside the restaurant dressed in camouflage gear and binoculars. They were not about to miss this rare view of Rick having dinner with a female, much less a female of his own species. Jean was cooked up in a tree with binoculars, Seras was right under him, Dartz was watching from binoculars in a van accompanied by Serenity and Amber manning the cameras.

Jean then spoke into a walkie-talkie, "Status on the cameras? Over!"

Dartz responded, "They're operational. What's your 10-80? Over!

"We have sight on the two eating...and nothing else. They're talking but I can't read lips that well. Over!"

"Oh well, doesn't matter. We just need to see how long this lasts. Over!"

[In the restaurant]

Rick and Alara's main meal arrived and they quickly began to eat. Not too long after Rick and Alara stopped and looked outside of the window.

"Rick, are you sensing what I'm sensing?"

"Yep, snoops...or more specific, Jean, Seras, Dartz, Amber, and Serenity in a tree and spy van." He then smiled. "Let's mess with them from here."

Rick's eyes then began to glow and they heard a tree branch break along with a short yell. They then began to laugh. "Your turn!"

Alara's eyes then began to glow and the cameras in the van went haywire and switched to different tv channels.

[In the van]

"What the hell is going on back there girls?"

Amber replied, "We have no idea! The screens just went crazy."

They then heard a voice on the walkie-talkies, "What are you guys doing spying on us?"

Jean's voice then came over the transmission, "Ow! Rick is that you? What the hell man?"

"Listen I will deal with you guys later, but for now just go back to the hotel."

Dartz then asked, "And if we don't?"

Just then two screens exploded and a branch fell on Jean. "You guys are at out complete mercy at the moment. Just do it and we'll tell you guys about it in the morning. Good bye!"

The signal went quiet and they all seemed to of gotten the message and left the area.

[In the restaurant]

After having their fun and finishing their dinner, the two got up to leave for the night. Rick left the waiter, the doorman, and the valet with extreme tips, as usual and he and Alara got back into the Lamborghini. They soon took off and headed straight back to the hotel.

"Well this was an awesome night. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, my favorite part was when we took care of the guys while still looking like we were still eating. They must be scared right now. Are you going to punish them?"

"Nah! I'll leave them be. It's not everyday that they see me doing this. Oh well, let's just get to the room and call it a night. I'm tired now."

"Agreed."

After another ten minutes they arrived at the hotel, the valet parked the car, and they went up to their room and got ready for bed.

In Seras's room, the girls were sound asleep with all of them in different sections of the bed.

In Dartz's room, Dartz was sleeping on the bed while Jean was tied up with wire on the couch.

In Rick and Alara's room they went straight to bed and quickly fell asleep, being exhausted from all the activities they did in the day.

My gosh this chapter took me forever! Anyways, thanks for all the support guys and keep on trucking! Bye!


	16. Chapter 16: Homecoming Grand Prix

This one actually took me awhile and I did it after getting a few requests and finishing a lot of school work. Anyways, this one is kinda different from my usual material but I did it regardless. I like it too, it's a good lead off. Anyways, show some love, review, and keep sending me questions and requests. Enjoy! Also, to answer a quick question, Rick does have too much money for his own good.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Alara opened her eyes to see everything dark. It looked bleak and melancholy. Somehow she was outside and there were dead trees everywhere around her. She couldn't see any signs of life in the area and soon got up and began to walk.

"Where am I? How is this so familiar to me?"

Not long after she felt an earthquake and fell backwards, then she felt another earthquake. She then looked up for the first time and saw that the sky, or what she thought was the sky, was purple. She then heard a loud roar in the distance and she cowered when she heard it. She then heard something rustling in nearby bushes and then looked in horror as a Specter walked out of the brush. The Specter was very large and had a greatsword in his hands and was walking towards her while growling.

Alara then tried to reach for her sword but couldn't find it and her bag was not on her back. *Crap where is it!?*

The Specter then began to laugh and lifted its greatsword. Alara then fired **Thunderbolts** and **Shadow Balls** at it. The attacks hit it but did no damage to it, which made Alara even more frightened. The Specter laughed again and brought the sword down on her. Alara closed her eyes quickly and braced for an attack that she didn't have time to dodge.

The attack never made contact and Alara looked to her side and saw a broken part of the greatsword on the ground next to her. She then looked up and saw a being in a black hood standing on the Specter's arms and firing a **Hyper Beam** at the Specter's head, killing it.

Alara stood up and looked at the being who had their back to her.

"Thanks again! This is the second time I see you and that you save me. Who are you?"

The being then spoke, their voice was split and sounded like it had two voices in one, "Who I am is of no importance. Alara, wake up!"

Alara then slowly opened her eyes, she was dreaming and she once again was woken up by a command from the being. Her eyes were still cracked and she then waited until her sight fixed itself and she was that her head was resting on Rick's chest. Alara then shot her head off of his chest and barely stopped herself from shrieking. She was amazed that he was still asleep and that he didn't feel her on him.

*How long have I been asleep on him? I hope he didn't feel me.*

She then inspected him and saw that he was sound asleep and she breathed a sigh of relief. She then looked over at the clock that was on a small table next to the bed and noticed that it was four in the morning.

*What the hell am I doing awake at this time? I've only been asleep for four hours.*

She then decided to go back to sleep and laid her head down again. She then felt that she put it back down on Rick's chest.

*What the fuck!? Oh screw it! I'm too tired to move again.*

And like that she fell back into a deep sleep on Rick's chest and Rick still didn't stir. It felt weird to her but she was very tired and she felt that she could trust him now.

A few hours later Rick woke up from his sleep. He tried to get his eyes adjusted to the sunlight that was coursing through the room. Once he got used to the brightness he rubbed his eyes to shake the sleep off. He then felt something on his chest and he looked to see what it was and was surprised to see that Alara was resting on his chest. He smiled and chuckled quietly before lifting her head with Psychic, getting off the bed, and moving a pillow under her head. Rick then stretched and extended his blades before retracting them. He then began to exercise with doing 100 push-ups, sit-ups, and mountain climbers. Afterwards he finished he went straight to the bathroom, trying to be quiet to not wake up Alara.

Not too long after, Alara woke up and noticed that she was resting on Rick's pillow. She sat up and rubbed her eyes and heard the shower running.

*I'm guessing he's showering.*

As she tried to wake herself up, she heard a ringing and looked around to find the source. She looked at the hotel phone and it wasn't it, she looked at Rick's poketch, and it wasn't it either. She then looked at her poketch, which was next to Rick's, and noticed she was receiving a video call from her mother. She quickly picked it up, wanting to hear her mother's voice again.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ally!"

"Hi mom! How are you?"

"Me and your father are great, just wanting to check up on you. Where are you guys at? That doesn't look like the wilderness."

"Oh no, I'm in a hotel in Hearthome City. I'm with Amber, Rick, and Rick's friends Serenity, Jean, Seras, and Dartz. They're really good people and now we're going to make it home by this afternoon."

"That's great news! I'll let your father and the gate guards know that you're going to arrive today or tomorrow and to welcome your new friends. I still want to meet this Rick boy."

"You'll get the chance soon." She said while rubbing her right eye.

"Where's Amber?"

"In another room with the other girls."

Alara's mother then had a curious look on her face, "Then who are you rooming with?"

Alara then sweatdropped as she realized that she had to tell her mother, "I'm...rooming with Rick."

Her mother then gave her a surprised smile, "Really now? Wow that was fast."

"Don't get any ideas now. We played a game that Rick and his friends played in the past to choose roommates and I got him as my roommate."

"Well I got my hopes up."

"What were you expecting?"

She didn't respond, she only gave her an awkward smile and moved her eyes from left to right.

Alara facepalmed, "Don't answer that."

Her mother gave a small laugh, "I won't. So at what time will you be heading here?"

"I don't really know. That's up to Rick to decide. He's the one that seems to be calling the shots. But knowing his usual personality, he would want to get it out of the way quickly." She then stopped to think for a second and put her index finger to her mouth. "Or he might have other things planned. But it's hard to figure him out. He's very spontaneous yet so organized."

"Now I really want to meet him face to face. If this boy is as extraordinary as you claim him to be, I would love to inspect him and test that rationalizing."

"Not only is he mentally strong, but he's extremely intelligent, a powerful fighter with incredible skill, and he's extremely wealthy. That completely surprised me because I never expected that. Usually Gallades have the fighting ability but he knows how to use his brain in a fight. His intelligence also surprises me, he has an amazing deductive skill, you can barely give him any information and he'll figure things out with what you do give him. He's an amazing musician as well and takes great pride in his ability. He's...different from the other Gallades."

Alara's mother then smiled a very fiendish smile, "You've really taken a liking to this boy."

"Don't misinterpret me now mom."

"I know. I just need to see him for myself. I need to see if all that you say is true and that there's more than meets the eye with this boy. He could be useful...maybe."

"Don't hold your breath on him staying. He's already made it perfectly clear to me that he has no intention of staying at the Sanctuary. He's just going to drop me and Amber off and meet you and dad. Then he's resupplying and leaving."

"Hmmm...he seems to be pretty objective."

"Oh yes he is. If he makes a plan he usually sticks to it."

"Is he in the room?"

"Yes but he's bathing right now. He'll be out soon."

"Well, just make sure he gets you here soon. I'm really anxious to meet him and so is your father."

"You told dad?"

"Yes, he deserves to know about his daughters."

"That is true. Anyways, give him my regards and I love you both."

A male's voice then came from the background, "We love you too!"

Alara then looked at her mom who was laughing, "Mom you little..."

"Bye Ally! Love you!"

Alara sighed, "Love you too, bye!

A few minutes after the call, Rick emerged from the bathroom in his human form, wearing his pants but still drying himself off with a towel. His hair was sticking to his head and he looked at Alara before saying, "Good morning Alara. Ready to head home?"

Alara smiled and nodded, "I am. I want to see my parents already and go to my house."

"Well we're leaving at noon, so you have plenty of time to do anything you still want to do. It's nine in the morning. I don't know about you but I'm going for a drive around town today."

"I'll join you then. I have nothing planned."

"Alright, I have to make some calls. I'll talk to you later."

With that Alara went inside the bathroom and locked the door while Rick made a few calls, one for breakfast and a few others. Not too long after he finished the calls he heard a knock at the door and answered it. Seras was at the door and Rick quickly let her into the room.

"Good morning Rick."

"Good morning, this is odd?"

"What is?"

"You usually have a tendency of sleeping in."

"Well, I thought we were leaving earlier."

"Not really. I want to leave at noon. Anyways, what brings you here?"

"Just checking up on you and Alara. By what I can see she's in the bathroom and it looks like you just got out of there yourself. You should probably put your shirt on now."

"Unlike you females, I can walk around without a shirt. So your argument is invalid." He said laughing slightly.

Seras rolled her eyes, "So what are your plans for the morning?"

"Oh I'm just going to drive around today and Alara wants to join me. You want in?"

"No, I'm good. You two enjoy yourselves." She said waving her hand. "You two have been spending a lot of time together. It makes me happy to see you socializing with a female other than me. Also, I'm not going to heckle you so don't worry, I'm not Jean."

"Well it has been a while. We're just enjoying our free time. I always have to ask her if she wants to go or she just volunteers herself."

"Well looks like she wants to make the most of it. Anyways, I just wanted to see how things were. Fang is going to meet us outside of town, right?"

"Yeah, I sent her a mental note earlier."

"Good, so I'm going to go and get ready for the day. Ciao!"

"Bye!"

Seras then left the room and Rick got changed into his usual clothing. Soon their breakfast arrived and after a few minutes, Alara came out of the bathroom and saw Rick on the balcony.

"What are you doing on the balcony? Relaxing?"

"You can say that. I'm just scoping out the town. We're on the highest point in the town and this is an awesome view. We traveled a lot yesterday and we came a long way. I can see Mt. Coronet in the distance but barely, it's just right on the horizon right now." He said as he pointed towards Mt. Coronet.

"And we still have quite some distance to go." She said with a smile.

"That we do." He then stopped and looked down. "Oh my shipments just got here."

"Shipments? Oh Arceus what did you order now?"

"I didn't order these things. I had them stored in Hoenn and asked to have them brought here overnight. I have something special planned for everyone. Something that I'm we'll all enjoy. Now let's go eat and then I'll unveil my gifts to everyone."

Alara raised an eyebrow and went to the table and ate her breakfast with Rick.

"I'm still curious on what you got me this time."

"It's not only for you, but for the entire gang. It cost a lot of money to get them. Now I'm down to my last $480 million for the month. Yes, I know how to handle my finances really well. When a company just keeps growing so will your net worth."

"I think you already make more money than I do. What's your final net worth?"

"I never bothered having it counted. I rarely use the money anyways."

"Okay, since I'm done I'm going to gather the others in the lobby."

"Good, I'll wait for you guys outside."

It took Alara ten minutes to get everyone out of their rooms and to get them into the elevator. After a little while in the elevator, and Jean singing to the elevator tune, they finally reached the lobby where they could see Rick outside. He then quickly walked inside and put his forehead to Serenity, Amber, and Alara respectively and then handing everyone envelopes.

Amber then said, "What was that for Rick? What did you psychically teach me?"

He chuckled, "Open your envelop and you'll see."

Everyone then quickly tore their envelopes apart to see what gifts Rick had gotten them. All the while Rick was looking at them with a wide grin. Once they managed to open the envelopes, they were welcomed with keys to certain cars.

Jean's mouth was wide open, "Dude...you didn't." Rick smiled and nodded. "HUG ME BROTHER!" With that both of them quickly bro hugged each other.

Alara, Serenity, and Amber looked at him. Their envelopes had car keys and driver's licences. Alara then asked him, "Rick, how did you get us driver's licences? How did you get our pictures in human form? Also, we can't drive."

"One, I have people. Two, I have people that can pull some strings to get me things. Three, I psychically taught you guys how to drive. So there's no worries. So follow me to the parking lot guys."

They then followed Rick to the parking lot where there was seven cars covered with guys that resembled bodyguards surrounding them. As Rick walked up to the first car he put his hands up and pointed at a band that was standing at the side. They then began playing. Rick then announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen multiplatinum album winning band Limp Bizkit playing their hit Rollin'. (Go ahead and play it if you want)

The gang was surprised on why there was so much security and they then noticed that there was a large crowd and there was a fence separating them from the road. They didn't have time to ask when Rick began to talk.

"Alright, time to unveil your cars. First up, we have a crimson McLaren MP4-12C Spider with flame graphics. Do I even need to state whose car this is? Jean get in this bitch!" The guards then took the tarp off the car. Jean then gave a loud yell and ran up to Rick and hugged him again and kissed a guard on the cheek before getting in the McLaren. Rick and the guard then looked at each other and shrugged as they watched Jean losing his mind in the McLaren.

Rick then moved to the next car, "This next car is a black and white BMW M3 GTR E92 with a silver lining. It's for Serenity. Get over here girl!" The guards then took the tarp off the car. Serenity then shrieked and ran up to Rick and hugged him before kissing him on the cheek and getting into the BMW. Rick then moved to the next car.

"This car is black and yellow in the morning and then the yellow turns blue at night. This car is a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII. Dartz, I'm looking at you man." The guards then took the tarp off the car and Dartz laughed and walked up to Rick and hugged him before getting in the car. "I hope you like it bro!"

"Now then to go on to the next car. This car is a pink and hot pink Mercedes, but not just any Mercedes. This baby is a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, to stay in the spirit of you and Jean. So come on and enjoy your car big sis, you've earned it!" The guards then unveiled the car and her hands to her mouth and she had tears coming from her eyes. She then walked over to Rick and hugged him, Rick then kissed her forehead and helped her in the car. "You earned this one sis. For all you've done for me."

"The next car is white and green with a red tint. It's a Ferrari 458 Italia and Alara I know you're going to love it. Take a seat in it." The guards then unveiled it and Alara ran up and jump towards Rick and he caught her before putting her down and opening the door for her.

"Now Amber, I got you brown and tan car since everyone's car is the same color as their coats. So I went out and got you a Lotus Elise Exige." The guards then unveiled it and Amber freaked out, hoping like crazy until she got in the car and kissed one of guards on the lips and the guard then high-fived another guard. Rick then moved up and turned to face the entire gang who were standing outside of their cars, or in Jean's case on the hood, Seras leaning on her's and Dartz looking out of the window.

"Alright guys! Now for my ride. Yes it's a Lamborghini Aventador IP700-4 VS, but I gave it a little work done last night." The guards then unveiled his Lamborghini and it was not green and black with a red hue. "I got the design changed, got it a new body kit, and decorations. We're all rolling as a team now!" A guard then opened the door for him and he jumped in but not before telling the others, "Look in your glove compartments. There's a little headset there for you guys to put on so we can chat on an open channel to one another." Everyone then found and put there headsets on while testing them to see if they worked, which they did.

Jean then tested his, "Hello...hello? Holy shit! This is badass!"

Rick then responded, " I knew you'll like it."

Seras then came over the signal, "Rick, how did you manage to get all these high end custom cars? Also, what's with the band, crowd, and guards...and I think I see some officials too?"

"Good eye Seras! See I had to do a favor for Silph Co. A promotional even if you will. If they got me the cars I will set up an event for them overnight and get it publicized. See, I chose to make a race today throughout Hearthome until we reach Pastoria City, a team race between us eight. Silph Co. Chose the teams: Me and Alara, Jean and Seras, Dartz and Serenity, and Amber and Fang. It's good promotion and it's very fun just make sure everything is okay."

Dartz then spoke, "What are we going to do about gas?"

"Silph Co. hooked us up here man. These cars have a special chip in the motor that makes it run without gas or electricity. It's a fancy new technology that they're using that is a major help but is not available to the public."

"Why do you get it though?"

"Because I own part of Silph Co. since I bought it out for some technological help. Initially I was planning to use the company's technology to help me eliminate Team Rocket, but I guess this helps too."

Alara then spoke, "We have to race?"

"Yeah but you can just have fun with driving, you don't need to win but I guess that I would love to beta test that Poketch V2, which they promised to us if we actually do this, so I'm going to try to win today."

"I love a little competition. Let's go."

"Alright! Follow me gang!"

They then turned their cars on and took off with their engines roaring out in the morning. The roads were all clear since the roads were to be used for the race and the gang floored their cars to incredible speeds.

Rick then spoke though the headset, "Okay guys we need to get to Amity Square. That's where it all starts and the race actually ends at another city."

Serenity then asked, "Where does it end?"

"Pastoria City about 270 miles away. It's also the closest location to the Sanctuary. So that's why I want to race in this race."

Alara then spoke, "Nice! So we're racing each other for a few hours and then getting about 20 miles from my home. Good planning!"

"Yep."

"Wait, what about Fang? I thought she was going to take us. Also, how is she going to compete?"

"Oh don't worry about her, you'll be seeing her again. She already knows so don't worry. You might be surprised the next time you see her."

"Alright then...Well let's go. Race you all over there!"

Just like that she floored it and took off with Rick and Amber going after her and Jean laughing before hauling ass, followed by the rest. The group was doing about 150 mph and Alara was still ahead of everyone.

Rick then spoke, "It'll be a cold day in hell when my Lamborghini loses to a Ferrari in a sprint race. Step aside girl!" He then passed her and honked his horn at her.

"Then hell is going to freeze!"

Just then Amber passed them and flipped them off, "Suck it bitches!"

"Oh no you didn't just do that sis. I'm going to kill you for that."

"Try to catch up then."

Rick then spoke, "Alara, were on the same team. Let's try to win as a team, a little practice."

"Gotcha! Let's be the first two to get to the park."

Rick then floored it and got into Amber's view and then was surprised to see Jean next to him.

"Hey Rick, you're not winning this. Me and Seras are going to dominate."

Rick laughed, Oh yeah, if you're going to dominate then why did Alara just pass us?"

"...wait, what?" Jean then looked and saw that Alara was in the lead again. "Son of a bitch! Got to jet bro!"

"Like you're McLaren is going to beat my Lambo! Bye!"

Rick then sped off ahead with Jean chasing him down.

Dartz then spoke, "You guys are pathetic. Serenity let's go! Sorry to leave you behind sis."

Dartz and Serenity then appeared on next to Jean's car and were picking up speed. Jean then floored it and passed them again and came up behind Amber who was being beaten by Rick and Alara.

Jean then yelled, "Watch out little rabbit! I'm coming through!"

Amber then responded, "Like hell you will. Apparently you weren't counting on the curve that's coming up ahead."

"Curve? Oh shit...Slow down everyone!"

Everyone then dropped their speed and slowed down to take the curve and then saw a pink blur passing them.

Seras then spoke over the signal, "Ha! I have a Mercedes. I can make these curves better and faster than you guys can. Suck it everyone! Jean you have a McLaren...just take the curve, you'll be fine."

"Loud and clear little lady!" He then took off and took the curve with little problem with Seras.

Serenity then spoke, "Okay either we suck or we entered a parallel universe because I believe Seras and Jean just passed us in a Mercedes and a McLaren and are still going over 100mph. Pick up the pace Dartz!"

Rick then spoke, "Whoever said those cars are slow. They're fast and have great handling. Also, you still need to pass me and Alara. So good luck."

Dartz then passed Alara who was behind Rick up until now and then everyone took the curve and saw Jean and Seras in the horizon getting close to Amity Square.

Rick then sent Alara a mental message, _"When you get a clear shot, press a button that says N7 on it and hold on tight."_

_ "Oh it's nitrous isn't it?" _

_ "I didn't think you knew what that was."_

_ "Well I do and I see a clearing so get ready."_

They Alara then lined herself in the clear and Rick pressed his N7 button and took off followed by Alara.

Dartz then looked on, "Wait...there's Nitrous! Kick ass!" He then pressed his nitrous button and the other girls found their's after Dartz yelled it on the headset. They all sped off at extreme speeds with most of them barely being able to keep their hands on the steering wheels.

Jean and Seras were enjoying the lead and were even more excited when they saw Amity Square nearby. They then stopped celebrating when they noticed everyone gaining on them and they were almost only blurs.

"Damn it! Seras we have company...high speed company. Looks like Rick put Nitrous in these cars...Find your button quick!"

After a few seconds of searching they found them and pressed them but became parallel to everyone else on the way. They were all riding in a line, everyone trying to pass each other, which became more intense since the Square was only a few yards away. Just then a blue and red blur passed them and stopped in the square. They didn't pay much mind to it until they passed the finish line with Seras being the one in the head.

They then drifted to stop the speeding cars and came to a screeching halt with Seras and Jean celebrating.

"Ha! We won!"

Rick then laughed loudly catching Jean and Seras off guard.

Seras was getting annoyed, "What's so funny?"

"Oh I'm laughing because you lost...we all lost, except for Amber." He then pointed to the car that passed them. "Guys that's a Koenigsegg CCX and it belongs to Fang. So we all lost and Amber and Fang took the win. I did that on purpose by giving Fang's car a super nitrous."

"What!? That's Fang's car!? But she doesn't have a human form."

"I took the liberty of turning her human while I was waiting for you guys to come out of the hotel. As usual I did it in secret. I explained to her the situation and she's more than happy to participate. So let's get this race started! Yo Fang come out of the car. Let them see you, I know you're listening in on the signal."

Fang then spoke through the signal, "Okay." She said with a giggle.

Fang immediately came out of her car. Her human form was that of a tall fit woman with short red hair, a blue and white t-shirt and blue shorts.

"So guys do you like what you see? I'm not used to it, nor am I used to walking on two legs but Rick taught me how to do it. Anyways, I think I'd rather drive than fly at the moment. It's fun."

Dartz then asked, "How did you beat us?"

"Oh Rick put a super powerful nitrous in my car for the occasion. Unfortunately, that type of nitrous can only be used once and it's extremely expensive. Rick spent $15,000 on it. I'm lucky all our breaks are modified to stop on point."

"Wow, I love how Rick gave us a little twist at the end."

Rick laughed, "Well, this time I have nothing clever planned. Let's just head to the starting line to begin the real race. But first, we have to go to a press conference that I really don't want to do."

Alara then asked, "Why?"

"One, it's a total waste of my time to speak to the media about a race. So I'm going to make this quick...and I mean like REALLY quick. When Silph Co. makes me do these things I usually make it a paragraph long and leave. Anyways, let's go."

Jean then turned his car around and then left with Seras following.

Rick then put his headset on and spoke to them, "Where the hell are you guys going?"

Seras then responded, "Jean wants to do something before we go. Just wait a little."

[At the Cathedral]

Jean was sitting at a confessionary and a priest then open his window.

"Forgive me father for I have sinned."

"There is no sin too great for the Lord not to forgive my son. Tell me your sin."

Jean then took out a list and put on some glasses, "Well it's more like a couple of sins than a sin."

(30 minutes later)

The priest left the confessionary with Jean pleading with him, "Oh come on! This is only for the last two weeks. You told me that your god would forgive me for anything I've done."

After the awkward slate cleaning, Jean and Alara returned to Amity Square where the gang were still in the place that they left them. Rick was sitting on the hood of his car and Alara was laying down on her car's hood and talking to Rick, Dartz was listening to the radio, Amber and Serenity were listening to Rick and Alara talking and eating some sweets that they bought the other day.

Rick then saw them, "Oh you guys finally made it back. What were you up to?"

Jean hesitated to tell Rick so Seras then told Rick, "Angering God. Let's go to this thing already."

Rick didn't bother to ask so he motioned for everyone to get back into their cars and drove for the entrance of Amity Square. When they made it to the entrance of Amity Square they noticed the crowd and the security that came out of nowhere and surrounded them and walked them to a table that was set up with people that looked like executives sitting at it. Rick then sat down with Alara and a young man sitting next to him. The man then shook his hand.

The man then spoke to Rick, "Ah Mr. Rick it's good to see you again." He extended his hand to Rick who took it and shook it.

"Oh Steven Stone. Good to see you again. What's the Hoenn League champion doing here?"

"Well, my father wants me to keep the partnership between Silph Co., Devon Corp., and the Poketch company alive, so he sent me here."

"You're father is always trying to keep his partners close. I don't blame him, to say the least. And I'm guessing the other gentleman here is the president of the Poketch company."

The man then chuckled and shook Rick's hand, "Right you are Mr. Rick. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." He then noticed a woman standing next to the men. "And who might you be, if I may ask?"

The woman then shook his hand, "Oh my name is Doctor Fennel. I'm from the Unova region. I was brought here to help sponsor the race and to give you the Poketch V2." She then gave Rick and the group boxes that had watch like items inside. They looked at the devices and then put them on. "The V2 is specially made in partnership with me and Poketch Co. I was given specific orders to give them only to you and your team."

"Very well. Thank you so much Doctor Fennel. Anyways, let's get this press conference over with."

Everyone nodded and took a seat. Then reporters, analysts, and spectators then began to ask a barrage of questions. After 30 minutes of questions, Rick was seriously bored and wanted to start the race already.

"Alright, one more question everyone."

Rick then pointed to a reporter that had his hand raised, "Sir, when is the race beginning?"

"A good question. Right about...NOW! Everyone to the cars!"

As soon as he finished, he and the rest of the team ran and jumped inside their cars and turned them on. They noticed that there were pit crews tending to the cars who quickly dispersed after checking the cars. All of a sudden a voice came on the loud speaker and a woman stood in the middle of the road with a flag, who the girls quickly identified as Fantina, "Racers! Ready! Set! GO!" and Fantina waved the checkered flag.

Just like that Rick and the team took off and sped off into the horizon. Rick then called the gang on the Poketch V2 and was surprised that it was holographic and her could call everyone at the same time.

"Oh shit! This is epic...wait, I have to drive. Just talk guys."

He then heard Jean, "Dude this thing is epic and we have the same numbers and the same contact list...also it can store music now! Badass!"

"Focus Jean, we need to finish this race by the middle of the afternoon. Also, eat my dust bitches!"

Everyone then saw Rick speeding off.

"Oh hell no you don't!" Jean then took off after him.

Alara then sighed and floored it followed by the others. Everyone seemed to be in a competitive mood and were trying to best one another.

([Team Songs] (Pick Your Favorite =])

Rick and Alara= **Blinded In Chains by Avenged Sevenfold**,

Dartz and Serenity= **Decadence by Disturbed**,

Jean and Seras= **Shapeshifter by Celldweller**,

Amber and Fang= **Hand of Blood by Bullet For My Valentine**.)

Rick was getting frustrated, Jean was on his tail and Serenity was catching up. He wanted to use his nitrous but it was too early and it would take forever for his engine create more. Jean was enjoying himself way too much and almost bumped Rick's bumper.

"You Jean, calm down bro! You almost hit my car, and then I will really be angry."

"Sorry bro!"

Suddenly Serenity spoke, "Bye boys!"

"Wait...what?" Rick then looked next to him to see Serenity pass him and he was genuinely shocked. He then contemplated pressing the nitrous but stopped himself. He then received a mental call from Alara.

_"That was surprising. Serenity just passed you. She sure is liking this."_

_ "A little too much. Where are you?"_

_ "I'm behind Seras, so I'm in 6th place. Also, look out for Jean."_

Rick then looked at his mirrors and saw Jean trying to pass him, but Rick then managed to cut him off.

_"Thanks for the heads up! Try to pass the others so that we can have a better chance of winning."_

_ "Easier said than done, but I'll try. Also, don't hit the nitrous. I can still feel your emotions and you want to win. Hell you don't need the price money anyways."_

_ "That's true but I love a competition."_

_ "Point taken. Let's roll!"_

After about fifty miles the positions have changed: 1st) Dartz, 2nd) Jean, 3rd) Serenity, 4th) Rick, 5th) Alara, 6th) Fang, 7th) Tie between Seras and Amber.

Jean went on to check his GPS and saw that Pastoria City was only 20 miles away, which meant that they were only about fifteen minutes away and then he checked the road map and was shocked at what he saw.

"Shit guys! The road is going to be hell! Waves of twists, sharp turns, and things are just going to get worse."

Amber then spoke, "At shit! He's right!"

Rick then responded, "Guys, let's just end this...and whoever win, make a quick victory speech and take the trophy and get back in the car. We need to go...Also, Alara...hit it!"

Just then they both passed the rest of the gang out of nowhere.

"Ha! I knew a Lamborghini and a Ferrari were going to pass your cars. I love this car."

Alara then told him, "Don't get cocky now. We still have all the obstacles in the way."

Jean then spoke, "Yeah listen to the girl! You're only on top for the moment. Also, you better get out of my way!" Rick then poked his arm out his window and gave Jean the bird. "I take it that you didn't like that?"

Rick stuck his finger out again and Jean started to laugh. Then Dartz pushed his way pass Alara and was now behind Rick. Rick then tried to shake him off until he saw the curves coming up and drifted on the curves with the others following suit. In all there were seven curves and they were worried about swerving into the marsh, that was right off the road.

After about two minutes of constant swerving, Rick found himself behind Alara and Jean. Dartz and Serenity were in the lead and they didn't need to challenge each other. Soon a gigantic sharp turn came up and the positions changed again. Somehow Alara took the lead, Rick was second, and then (incredibly) came Seras.

The city was finally in sight and there was only a clear shot forward with no obstacles and everyone then had the same idea, at the same time. Like if they were all thinking with one mind, they all pressed the nitrous and fell back onto their seats with the force. All going beyond their cars' usual limits and running in extreme speeds. Somehow most of them managed to line up and Alara and Serenity were tied in 1st place. Rick was confused on how Serenity managed to pass him and Seras, but he was hoping Alara would stay ahead of her long enough to win. His wish was almost granted until the finish line was in sight and they had to hit the breaks and fast. Everyone slowed down to come to a stop when they passed and Serenity pulled a fast one on everyone.

When everyone slowed down she spun the car around and punched it into a reverse and passed the finish line and then stopped suddenly.

Everyone...except for Dartz then said, "No...fucking...way! We got bested by a teenager!"

Serenity didn't respond but began to dance in her car and Dartz started balling in his own car and then said over the headset, "This is Dartz broadcasting with an important message for all ya'll. SUCK...IT...BITCHES!"

They all then got out of their cars and Rick got out clapping, "Well my own student bested me in something. Even I didn't think of switching momentum to still go fast but having more stopping power."

"I guess I beat you at something after all."

"But you can't beat me in a fight."

"That I can't."

"Go to the stage and get your prize already. We have to go quickly."

Serenity and Dartz then ran up to a stage that was set up and received a loud applause from the crowd and the gang. They were then given a check worth $50,000 and two trophies, while Rick and Alara got smaller trophies for their second place position.

Serenity then gave her speech to the crowd and press, "Well it was fun, intense, and...I gotta go. Bye!"

They then ran and jumped back into their cars and took off for the Sanctuary, which was only ten minutes away (considering their fast cars).

[At the Sanctuary's Gates]

Two guards stood at the gates and looking around for any threats. Not too long after they heard a rumbling and the sound of engines revving.

"What the hell? Do you hear that?"

"Yeah. What is that?"

They then looked around and saw eight cars in the horizon coming at them. The guards were completely taken off guard by the sight. Afterwards, Rick and Alara's cars swerved and stopped in front of the guards followed by the rest of the gang. The guards then drew their blades when Rick came out of his car, in his pokemon form, with his sunglasses on and smiling at them.

"Why hello there?"

Finally finished with this one! I was in the mood for writing it after playing 10 continuous hours of Need For Speed: Most Wanted and listening to the soundtrack. Anyways, thanks for reading guys.


	17. Chapter 17: Finally Home and Then Some

So far this is my longest chapter to date with over 10,000 words. Also, we finally get to the ever so famous Sanctuary and how will Rick fair in a place where he is surrounded by members of his own species. Another thing covered in meeting Alara's folks and I was surprised on how many of you were waiting for their encounter to happen. Anyways, here it is guys and enjoy. Keep reviewing and keep sending me your various questions. View standings= 1st) USA, 2nd) Canada (barely), 3rd) UK (by only 7 views away from Canada) 4th) Iceland, and 5th) The Philippines.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick was staring at the guards that were at the gate and then took off his sunglasses and threw them in the car. The guards kept their blades drawn and Rick just chuckled at the sight of them.

Once of the guards then asked him, "Who are you? We've never seen you around here before."

"I'm not from here. I don't think I've ever been here, as a matter of fact."

"Then what business do you have here?"

"I came here to bring you back your princess."

"Princess?"

Rick then walked over to Alara's car and helped her out. Once the guards saw her they immediately retracted the blades and gave a small quick bow.

"Wow you really are their princess."

Alara then responded, "In a way yes. Anyways, Syler and Luan, what's with the active show of aggression?"

One of the guards then spoke, "Well Luan and I were told to use extra security in preparation for your arrival."

Rick then asked, "And they only have you two here?"

"Trust me. We're not alone, there are quite a few of us in the area just waiting to protect the Sanctuary."

"I can tell. I picked them up as you spoke...all ten of them." Rick then waived at the tree line. The guards were surprised when he found the others out.

"May I ask how you found them?"

"A lot of training. Can we enter now?"

"Sure, one moment." The guard then elbowed the gate and yelled, "Lady Alara and Lady Amber have returned and they brought guests. Let them in please."

Soon a reply came from the other side, "Acknowledged! Welcome back Lady Alara and Lady Amber. We've missed you guys."

Soon the gates opened and a team of guards surrounded the team, who were back in their pokemon forms.

One of the guards then told the group, "We were asked to escort you guys to the Chief's Court when you arrived. Follow us."

Everyone nodded and followed them into the Sanctuary gates. After the gates was a long passage where there were many guards standing in attention and looking at them. Serenity kept herself close to Rick to make sure she felt safer. The others were just looking around surprised that such a place required so much security. After the walk in the passage they were led to another gate that on command opened to reveal a city full Ralts, Kirlias, Gardevoirs, and Gallades. There were a few other pokemon there but the Ralts line pokemon were the majority.

Rick and the gang could feel thousands of eyes on them and they then heard cheering from the crowd and Alara was waving at the people. Rick then walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder to get her attention.

"You're a celebrity here?"

She giggled, "My dad is the chief. Everyone knows me and everyone has seen me grow up. I'm very well loved and well respected."

"I can tell. You didn't tell me we would come back to a welcome party."

"You never asked. Also, look to your left. That's mine and Amber's house."

"And where is your parent's house?"

"A little bit of a walk from here but don't think about it. You're not leaving me there."

"Then where?"

"At the Chief's Court. It's at the southern end of the Sanctuary."

Rick then looked ahead and told her, "I think I see it. Is it the largest building in the area?"

"Yep. So we have quite the walk until we get there."

After about ten minutes of walking, they reached the Chief's Court where a group of Gardevoirs decorated everyone with flower necklaces.

"It looks like they've accepted us here."

"Oh we love guests but we're very careful on who we let in. Those we do let in are welcomed with open arms."

"Nice! I like it already."

Once they reached the court's doors they stopped and were saluted by the guards before the doors opened to reveal a large room with many older Gardevoirs and Gallades sitting on balconies and there were guards everywhere. Rick looked at the center of the room where he saw a very large older Gallade looking at them, he then saw a very decorated Gallade and Gardevoir sitting on two thrones.

"Who's the big guy?"

"That's Warlord Daedalus, the one I told you about. The two sitting on the thrones are my parents and the older ones on the balconies are just some elders and officials, one of them being my grandfather. It's good to be back."

As soon as she finished her parents ran over to her and hugged her and Amber in a tight group hug. Rick and Daedalus then chuckled at the same time which got them to look at each other.

Alara's father then spoke, "My dears, you're back...and safe. It's so great to see you guys again."

"Dad it's only been about two and half weeks."

"For a parent, that's a long time. Also, what did you bring back?"

"I actually brought two things back."

She then took her bag off her back and opened a pocket before emptying it of all the stones within it. Her parents were surprised at her conquest. There were so many useful stones, especially Dawn Stones.

"My Arceus, this is quite the haul. The Dawn Stones are especially special and what we needed more. You did great my dear. What's the second thing you brought back?"

Alara then turned around and pointed, "Those guys."

Rick, Serenity, Jean, Seras, and Dartz then gave a collective "Huh?"

"Let me explain. The stones are my true gift to the Sanctuary and these guys are for my parents to meet. My mom wanted to see you face to face Rick...and I think that my dad wanted to see you as well."

Rick then stepped forward and Alara's mother stepped forward. Alara was between them and Rick bowed his head low to her mother.

"My lady, I've done what you have asked of me. I brought your daughters back to you safe and sound. I hope it was to your liking."

"It was. You've done well and I finally get to meet you face to face. You look familiar in a way. Are you sure you've never been here before?"

"I'm positive that I've never been here before...to my knowledge. I was raised in Hoenn, my parents never really explained to me exactly where I was born. I just assumed that it was in Hoenn since that was the only place I've ever known at the time."

"Where are your parents now?"

"My family, my parents and my sister, are dead. They were killed by Team Rocket fifteen years ago. My parents were planning to move somewhere before they were killed."

After he said that Daedalus stared at him intently.

Alara's mother then told him, "I'm so sorry to hear that. It must of been horrible, do you mind telling me about what happened and how you've made it to this point in your life?"

Rick looked at Alara who told him, "Just tell her. My mother likes to gather information, she's really smart."

Rick sighed, "Very well. When I was seven years old, I was a Kirlia at the time, me and my family were walking along this place called Route 123 when we were ambushed by Team Rocket. My father and mother fought to protect me and my sister but they were gunned down by Team Rocket's leader, his name was Giovanni. I've never forgotten that man's face since that day, he had the audacity of joying his team on a scouting mission in Hoenn and he killed my parents to get to me and my little sister. He then took me and my sister and separated us and took us to different Rocket facilities. While I was in one of the facilities one of the Rocket members told me that my sister had died. I was wrecked and the Rockets then used me as a weapon and trained me to be a killing machine. I stayed with Team Rocket for three whole years before I decided that I was strong enough to make my escape. I didn't care if I lived or died, my life was virtually over by that point. I had nothing to live for, so I waited until the time I knew that all the facility's staff were going to be present. When the facility was full I destroyed everything and killed every Rocket member that I could find. I doubt that anyone survived because I made the facility self destruct before I left it in ruins. In the process I was shot twice on the side and I still have the scars of that day. I was just a Kirlia and I was strong enough to exact my revenge."

Everyone in the room was silent and looked at Rick with shocked eyes but also with pity. Daedalus was still staring at Rick intently and Rick then continued.

"After I did that I began to bleed out from my injury and was dying when a man came by and offered me a home and a family. I agreed to go with him and he captured me but he kept his promise. My trainer was a great man, he gave me a new family made up of many other pokemon, including the Blaziken, Espeon, and Umbreon that you see there. It was the closest thing I had to a home after three years, but after seven years with my trainer he grew I'll and died shortly after. At my seventeenth birthday he gave me a Dawn Stone and I evolved. That was the last gift he gave me but he gave me so many other things. He trained me and he taught me so many things that I currently use. After his death I left my little family and went on my own for five years until I made it here to the Sinnoh region about two weeks ago. Then I met the Absol there and began to train her, I then met your daughters, and now we're here."

"Thank you for telling me this. I'm guessing you've had nothing to lose."

"No and I might as well tell you since I'm not sticking around for very long."

"At least stay for the night. We've planned a party for the return of out daughter and I wanted you and your friends to join us."

Rick then looked back at the others who were nodding at him, he then looked at Alara who did the same.

"Sure, but only for a night."

"Good to know. Also, I wanted to see you so I could test something out."

"What did you have in mind?"

"My daughter told me of your incredible deductive skill. I want to see it in action, so deduce anything here. Any scenario that you feel that has relevance to me or anyone in this room."

Rick looked around the room for a minute gathering information and then spoke, "Well, considering the number of people in this room I would deduce that you run as a monarchy. There is one older Gallade sitting on the balcony that is second to the left that has been staring at you and your mate intently all evening, and that tells me that he is you father and still has a strong bond with you. The guard by the door walks with a slight limp that was most likely caused by a Mightyena bite to the foreleg about five years ago. Also, Warlord Daedalus has been staring at me intensely all day, which tells me that he has some questions about me and my past. Is that enough?"

"Very! You correctly deduced many things that most people miss and they were all correct. I myself have not noticed Daedalus until now. Is something wrong Daedalus?"

Daedalus then spoke, his voice was low and he sounded very blunt and stern, "Oh it's nothing. I'm just curious about something."

"About?"

"Don't tell me you can't see it."

Alara's mother didn't respond, she then turned and sat back at her throne and Alara's father was now standing in front of Rick. He was taller than Rick, older, and he was very decorated because of his status. He had a red cape, an amulet around his neck, and he had a scar over his eye but it looked as if it didn't bother the eye at all. He analysed Rick and then spoke to him, his voice was very fatherly and careful but still had authority behind it.

"So you're the Gallade named Rick that I have heard so much about?"

Rick looked at Alara who couldn't look at him dead in the eyes and then he responded, "Yes, I supposed your daughter told you or more like she told your mate and she delivered the information to you."

"Right! My mate told me everything or I just eavesdropped on their conversations. Anyways, I heard you were an exceptional fighter. I want to see this for myself. Tell me, will you spar with my Captain of the Guard?"

"Sure, I'm guessing he's the Gallade standing next to your mate. The one with the steel armor?"

"Right again. He is Sir Zant and he's one of our strongest fighters. You two will spar in the sparring grounds behind here. Come with me."

They then left the court and went outside to a large stadium like area in the back. Sir Zant then stepped forward and took his armor off before turning to Rick and called him, "Come on now. Show me what you've got!"

Rick immediately chuckled and jumped to his side of the arena. Sir Zant began to stretch and crack his knuckles and neck while Rick just went on his knees and closed his eyes. Everyone was surprised at Rick's sudden action except for Jean, Seras, and Dartz.

Jean then said, "It's about to go down. Everyone step back."

When the group heard that they stepped a few feet back. Alara and Amber stood next to their parents and waited for Daedalus to give the starting command. Alara's father then nodded his head at Daedalus who then yelled, "Begin!"

With the command Sir Zant drew his blades and charged Rick, Rick stayed in place and didn't move until Sir Zant brought his blades down on him. Rick then disappeared into thin air and reappeared behind Sir Zant and hit him with a **Focus Punch**. Sir Zant looked as if the attack did nothing to him and turned around and tried to slash him again. Rick then drew his blades and blocked Zant's attacks. They traded blows for a few moments until Zant tried to high kick Rick, Rick immediately caught his leg and threw him to the other side of the field. Zant then spun himself off his back and jumped up and cracked his neck.

Rick then laughed, "Wow, you really are tough. I think I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should."

Zant then responded, "Me too. You're pretty good yourself. Now then, time to stop playing games."

Zant's blades then began to glow black with purple, Rick quickly identified it as **Night Slash**. Rick then withdrew his blades and took a martial arts stance.

"You probably just chose the worst course of action there. But it's your funeral."

Rick didn't respond but gave the "Bring it on" sign. Zant then charged him again and tried to slash him again. Rick quickly grabbed the incoming blade and twisted it behind Zant's back and then did the same to the other. He then suplexed Zant and punted him to the other side again. Zant however didn't go the whole way, he stuck one of the blades into the ground and use the momentum to spin himself around back towards Rick and donkey kicked Rick in the face. Rick flew back and landed on his back, he then sat up with one knee up and one of his arms resting on it.

"So you're looking to play, huh? Alright, I guess I have some time to kill."

"Don't get cocky now...Let's play a little game."

"What do you have in mind, dare I ask?"

"You come at me and I'll fight you without using either of my hands. Seems fair, right?"

"To generous, but I'm not one to accept charity. This probably just got a lot more interesting."

"Oh you're not intimidated? Very well, then come at me."

Rick then stood up and ran towards Zant who immediately dodged his punch and tried to kick him. Rick dodged the kick and backflipped to dodge a roundhouse kick. Rick was looking for a good way to hit him but all his plans were rendered useless by Zant's quick movements and swift strikes. Rick then got kicked in the chest and backed up a few feet from Zant so he couldn't get hit by another kick. He then thought of another idea and took another pose which Zant just laughed at.

"You want to try that on me again. Very well, here I come!"

Zant then ran towards Rick and tried to hit him with a kick and Rick disappeared. Zant quickly turned around to find himself blasted in the face with a **Shadow Ball**. Zant then flew back and skid his feet on the floor to stop.

"Huh?"

"Weren't counting on that now were you? I have a lot of moves that I can use against you. **Shadow Ball** is just one of them."

Rick then fired another **Shadow Ball** and two **Psycho Cuts** at Zant. Zant dodged the **Shadow Balls** but got hit by the **Psycho Cuts**. He was completely surprised by the fact that Rick actually fired his **Psycho Cuts** and didn't have to run up to hit him with them.

"How do you know how to fire your **Psycho Cuts**? That's a Gallade Warlord's skill. Even I don't know how to fire my own **Psycho Cuts** yet."

"I just know how. I taught myself how, I don't have a reason for it."

Zant's face was more surprise than frustration and he tried to attack Rick again and Rick continued to barrage him with **Shadow Balls** and **Psycho Cuts**. Zant was having difficult time just getting close to Rick without getting hit or Rick disappearing into thin air. It was starting to frustrate Zant and when Rick appeared in front of him he punched him in the face as hard as he could but Rick stayed in place, as if the punch did nothing to him. Then a small drop of blood fell from Rick's mouth and he began to laugh and shifted his head so that the fist was in between his eyes and not on his jaw so he could talk.

"Why are you laughing?"

Rick then narrowed his eyes but kept his smile, "I win! You weren't going to use your hands. Now look at you with your fist in my face."

Zant then realized what just happened, "Damn it! How did you make me do this?"

"I didn't make you do anything. You had a lot of options but you chose to punch me. You lose the game but not the fight...yet."

Zant then backed up and looked at Daedalus, "Hey Dae! Help me out here! Tag team like old times."

Daedalus then jumped onto the field and took off his armor revealing a number of scars and a huge muscular body. Rick was almost intimidated but went into a martial arts pose again. Daedalus then got on his knees and put his fists on the ground and bowed his head. After a moment he shot his eyes open and punched the ground, cracking it. He then drew his blades and cracked his neck and stood up. Without warning Jean, Dartz, Seras, and Serenity then appeared next to Rick.

Dartz then said, "Hold on! That's not fair. Two on one is a very unfair odd, even worse when it's against the captain of the guard and the warlord."

Rick then put his arm in front of Dartz, "No! I accept their challenge and I will face them both...alone. Am I understood? Well am I!?"

Everyone then nodded and returned to the bleachers. Rick then looked at Alara and her father. Her father then nodded and stuck his thumb out, signaling that he approves of Rick's decision. Rick then turned back to face his opponents.

Daedalus then told Rick, "You're strong, I will give you that. But you're not just facing any normal opponent. I am the strongest warrior in the Sanctuary and I don't go easy on my opponents. Usually I don't take challenges from others but I sense something in you, something powerful. You've been holding back haven't you? Face me unrestrained!"

Rick then nodded and drew his blades and waited for Zant or Daedalus to move. Eventually they charged him and Rick began to block all of their attack but noticed that he might not be able to stop all of Daedalus's attacks since he was so much stronger than he was. Rick was surprised on how big Daedalus was, how much power were in his attack, but how fast he was as well. Soon Zant tried to hit Rick with a **Night Slash** and Rick blocked it and used the blocked blade to block Daedalus's **Psycho Cut**. He then kicked Daedalus out of the way and slammed Zant to the ground. Daedalus then hit Rick with a **Focus Punch** and sent him flying half way across the arena. He then fired **Psycho Cuts** at him but Rick managed to move out of the way and disappeared, only to reappear behind Daedalus and hit him with an **X-Scissors** in the gut making him hunch over. He then rammed Daedalus's head onto Zant gut, making him step back and hold his gut, and he kneed Daedalus in the head. Rick then jumped in the air and roundhouse kicked Zant to the floor. He then jumped on Daedalus's shoulders and blasted him with a **Shadow Ball** to disorientate him. He then jumped off Daedalus's shoulders and over Zant and fired a **Signal Beam** at the downed Zant.

*Damn it's been a while since I used those attacks.*

Rick then fired a **Shadow Ball** at Daedalus but he sliced it in half and the look of frustration was in his face. Zant then got up and quickly stumbled back to the floor. Daedalus then helped him up of the ground and on his feet.

"I've taken enough damage. That last **Signal Beam** was enough for me. He's tough, be careful Dae!"

"I will be."

Zant then limped his way back to the bleachers and Daedalus was left alone with the still standing Rick.

"I have to say I'm surprised. No one has been able to take me and Zant on and much less both at the same time. You managed to defeat Zant easily but you will have no such luck with me. I like fighting one on one so now let the real test begin. Also, you're still holding back, I can feel it. Unleashing a few moves isn't unrestrained power. Hit me with the fight that I know you have. Come on!"

(Battle music: **Down With the Sickness by Disturbed**)

Rick nodded and then charged Daedalus and the two began to exchange blows. They then had two **Focus Punches** that connected and Rick then pulled his hand back in pain. Daedalus then punched him and hit him with a **Psycho Cut** that sent him flying. He then fired a barrage of **Shadow Balls** at the downed Rick which exploded on contact. When the smoke cleared Rick was no longer there and he appeared behind Daedalus with his blades glowing white. Daedalus then turned around in shock of what he was seeing. *That attack...it can't be.*

Rick then unleashed a **Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun at close range with his blows hitting Daedalus and lifting him up in the process. When he finished the attack he **Focus Punched** Daedalus to the other end of the arena. Rick was panting and dropped to a knee from the loss of energy it took to fire the attack.

To Rick's horror Daedalus got up with little damage on him and he cracked his neck. Rick just looked at him with a shocked expression, he couldn't believe that Daedalus got up from his attack even if he was still damaged.

"How do you know that attack? That attack was only known by my brother. It was his signature move and he used it well. I don't know how you learned it but it will take more than that to beat me."

Rick then laughed, "I knew you'll be fine. More fun for me."

Daedalus then chuckled and charged Rick. Rick tried to block an upcoming **Night Slash** with his own **Night Slash** but he wasn't fast enough or strong enough and got knocked down. Daedalus then **Focus Punched** him in the gut before picking him up and uppercutting him into the air where he hit him with a barrage of **Shadow Balls** and **Psycho Cuts**. Rick used **Signal Beam** to get rid of a few of the attacks but managed to get hit by a large number of them. He then crashed to the ground hard and he struggled to get up to his feet. Daedalus then began to walk towards Rick who was trying to get up and soon succeeded to get on his feet. He was panting from the exhaustion and then looked up to see Daedalus standing in front of him.

"You put up a good fight but it's time to lose."

Rick was still panting and put his head down before coughing from the punch in his gut. Daedalus then charged a **Focus Punch** and tried to hit Rick.

(Battle Music: **Stupify by Disturbed**)

In a moment of complete disbelief Rick caught the attack with his right hand and everyone could hear a growl coming from him. Daedalus then looked at Rick with a scared and unbelieving look on his face. Rick then lifted his head and everyone could see what looked like smoke circling him before a pitch black aura exploded around him and the growl grew louder. Alara could tell that the growl was coming from Rick and not from Chaos since the sunlight was hitting Rick.

Daedalus was shocked, "What the hell!? You couldn't of caught that attack. You were already beaten how did you just do that? What are you?"

Rick then said in between of growls, "You wanted me to fight unrestrained, so here it is! I'm going at you with all my strength. You should feel honored, very few people have ever made me go this far. One of these times is when I destroyed that Rocket facility and killed everything and everyone in there. You're going to lose now!" Rick then headbutted him and pulled him back into a black **Focus Punch** that sent Daedalus flying. He then vanished and appeared behind the airborne Daedalus and kicked him into the sky. He vanished again and appeared above him and drew his blades.

"You better remember that you brought this onto yourself. Black **Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun!"

His blades then became pitch black and he fired a barrage of black blades at Daedalus, sending him crashing back to earth. Rick then appeared on the ground before Daedalus crash landed and crossed his arms and timed a kick perfectly to send him into the arena's wall.

"PWNED bitch!"

Daedalus then came crashing out of the wall and walked towards Rick with blood in his mouth and an irritated expression on his face. He then wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at Rick and then to the others who were watching in disbelief.

Alara then asked Seras, "What the hell did I just see?"

"This is what happens when you piss Rick off. He'll destroy you in battle. He tends not to go to this level way to often and it can be pretty scary, but he still has his self control. He can still make rational decisions and he does not become a monster."

"I hope you're right."

Seras then looked at Jean who had an ocarina out and Dartz had a flute out and they were playing **Funeral March**. She then looked at the guards who looked scared at the sight of Rick. She then looked at Alara's family and saw them looking with awe and disbelief.

"Hmm, I guess that Rick's power can be a little scary. Especially if you've never seen it before." She then looked back at the fight to see Rick and Daedalus finish exchanging blows.

Daedalus looked at Rick who was floating in a sitting position staring at him with his arms crossed.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you? I guess I better level the playing field."

"Go ahead. I'm waiting for you to fight for real."

"Oh so smug, but for how long?" Daedalus then concentrated and his own aura appeared. It was purple with red and the floor under him began to crack. "Are you ready?"

"Is that all you got? I have to say, I'm kinda disappointed." Rick said with a smile.

"Oh you've seen nothing yet."

Daedalus then vanished and reappeared punching Rick with a **Focus Punch**. He then kneed Rick in the stomach and hit him with both fist to the back of the neck. Rick came crashing to the ground and Daedalus charged a **Night Slash** and brought it down only to miss. Rick had disappeared and Daedalus started to look for him, but not too long after he heard a voice behind him.

"I have to admit, that actually hurt a little, but nothing too serious. I wanted you to bring your A-game."

"Oh you haven't seen anything yet."

Daedalus then grabbed Rick and threw him to the ground and put his foot on his chest to make sure he didn't go anywhere. He then charged a rather large **Shadow Ball** and tried to bring it down on Rick, but Rick fired a **Signal Beam** from his spike and it caused Daedalus to lean back and take his foot off of Rick. Rick used the opportunity to jump to his feet and hit Daedalus with an **X-Scissors**. After the hit Daedalus was brought to his knees panting for air and Rick was standing in front of him. Daedalus had finally had it with the unrelenting Gallade and jumped to his feet. He then quickly punched Rick in the face with a super powered **Focus Punch**. Rick however just smiled and disappeared and hit him with a **Night Slash**, forcing him on one knee. This time Daedalus was especially irritated.

"I've had enough! You're strong but I refuse to be defeated you! You're about to taste my ultimate attack!"

Daedalus then jumped to the other end of the arena and his hand looked as if it had black lightning around it. He then brought his hand up and a large **Shadow Ball** then emerged from his hand. "Bigger! Bigger! Bigger! Bigger! That's good!" The **Shadow Ball** was now colossal in size and Rick just stood there staring at the ball in amazement. "This is my strongest attack. It took me years to create it and a lot of practice. Few have ever had the honor of attempting survive being hit by it and fail. Now it's your turn, I don't expect you to die but it will defeat you! It's called my Shadow Bomb."

He then threw the ball at Rick and Rick quickly stuck his hands out in front of himself to catch the ball. When the ball reached Rick it began to push him as he tried to stop it. Rick quickly knew that he was not going to be able to stop the ball and so came up with an idea. He then took one of his hands and charged a **Hyper Beam** on it and then placed his hand directly on the ball and fired. The **Hyper Beam** destroyed the ball and redirected the shadow energy back at Daedalus who was engulfed by the black **Hyper Beam**.

When the dust settled Daedalus was on his knees panting and burned. Rick then appeared in front of him and he brought his head down.

"You...won."

"Don't sound so disappointed. You're hard as hell to harm or take down. Hell, you're fine right now. I expected that thing to at least incapacitate you."

Daedalus then stood up and looked at Rick and bowed before returning to the bleachers. Rick then looked at the group and they all had their mouths opened wondering what they just saw. Rick had just beaten their strongest warrior. Rick then put his hand on Daedalus's shoulder and used Healing Pulse on him to heal him somewhat.

Alara's parents then started to applaud with the guards joining them. Rick then appeared in front of them and Alara ran and hugged him and then let him go and both of then gripped their chests in pain.

Jean was confused on what just happened, "Why are you two in pain?"

Alara then answered, "Our chest spikes. I forgot about them. Ow that hurt, his spike is sharper than mine."

Rick then stood up and had a bruise on his chest, "Ow, think before you act! That really hurt."

Everyone then laughed and returned to the court where they got treated for their injuries. Alara's parents wouldn't stop looking at Rick, he was just as their daughter had described and then some. Alara's father then stood up and walked over to Rick.

"Tell me, how do you know how to fight like that?"

"I was trained by my parents, then by Team Rocket, and then by my trainer, the former Sinnoh League Champion. It's only natural that I would be strong."

"Usually, you beating the Warlord in battle meant that you will become the Warlord yourself."

"Nah, I don't want the job. I already asked the guards to swear that they will tell no one of what they saw. Hell, I'm not staying here for too long. I'm most likely leaving tomorrow and I promised your wife and your daughter that I would stay for the day."

"Did you now? At least stay longer than that. I would love to talk to you a bit more. I have so many questions that I want answers to." He then noticed Rick's locket. "Is that your locket?"

"Yeah. It used to be my baby sister's but I managed to get it. It's my most prized possession."

"May I see it?"

Rick was hesitant to let him see it but he knew that Alara's father meant no ill will. He then removed the locket and gave it to Alara's father. Alara's father then sat down next to his mate, Alara, Amber, Daedalus, and Zant and opened it. When everyone saw the picture inside of the locket the color left their faces, except for Alara and Amber, and their eyes stayed locked onto the picture.

Alara then said, "Aww you were so cute as a Kirlia Rick and so was your sister. You, your sister, and your parents looks very happy."

Alara's mother then stood up with the locket and looked at Rick with her eyes wide open. Daedalus then walked up to Rick.

"Boy what is your name?"

Rick looked at him, "It's Rick. Well that's the name my trainer gave me. I used to be named something else before my parents died."

"What was that name?"

"I'd rather not say it. One it sounds odd to me and two I chose not to keep my name after they died."

"Then let me ask you this then, what were your parents' names?"

Rick then looked at him with a contempt look, "With all due respect, that's none of your business." He then turned to walk towards the gang but was turned back around by Daedalus who grabbed onto his shoulders.

"Your parents were named Xeron and Aldira, weren't they?"

Rick was shocked that he knew his parents' names. He then managed to pin Daedalus to the wall and brought one of his blades to his neck. Jean quickly went over to pry Rick off of Daedalus but he was thrown away with **Psychic**.

Rick then growled, "How the hell do you know that!? I've never told anyone their names before."

"I know because Xeron was my younger brother and Aldira was my sister-in-law. Face facts, you're my nephew. Your name is an odd one for our family. It's Aeruthael, isn't it? It means 'One who saves and one who cares'. It was also your grandfather's name."

Rick then quickly let him go and stepped back before falling back onto a chair. The color was drained from his face and he was in disbelief of everything he had just heard. Seras and the others quickly ran to his aid and tried to calm him down. Rick was sitting with his hand of his forehead and in emotional shock, someone identified him and worse he realized that he was not from Hoenn, he was from Sinnoh.

Seras quickly tried to comfort him, "Calm down Rick. It's okay just calm down, big sister's here."

Alara then said, "Wait, you're Aeruthael? So I've known you longer than your friends have because we used to be playmates as Ralts."

Rick nearly fainted when he heard that one and Jean tried to keep him conscious. He then jumped up from his seat.

"I can't believe this. No, can't be. My parents told me that I had family in another region but I wasn't expecting here. They also never told me that you two were the leaders of this place...hell, they didn't even tell me about this place."

Seras then told him, "Hey this is a good thing. You now know where you're from and that you still have blood relatives. Also, we're at your birthplace. It should be exciting for you not traumatizing."

"That's not it. It just makes too much sense and yet so little." Alara's parents then ran up to him and hugged him and he felt more awkward than he had felt in a long time. "Umm why do people keep randomly hugging me?"

Alara's father then spoke, "You're the son of my best friend. Oh Arceus...it's...wow...it's been 21 years...look at you, you're all grown. The last time I saw you you were a little Ralts. Now you're a powerful Gallade."

"You knew my father and mother?"

"Of course I did. We were the best of friends, like my mate and your mother were the best of friends. It made us extremely happy when they became mates and then they had you. I remember taking you with me everywhere I went...until your mother took you away from me at the end of the day. I loved you like if you were my own son. Tell me, did your parents ever call us by name?"

"Yes, they said that you two were called Saifer and Keera."

"Oh good, they actually told you the truth about us. I didn't expect them to want to get rid of our memory."

"My parents actually talked about you guys all the time. I wanted to meet you guys and now...I don't know what to think."

"Listen, I know you must feel extremely confused but trust us when we say that we've known you since you were born and we used to take care of you."

Alara's mother then spoke, "He's right you know. We used to take care of you so much and then we had Alara and you two played together for most of the time. Since your parents were always here you were always with Alara. You were her first friend and you two were inseparable as Ralts. It's just a miracle for us!" She then called a group of guards. "Spread the news. Warlord Xeron's son has returned to us after 21 years. We have to celebrate this at once. Call the cooks, the caterers, the musicians, everyone that's in charge of our events. We're having a huge feast tonight." She then proceeded to hug Rick again but crying this time.

"My lady, what's going on, why the feast, and why are you crying?"

"It was just so unexpected. I never thought I'll see you again my son."

"Son?"

"You were like my own son. I took care of you when you were a baby. I loved you very much. I just can't believe it's you."

Rick then heard Seras go 'aww' and looked at her, she was crying as well. All Rick was thinking was, *What do I do now? I can't leave because they...and the guys, won't let me and I have a family here apparently.*

Rick then told Alara's mother, "Well, I'd love to stay all day but I need to find some lodging for me and my friends here. Just look at Jean and Fang, they're tired."

Jean then said to Rick, "I'm not..." He then noticed one of Rick's blades glowing purple. "Yes, I'm exhausted."

Alara's mother then told them, "Well you can stay at our house or just go to your house."

"My house?"

"Yep, when you guys left you left your house behind. Since you are the only one that's left I guess it belongs to you now."

"Twenty one years of dust and cobwebs?"

"Oh no. My husband actually has it cleaned and renovated regularly. In hope that any one of you guys actually returns."

"I'd like to see this house."

"It's a bit of a walk but the feast begins once the sun sets and it's only four in the afternoon. We have plenty of time to go there and see the house. Let's walk!"

"Walk? Oh no, I have better plans."

[Four Minutes Later In The Cars]

Rick and the gang arrived at the house with Alara's parents, Daedalus, Zant, and a few guards riding along. Rick had Alara's father in his car, Alara had her mother in her car, Amber had Daedalus and Zant, and the rest of the crew took guards. Rick had to give the speech on how they could become human and how they know how to drive. When they arrived at the location they exited the cars, turned back into their pokemon forms, and Rick helped Alara and her mother out of her car.

Rick then looked at the building in front of him and stepped forward and inspected the outside of the home. He couldn't remember the house but something seemed familiar about it. Alara's father then walked to the door and unlocked it for Rick motioned for him to enter it first. Rick reluctantly did and stepped foot in it, but the moment he stepped foot into it he began to feel light headed and dropped to his knees. He then instantly recovered and kept walking through the house, no one dared to ask him what just happened.

Rick looked around the house and saw pictures of him and his parents and notices some of his sister that he can't explain how they got there.

"How did my sister's pictures get here? She wasn't born after we left this place."

"Your parents would send pictures every now and then. We made sure to frame them and place them in the house or in photo albums."

"Oh I see." Rick then grabbed a picture of him and his sister and sat down on a couch to look at it. He smiled when he saw the picture. It was a picture of him and his sister during her seventh birthday party, she was hugging him and kissing his cheek after she evolved. He nearly cried until Jean got his attention to come to another room.

When Rick entered the room Jean was in he immediately saw a protected door. He then asked Alara's father about the door.

"That door has been there for years. It was your father's private area, I've been in there before but now that he's gone I can't get in. I don't know how to get in."

Rick then touched the door and got a headache and cringed in pain and shut his eyes. He then opened his eyes and saw that there was no one in the house and he then saw two Gallades walk into the room and they were talking and having a good time. Rick could immediately identify one of the Gallades as his father and presumed that the other was Alara's father when he was young. Rick knew he was seeing a vision of the past and paid close attention to what his father was doing. His father used a strand of his hair to unlock on lock and then he had his eyes scanned, lastly he put in a code on the number pad that Rick quickly memorized because it was his birthdate and his father's birthdate. Rick then closed his eyes and opened them again and woke up in the present.

"Yo bro. You okay? You left us there for a second."

"I'm fine Jean. I think I know how to open this door."

Rick then plucked a hair from his head and something scanned it and a lock retracted. He then moved his eyes to the scanner and the other lock retracted. A number pad then appeared and he plugged in the code 0506 1123 and the final lock retracted and the door opened up. Everyone then followed Rick into the room which had a long hallway of lights and they care across another door that seemed to not have a lock to it. Rick immediately opened the door and to everyone's surprise the room was full of weapons, blades to firearms. Rick and Jean were looking at the room with awe.

Rick then looked at a pedestal that was in the center of the room and it had a katana encased in glass. Rick then moved up to it and touched it and getting another headache. He didn't see a vision this time but instead he took the glass off and only looked at the sword. Jean then went to grab the sword and was immediately electrocuted by the sword.

"What the hell!? OW!"

Alara's father then told Rick, "That's your father's sword. He put a spell on it so that only his bloodline can grab it. He used that sword through many battles and through a lot of strife. It was his most prized possession. It does me good to see it again after so many years."

The katana was white with greed groves and a red guard. Rick quickly put his hand on the grip and grabbed it and lifted it off the pedestal. He then examined the sword before getting another headache and drifting off into another vision. This time he saw his father taking the sword from the pedestal. He then saw his mother walk in with Alara's mother and high fived them. This gave him the knowledge that it probably happened before any of them were mates. He then saw his father push a piece of a wall in and something opening, he then returned to the present.

Alara's father then placed his hand on Rick's shoulder, "I take it you're having visions?"

Rick nodded, "That happens to us psychics when someone leaves us a message somewhere that's specifies for a certain person. You'll probably find more."

Rick then moved to the wall he saw his father push in and placed his hand on the same place and pushed forward. The section of the wall sank in and the wall next to him opened up to reveal a suit of armor.

"Armor?"

"Your father's armor. He wore that when he was the Warlord. It didn't just serve to protect him or to show his own social status. It also had a few added gifts that I can't remember at the moment."

"I don't wear armor so I don't think I'll be wearing it any time soon."

"I had a feeling you'll say that. It's your decision but please take the sword with you, for your father's sake."

Rick then looked at the sword in his hands and nodded, "I will. I'll have another thing to remember my father by."

Rick and Alara's father then left the room and dragged Jean out with **Psychic**. They then returned to the living room where the rest of the gang was looking at a photo album and enjoying themselves. Rick then looked around and found a piano and sat down at it. He played a few keys and tuned the piano with **Psychic**. He then began to play and Alara motioned for everyone to be quiet. (Play **One Day Diary by Yiruma**)

When he finished he received a collective applause from everyone and stood up to go up the stairs. As he reached the stairs he could see visions of his parents walking up the stairs and Alara's parents leaving. He then followed his parents' images up the stairs and saw them holding hands and entering the room at the end of the hall.

"Well I know what room I'm not sleeping in."

He then looked around and saw two more bedrooms, a bathroom in the hall, and a study. He then opened the door to the room at the end of the hall, the one he dreaded opening because of the two images. He then opened the door and saw the two images on the bed making out and he closed the door again. He then looked up and said, "Why guys? Just...why? Why leave this memory here?" He then opened the door again and images were gone. When he stepped foot in the room he saw it was fairly large and had its own bathroom. It also had pictures of the family everywhere.

As he was looking around the room he saw his bags being thrown on the bed.

"What the hell? Jean! What are you doing?"

"The girls called dibs on the rooms downstairs so we have the rooms on the second floor. This place is mad huge. There's a garage in the back for the cars and a garden. The garden itself is gigantic and the garage fit all of our cars. Also, there's cable! Later bitches!" He then entered the room on the other end of the hall and Darts took the room in the center of the hall. Rick then closed the door and walked downstairs where Alara and her family, Daedalus, and Zant were waiting for him and talking to one another. When they saw Rick walked down the steps they began to quiet down.

Alara's mother then asked him, "So what have you decided?"

Rick looked around one more time and sighed, "I'll stay." Alara the gave a small shriek. "But only because of all the sentimental value this whole place has for me. Also, because I have a family and I want to get to know them. And because I want to learn about this place and my parents a little more." Alara's parents then smiled at him and Alara was happy that he was going to stick around for a little while longer even if it was only temporary. "I don't think I'll stay here forever but I'll just see how things go for me during my stay here. Then I'll decide if I'll permanently live here."

"Very well. So the house is your's for now and forever. Here's the key. I'm so happy that I'm able to see you after such a long time and that you're staying here for a while. Also, your parents wanted you to live in this house alone or with your sister. The only time your parents wanted you to have other people living here is only if they are staying temporarily or paying rent, or the other person is your mate. Sorry but your father had way too many secrets and valuables here. Many of these things mean so much for us."

"Oh these guys aren't staying forever. They have homes too outside of Sinnoh."

"Very well." She then handed him the keys to the house. "Enjoy your house. Remember the feast will begin at sunset."

"Very well. I'll get myself ready and see you guys there."

Alara then told him, "Promise me that you'll go. This is as much for you as it is for me."

"I promise. Now hurry on to your house, you probably want to go there after some time away."

"I actually live only about three blocks away. Hell, you can see my house from here."

"Oh neat, alright. Bye guys! I'll see you all at sunset. I promise!"

Rick then let them out and closed the door behind him and leaned on it. "My home. Well at least it's something. I might like this place...if only my parents didn't leave all the images here. I guess I'll just keep exploring this place a little more."

Rick then walked down a hallway at the center of the house and saw four more rooms and assumed that the girls were there. He then went out the backdoor and walked onto a large balcony with a table and a variety of plants. There was an awning covering the balcony and he found a switch that retracted the awning and he could now see the sky. He then walked to the railing of the balcony and saw a large garden with a path, it kinda looked like a park but smaller. He then saw the garage that Jean had told him about and saw the cars inside. He then moved to the other side of the balcony and saw a pool. It was fairly large but nothing too special about it that he could see.

*How much money did my parents have? Well, my dad mainly since this was his house at first.*

Rick then looked to his side and saw another balcony coming from his parents' room. He then walked back into the house and saw door that went to the basement. He walked down the stairs and saw what looked like a theater with a giant screen and seats. All this surprised Rick, he was not anticipating all of this but seemed to like it all. He knew that his parents didn't put the technology in the house because it was all modern and his parents left the house over two decades ago. So he just concluded that Alara's parents had the technology added to the house for him.

Rick walked back up the stairs and saw Seras in the kitchen, another place he hasn't check out yet. He walked into the room and saw another vision of his parents waltzing in the center of the dining room. He chuckled and turned to Seras who was grabbing a bit to eat from the fridge. The kitchen had a number of lights, a large fridge, a sink, many other kitchen appliances, and a kitchen island.

"You know, were eating at a feast tonight. No need to indulge yourself in the fridge."

Seras then looked at him, "I know but I'm way too hungry. I just wanted a small snack."

Rick then chuckled, "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up an hour before sunset."

"Will do! You need to collect your thoughts."

Rick then nodded and walked back to his room. He then laid down on the bed and tried to sleep, but he then felt something in the room and shot himself up from the pillow until he sat up. In front of him was the image of a Ralts, a very young one staring at him. Rick was surprised at the sight of the Ralts and immediately recognized it.

"Oh great now there's a memory of me in here. Thanks mom, thanks dad."

His image however seemed different because it seemed conscious of his presence and wobbled towards Rick and pointed to his chest spike.

"Don't worry kid. In four years you'll get two horns, and after fifteen years you'll lose them and get a chest spike."

His image then moved forward until he touched the spike. Rick was surprised by the fact that he could feel him touching the spike, even if the spike was the most sensitive part of his upper body. As his image touched the spike it began to fade until it disappeared completely. Rick then looked around and saw nothing in the room.

"What the hell was that?"

He then continued to look around the room for another image but couldn't see anything. So he gave up and laid back down and drifted off to a much needed sleep.

[Three hours later]

Seras shook Rick awake and he grumbled and tried to go back to sleep.

"Rick wake up! You asked me to do this." Rick didn't comply and Seras was beginning to get annoyed. "Don't make me hit you with **Swift**."

Rick then shot himself up, "You wouldn't dare."

Jean then entered the room taking out a star from his back, "Oh yes she would. Ow!" He then left the room while taking more stars off his body.

Seras had a sly smile on her face and Rick got off the bed in a hurry, "I'm awake, I'm awake! Just go get ready yourself."

Rick then went to the bathroom to freshen up before heading back to the Chief's Court. Everyone hated being hit by Seras's **Swift** because it hurt like hell and because the stars would stab themselves in their skin but never leave any evidence of it, she also never misses with it so that was bad for the guys. He then took a quick shower to clean himself off after his fights earlier in the day.

After a little while Rick came out of the bathroom and headed to the garage and found everyone waiting for him in their cars. Rick then got in his car and took off with the others following. He didn't want to go but he knew that he had to do it regardless.

"Let's get this over with already. The sooner the better."

Wow this took me many hours of free time and brainstorming but it's done and we got one major plot point out of the way. Anyways, I'll see you guys next week with the following chapter. Peach out and review please. Bye!


	18. Chapter 18: Welcome Home

Well I've been having a great week and thought that I should write the next chapter. So here it is and it's my shortest chapter in the last four chapters but I like it so far. So we know that Rick knows more about his past and now he has to celebrate with Alara and her family. So enjoy guys and time for the viewing standings: 1st) USA, 2nd) UK, 3rd) Canada (what happened?), 4th) Sweden, 5th) The Philippines. Keep the war going UK and Canada, it's actually getting to be pretty entertaining on my part.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and his friends arrived at the Chief's Court and quickly got out of the cars and walked towards the doors. The guards saluted Rick and opened the door for him and the group, which Rick felt kinda odd for getting since he wasn't used to it. As Rick walked in he could see Alara's mother speaking to a Gardevoir that had a tray of food. The woman left and Alara's mother looked at Rick and quickly walked up to him and hugged him tight, being careful about they're chest spikes.

"I'm glad you made it Aeru."

"I'm still not used to having people call me by my real name."

"Get used to it because me, my mate, and your family are not going to call you anything else. That's what we know you as and what we'll call you forever."

"Noted but you can always call me by Rick. It's what I've been called for the last twelve years."

"And the other ten?"

"...Aeruthael." He said almost grumbling.

"So your argument is invalid with me. Anyways, wait here for a little bit. Alara will come over and take you to the celebration grounds shortly. I'll be seeing you later."

"Very well then goodbye."

They sat down for a while to talk as they waited for Alara to arrive and get them. Rick was examining the Chief's Court and took into consideration how decorated it was with the balconies, chandeliers, and expensive materials. Obviously to him it had to be since it was suppose to be a place of politics and order, and Alara's father seemed to be a very good leader in the fact that everyone seems to like him in the Sanctuary. Serenity then sat down next to him.

"So Rick, how has your visit been so far?"

Rick looked down at her and then looked down, "It's been fine. I still need to learn to accept a few things, but all in all it's been a...memorable experience."

"I want to see your family. I wonder how they're like."

"Me too. Also, we haven't trained in about a week. I'll need to find some time to train you."

"Well, you're in no rush. Just tell me when you want to train and I'll be ready." Rick nodded and looked at the others who were staring at him. "Can I help you guys?"

Seras then said, "Oh no, we were just listening in. Just to say, I would also love to meet your blood relatives. I'm curious on how they will be like and if they'll actually be nice."

"That's one of the main reasons why I'm here right now. I want to meet them but I'm also scared about meeting them."

Seras then cocked her head, "Why are you scared about meeting them? They're your family."

Rick sighed, "I've never seen them before or I just can't remember them. I wonder if I'll come out as a complete stranger to them or if they'll accept me."

"Hey don't think like that. They're your family and if we could accept you right off the bat then what makes you think that they'll not accept you. You've been gone for twenty one years, they must be anxious to have you back in their family."

A voice suddenly interrupted, "Indeed they are. They are extremely excited to see you Rick. You aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents." It was Alara who was walking down a flight of stairs wearing a elegant white dress and make up.

"I have grandparents now?"

"Yep, you're mother's father and mother are still alive and your father's mother is still alive. They're actually getting seated right now in the special guests area."

"Are they now?"

She then walked over to him and put a necklace on him, Rick didn't ask what it was for and just let her put it on him.

"Nervous?"

Rick took a deep breath and let it out, "Excited yet a little scared."

"Don't be. You're family is very well respected and well liked. They're amazing people and they're eagerly waiting to see you. Also, me and you are walking out together when my father calls us out."

"What is this? I thought it was just a feast not a ball."

"You'll be surprised on how my parents do these events. We always give our females these events and to members of the Sanctuary who return after some time. This community is really close knit and we take care of one another despite our enormous size."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that. I see so many members of our species. How do you house all of them in this place. I don't see that many houses here."

"Oh this is only the top level of the Sanctuary. There are some underground levels...about 20. Each place is distinct. There's an opening to the underground near my house. It's also not what you'll expect in the sense that it doesn't seem like you're living underground. Our powers have created this ecosystem that looks like you're living on the outside by creating a sky underground. Like I said, each level, or den as they are called here, is distinct and has it's own landmarks."

"So how is the entire community coming to this event?"

"They're not. It's going to be broadcasted in each den and only the members of this den will join us here along with a few invited guests. Your family is one of these. Your mother's family lives in the seventh den and your father's in the third. Your parents however lived up here in the first den, otherwise known as the Silver den."

"Damn that's a lot of people. I thought this place wasn't going to be this big."

"Oh no, this is the oldest pokemon community in the world. Members of our species usually make pilgrimages here to learn about their history. This place is as much of a relic as the monuments and buildings here. Also, thanks to human aid, we've grown substantially and this place is protected by human laws. Hell, most humans can't even find this place and no map has it. Our species just has like a built in compass to the location of this place. I can't explain it too well, I'm still trying to figure it out myself."

"I guess that's as good as any information I'm going to get today. Anyways, now what do we do?"

"Well your friends have to go and take their seats in the VIP area. We're about to start."

With that everyone was escorted by maids and butlers to the area out back where they were shocked at the sheer numbers of Ralts, Kirlias, Gardevoirs, and Gallades. They then felt a million eyes on them, not just from the one there but from all the other members of their species watching in the other dens.

Jean then told Dartz, "I wonder how Rick will take all of this. I feel like everyone is inspecting us."

"Me too. Don't worry, Rick will be fine. It's his and Alara's homecoming. Just let them have their fun but be ready for anything."

"Noted!"

While the others were sitting down, Alara's parents sat down in two throne situated outside on a small stage. Rick was staring outside of a window that was facing outside and he was beginning to get nervous. He didn't want to do this but he knew that he had to do it to meet his family. He then felt something tug at his arm and saw Alara wrap her arm around his.

"Ready?"

"No and yes."

"Choose one. Yes or no?"

Rick then took a deep breath again, "Alright, I'm ready." He then felt her put her head on his shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"I can sense your emotions and they somehow affect me. I'm feeling you anxiousness and your nervousness and I just want to calm you down."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense. So when do we go out to this feast?"

"When we're announced. I know, I hate this process too. Waiting and waiting for such a long time just to go sit down, but I'm used to it."

Outside Alara's father stood up and began to speak to everyone present at the feast.

"Thank you all for coming. Now, I'm sure we all know why we're here tonight. We're here to welcome back two very special people in our community. I'm sure we all know my daughter Alara, the oldest of my children. And by children I mean my only biological daughter and my adopted daughter." He then looked to his right and looked at Amber who was sitting at a chair at the end of the stage. She smiled and waved her hand at the audience. "Anyways, she went on her Rite of Passage, as many twenty one year-old members of our community do. She has returned with two gifts for out wonderful Sanctuary. One was a large cache of Dawn Stones and other precious stones that will prove to be useful and the other was by pure accident. As she was in Mt. Coronet, during her journey, she ran into a certain individual whom she brought back with her."

He then walked off the stage and to the middle of the isle and looked at Rick's friends and smiled. He then looked at, who Rick's friends suspected of being Rick's family. They then looked at one another and waited for the chief to finish his speech.

"I'm sure some of us remember Warlord Xeron and his mate Lady Aldira. I'm sure some of us remember when we received news of their deaths. It was a sad day for all of us, especially for me and their families...That day I lost my best friends, their families lost two great relatives, and this community lost probably the most legendary Warlord and Lady we had." Alara's father stopped and looked at Daedalus and Zant who were looking at the ground in sadness. "However, they had a son named Aeruthael that did not die along with them. He did not share the same fate as his parents and his sister and he was forced to survive away from his own family. This happened fifteen years ago and they left our wonderful Sanctuary to the lands of the Hoenn region twenty one years ago. However, on a brighter note, this is a day of celebration. In fact, this is a time to rejoice for I'm happy to announce that the certain individual that saved my daughter at Mt. Coronet and brought her home was none other than Aeruthael. Today we were proud to receive both my daughter Alara and Aeruthael back to our Sanctuary with open arms. But why should I keep this joy to myself, for our community's favorite daughter and favorite son have returned, thank Arceus! So without further a do, let's all welcome back Alara and Aeruthael to our home."

Rick's friends and family and Alara's parents got up, waiting to receive them back home. Everyone else waited patiently.

In the building Alara and Rick gave a deep breath and waited for an attendant to open the door to the amphitheater.

"Well this is it Rick. Ready?"

"Yeah."

Then an attendant opened the door and motioned for them to come out. They slowly began to walk outside with Alara holding on tightly to Rick's arm and Rick breathing slowly. Once they were in view they were greeted by a storm of applause and whistles from the crowd. Rick could also feel like there was cheering coming from the other dens due to the vibrations on the ground. They then walked up the stage where they were hugged by Alara's parents and Alara's parents then pulled Rick aside and pointed him to a large group of people in the audience.

Alara's mother then told Rick, "Go ahead. Go to them, that's your family. You're mother's and your father's."

All of the sudden Zant and Daedalus put their hands on Rick's shoulders. Zant then said, "Don't worry my lady. Me and Daedalus will take our nephew to the rest of his kin." Rick then stared at Zant. "I forgot to tell you. Your mother was my older sister and that means that you're my nephew."

When Rick heard that he kinda felt bad for beating the crap out of both of them but he persevered and walked towards the large group of people with Zant and Daedalus walking behind him. Rick then stopped in front of the group when he made eye contact with an older Gallade and two older Gardevoirs who were sitting down. Soon the Gallade and Gardevoirs opened their arms and Zant grabbed his shoulder and nodded for him to go to them. Rick then walked to them and knelt down to their level and hugged them and they returned the hug. He was then hugged by the rest of the group who were all crying and laughing.

Rick didn't know what to think at the moment, it was so alien to him and he didn't know how to react. He was then let go and saw the faces of his grandparents and saw tears on them.

One of the Gardevoirs then told him as she held his head in her arms, "You're the spitting image of your father, you know that? You look just like him when he was your age."

"I'm guessing you're my father's mother and these two are my mother's parents...my grandparents."

"Yes child."

Rick immediately threw himself into their arms and began to cry on them. It was weird for him, it was the first time in fifteen years since he's been around his own blood family, but he felt happy. Jean and the others were watching with wide smiles, they were happy that Rick had his real family back in his life. Rick then looked at them and motioned at them to come over, which they did reluctantly. When they got closer Rick pulled them in with Psychic and pulled their heads into a hug and turned to his family.

"Guys these are my brothers and my sisters. Please accept them into your family as you have accepted me."

His family then looked at one another and then back at the group and then says collectively, "Okay!"

"That was actually easier than I expected. You guys love guests don't you?"

They then gave a collective, "Yes."

"Spectacular! Anyways, I have to go take my seat. I'll get to know you guys in a little bit during the party. Good bye!"

Rick then walked back to the stage and sat in between Alara and her mother, waiting for her father to continue with the ceremony. Her father then stood and gave a hearty laugh.

"Well let's not just sit here with our stomachs rumbling. Dig in everyone! Be merry!"

After he said that, all the guests rushed to their own tables and grabbed their food. There was a large buffet before them and Seras took the liberty of looking at Jean, who was nearly drooling over the food. He then grabbed a massive plate of food and sat down at the table where Rick's family was, followed by the rest. Rick's family then got a surprise when they saw how large his plate was but that just made them laugh at the newcomers and join them in their good time like if they were family.

Rick was sitting with Alara and her family at a table across from his family and his friends. He ate slowly while Alara was indulging in the meal. Alara then looked at him and saw him fiddling with the food but not eating it. He was staring at his "entire" family and smiling.

"I can sense that you're either really happy or really unsure of what to do, or you just like to poke at everything with a fork that's on your plate."

Rick then seemed to have snapped back to reality and looked at her as she drank from her cup, "Huh? Oh I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Well, all this has been so much for me. Too many things in such a small time."

"You should be happy Aeru."

A vein then appeared on his head, "Don't call me that. Only my family can call me that. Jean, Seras, and Dartz don't even call me that and I've told them before."

She then sighed, "Well I've known you longer and that's the name I first knew you by. So it's natural that I call you by that. I'll stop if you want."

"Please do. I'm sorry but I just don't like my name."

"I like it. I see nothing wrong with it. It rightfully describes you."

"You think?"

"Definitely! You saved me about three times and you seem to care about your friends very much...yet you don't hesitate to drop the hurt on Jean."

"We play around like that. When I was a Kirlia, he used to hit me with a **Flamethrower** for everything. Now I have enough strength to hit him back. I don't even need to do it anymore, Dartz and Seras do it for me now."

She laughed and Rick then joined her. Alara's father then looked at the two laughing and enjoying each other's company and leaned towards his mate.

"My they sure struck a friendship rather quickly."

Alara's mother then looked at him with an eyebrow arched, "What do you mean by that? They were friends since Alara was born, this isn't new."

"You know what I mean." He said dryly. "Obviously they don't remember those days and met each other again by chance a little over a week ago. And knowing Alara's attitude towards other males, this is a miracle that he still has all his teeth."

"I know! He's the first male that she actually speaks highly of...you don't think?"

"Nah! Not yet...unless..."

Alara's mother stared at him with a curious look and whispered to him, "You have an evil little plan don't you?" He gave a fiendish smile. "It crazy...but unfortunately for us both, I like crazy. I want in on this, what's the plan?"

"I have no idea." Alara's mother almost faceplanted but stopped herself so she didn't cause a scene. "Don't worry, I'll think of it soon. Let's just enjoy our evening."

Amber seemed to have heard her parents and gave a small giggle that got their attention.

Alara's mother then said, "Uh oh! Caught!"

Alara's father then asked her mentally, _"Amber please keep this to yourself."_

_ "Oh don't worry. I want in too. But I better warn you, Rick is very smart. He might find you guys out in a second. You need to make all this seem completely coincidental or he'll sniff out the rat in the plan."_

_ "Is he that smart?"_

_ "Apparently you weren't paying attention to him earlier. Yes, he can make our scholars look like school children. He's dumbfounded me many times in the short time I've known him. I never thought someone could be this smart, strategic, and powerful all in the same entity."_

_ "Well he has his father's strength and combat prowess, and his mother's intelligence and mental power. It's to be expected, I guess."_

_ "Were you guys ever like those two?"_

Alara's mother then answered, _"Yes."_

Alara's father then said, _"No."_

They then looked at each other with veins on their heads.

_"What do you mean by "no"? Of course we were."_

_ "No we weren't. Xeron and Aldira were like them, we were nothing like that."_

_ "We were best friends! We acted alike. Me and Aldira were like sisters like you and Xeron were like brothers. We all acted alike and Alara acts like me and Rick has Aldira's charm and Xeron's prowess. Go figure!"_

They then growled at each other mentally and glared at each other from the corner of their eyes, trying not to draw attention to themselves. They then looked back at Amber when they heard her laugh while attempting to cover her mouth.

_"Oh Arceus! Mom's right!"_

Alara's mother then stuck he tongue out at her mate and poked the area in between his eyes with her index finger, _"Ha! Suck it!"_

_ "You two act exactly like them. So I guess mom was right about it. You guys bicker over every little thing...but unlike them you guys don't just talk about it or go out on outings. All you guys do is have make up sex."_

_ "AMBER!"_ They yelled in unison.

_ "Oh please, don't tell me you guys though you were sneaky about it. Dad can't hide that excited look on his face and mom, you moan louder than a truck backfiring. It's too easy. I may not be able to sense emotions like you guys but I can definitely tell."_

Her parents then blushed bright red and stared at her before her mother sat back straight and went back to eating with a deep red blush. Her father however was still glaring at her.

_"You are my biggest cockblock ever!"_

_ "Love you too dad. Go back to your meal and you and mom will talk over this later. Have fun getting anything anymore."_ She said with a giggle and went back to her food.

Alara and Rick were looking at the silent argument and looked at each other and back at her parents.

"Hey Alara, what just happened?"

"Hell if I know. I wan't reading their minds but it had to be something embarrassing for them to be blushing and glaring at Amber like that. Just go back to your food, I think we don't want to know."

"Agreed."

They then went back to their meal and soon the party really began. Alara left the table to dance with her father and Rick stayed sitting and a Kirlia walked up to him from his family's table. Rick then looked at her and smiled.

"Hey little one."

"Hi cousin Aeru."

"Well I guess that clears up on how we're related." He then picked her up and sat her on his lap. "So what's your name?"

"Maiyu. I'm your aunt Celenia's youngest daughter."

"I'm still getting used to the names. My aunt Celenia is whose sister?"

"Your dad's."

"Thanks for clearing all this up. So what can I do for you Maiyu?"

She then hugged him, "I just wanted to come meet you. I was only curious."

"It's okay, I need to meet my relatives anyways. Where do you live Maiyu?"

"Here in the Silver Den. My mamma tells me that we only live a few blocks away from you."

"Maybe I'll visit you guys some time."

She then smiled, "I'd like that. I want to get to know you."

He then chuckled and rubbed her head, "Me too Maiyu. I think you should go back to your mom now."

"No need she's coming over."

Rick then looked up to see a shiny Gardevoir walking towards him and Maiyu. She was smiling at the two and it was obvious that it was Maiyu's mother by the way that Maiyu acted when she came closer.

"Maiyu there you are? Have you been behaving with your cousin?"

Maiyu nodded and Rick smiled and handed her over to her mother.

"She's been a dear. Didn't hesitate to meet me either, I like that about her already. So I'm guessing that you're my aunt. Can I get your name and how was life with my father?"

She smiled at Rick and rested Maiyu in the crook of her arm and sat down on a nearby chair and began to rock her to sleep.

"Well I'm the middle child of five children, my name is Celenia and I'm the eldest female. Your father and Daedalus were the only males, with Dae being the oldest of all of us and your father being the second. I'm the third, followed by my little sisters Elena and Crystal. We were all close especially Dae and Xeron, but I was always with my brothers. Your dad was probably the most influential of the bunch, I was the smart one, Dae was the tough on, Helena was the rebel, and Crystal was the goofball." She laughed slightly at the last comment.

"Are they here?"

"Yep." She then pointed to a Gardevoir with black and green hair. "That's Helena." She then pointed to a Gardevoir with wild curly hair. "That's Crystal. They haven't changed at all since we were kids but they're moms now so they kinda slowed down. But they're the same regardless, and I love them for that."

"And my father?"

She then stopped rocking Maiyu who was already asleep in her arms and thought, "Well he was very reclusive some times but he would show himself when needed. He would usually only spring to life when your mother was around. He was best friends with Saifer but that was because they were polar opposites and he felt that he could rely on Saifer for anything he couldn't do."

"Kinda like me and Jean. I'm the serious, level headed one and Jean is the goofy, carefree one."

"Same for your father and Saifer. Then there was the issue about your mother. Growing up Xeron would usually be found in the training halls, with Saifer, Aldira, Dae, and Keera, or he would be in his room studying. He used to never leave anything unattended or unknown in his case. That helped him become the Warlord since he knew more battle tactics than Dae and was a more skilled fighter. Also, I remember how he would be with your mother growing up. I've never seen two people argue and then make up so much as those two, it was unbelievable. They would fight for the stupidest of reasons and in the end they would be the best of friends again."

"Preaching to the choir on that one."

She then arched an eyebrow, "Oh? So this happens to you too?" Rick nodded. "With whom?"

"Would you believe me if I say that it's Alara? We can fight about any subject but never go to bed angry at one another...but she would start all of the arguments."

"Oh dear your father and mother were the same. Let me guess, you played music to calm her down at times?"

"That's too good a guess. Care to explain?"

She then giggled, "Well your father would play his guitar to calm your mother's rage when they were around your age. He would usually say that music soothes the savage beast."

Rick then smiled, "I have to use that one next time I calm Alara down."

His aunt then laughed, "She might hit you."

"Trust me. I can take her hits. How old were my parents when they got together?"

"Well your father and mother became mates when your father was 22 and your mother 21."

"So he was my age. Interesting."

"I guess if you see it that way. So how have you been for these years?"

"I've been surviving. Can't say everything has been great. I can't make a liar of myself now. But I've been fine. Staying alive." They both laughed quietly, trying not to wake up Maiyu who was sleeping peacefully. Rick then looked at the sleeping Maiyu. "How old is she?"

"She's four, about to be five in two weeks. She's my youngest child and the only Kirlia in my house."

"You have more kids?"

"Yep. My eldest is my daughter Ruby and then my son Lang. Ruby no longer lives in my house and has a mate and a child on the way. Lang is a soldier...actually he's right behind you with the other guards." Rick then looked and saw five guards around the perimeter of the door to the Chief's Court.

"Which one?"

"The one holding the spear." Rick then noticed him and saw that he was no older than he was, maybe even younger.

"How old is he?"

"He's 19 and Ruby is 25. Ruby is right next to your grandmother...my mother, she's the pregnant one."

Rick looked over to his family and quickly found her within crowd of his family. "How far along is she?"

"She's due next month. I can't wait to meet my granddaughter."

"I bet you are. Anyways, I'm pretty tired so I'll be heading home. I'll go visit you guys tomorrow. Tell the rest of the family to come to my house...or your brother's house tomorrow so we can socialize some more."

"Will do. Goodbye Aeru!"

"Bye aunt Celenia."

Rick then sent his friends, including Alara, a mental note that he was going home to sleep and they understood and let him. Rick then walked through the Chief's Court and to his car. He then heard Alara behind him and turned around to see her walking towards him.

"What's up Alara?"

"You going home?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Oh nothing I'm leaving too but I was brought here by my parents. My car's at home so, can you take me home? Amber is too busy partying to join me and I already told my parents."

"Sure. Get in." He then opened the door for her and helped her in before going to his side and driving off. "So how was your night?"

"It was good. I don't party too much though, it's just not my thing."

"Me neither. I'd rather just go, socialize, and then go home. Don't you think that the two central characters of the party are the first to leave is kinda odd?"

"Maybe a little but we're tired and we need to sleep a bit. It's one in the morning and we haven't slowed down all day and you got into a huge fight."

"I guess your right. So how's it like being back home?"

"Heavenly if I actually got to rest in my own house. I got home today and unpacked all my things and then my parents sent for me and Amber so we could get ready for the banquet. But I'm happy to be back and I'm happy to finally being able to sleep in my own bed and be in my own house. It's also good being with my parents again...even though they are pretty weird themselves."

"We're weird as hell ourselves and no one has said anything."

"That's because we have a reason to be weird. We're interesting people."

"That is so true and I'm still trying to figure you out. I'm understanding you little by little. I'll have more time to understand you now since we now live in the same town."

"Yeah, for now...maybe more."

"I hope you'll stay Aeru."

"What did I tell you earlier today?"

"And what did I tell you? Oh well I'll stop. Anyways, my house is right there on the left."

Rick then turned at the corner and found her house and parked his car and helped her out of his car. "Here we are. Have a good night Alara. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Will do. Actually, did you eat any dessert at the party?"

"Nope. I wanted to leave and go home."

"Want to come in? I have some cheesecake that I made earlier today. Want some?"

Rick then thought about it. "Sure, I have nothing better to do. I'm also curious on how your house is like."

"Oh it's only two floors with two bedrooms, four bathrooms, an attic, a basement, a back yard, a porch, a living room, and a kitchen. Nothing too extravagant."

"I'll be the judge of that."

He then entered the house with Alara and looked around the house, surprised to that she was telling the truth about it. It was simple even for Alara's standards, or so he thought. He then heard Alara call from the kitchen.

"How much do you want?"

"As much as you think is appropriate. I don't really mind."

He then continued to tour the first floor of the house until Alara called him into the kitchen.

"Rick, do you want your cake or not?"

"I'm going, I'm going."

He then entered the kitchen and saw Alara sitting down at a table that was in the dining room eating some of the cheesecake. Rick then joined her and sat down on a chair near her where she put his piece of cake.

"Thanks Alara. It's been quite the day."

"We spoke about this already." She said with a small laugh.

"Well we did. So what do you want to talk about now?"

She then stopped and thought, "Well we need to get to know each other a bit more. So tell me about your time in Team Rocket."

"Not much I can say there. I was trained and used for many forms of destruction and I hated it every minute. I was kinda happy when I escaped and killed all those Rockets. I know that sounds wrong but it was the only way...everyone in that facility was planning to take over Hoenn. So I needed to take my only shot out of there."

"Take over Hoenn, how?"

"They developed new weapons in that facility...and by weapon I mean a super powerful Colossus that was in the works. I was there to be restrained and eventually killed because I was seen as obsolete."

"Did they do something to you?"

"In a way they made me stronger but they used me for the wrong reasons and it came back to bite them in the ass. I killed everyone, including the Colossus, and I set the facility to self destruct. You know the story from there."

Alara nodded and tried to change the subject, "I know you miss your family but would you trade your old life for the one you have now? Would you choose that life over your friends?"

"I actually prefer how I am. Mainly because Team Rocket might of still found me but also because I just love my friends too much and can't imagine not having them in my life. I wouldn't have it any other way and I like how things have been for me."

"Something still bothers you. Want to talk about it?"

Rick then stopped eating his cake and responded, "Well I've been thinking. Team Rocket is still after me. They've been doing this for twelve years and I've been trying to stop them. I think this is the only place I'm safe from them. However, they don't know that I evolved so I might not be in danger, but I can't take the chance."

"Looks like you're here for good then."

"For now. I'm still trying to see if I like it here."

"Oh you will. Want a tour tomorrow?"

"No. My family is going to be over my place tomorrow. You can come if you want."

"Alright, I'll stop by tomorrow. So what are your plans so far?"

"Well getting to know my family and seeing if I can start a life here. It'll come together eventually."

"You know that my parents are going to have you around all the time now, right?"

"Yep. I can tell they're planning something but I'm still in the dark about it. Might as well wait to see what they want."

Alara then laughed, "With my experiences I know that's the best course of action."

Rick then laughed with her, "Well you know them best." After a while Rick finished his cake and got up to leave. "Well I have to go. Thanks for having me Alara." Rick then bowed his head slightly and waved goodbye to her. Alara then followed him to the door to see him out.

"I'm glad you had a good time. Will you come around again?"

"Yeah, maybe tomorrow. Bye and goodnight!"

"Bye Rick!"

Rick then got into his car and waved goodbye before leaving. Alara then waved back and closed the door and went to bed.

When Rick got home he quickly put his car in the garage and walked to the front door and went inside. He then put the ceremonial necklace on a coat hanger and walked to his room. Once he made it to the top of the stairs he saw his parent's images in his room dancing with each other. Rick just smiled and got into his bed to go to sleep. He then turned off the lights and the images disappeared.

"What? Are you guys memories or ghosts?" He then chuckled. "Goodnight guys."

Rick then laid his head down and drifted off to a deep sleep.

Not as action packed as the last chapter. It was more of an informational chapter. Oh well I hope you guys enjoyed it and please keep sending me your reviews, suggestions, and questions. Peace!


	19. Chapter 19: Familiar Allies and Enemies

Here's Chapter 19. This one took me more time than it should. First my parents kept taking my laptop for stupid reasons and for extremely extended periods of time, then they kept calling me while I was trying to write. Secondly, I had to rewrite it twice because I was not satisfied on how it came out both times. Oh well I got it done for you guys, in keeping with my usual two chapters a week standard. The viewing ranks are still the same so US is winning and UK is winning the UK vs Canada viewing war. Well enjoy guys, please keep reviewing and sending me your questions and requests.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

The sun was beginning to rise and shine brightly over the Sanctuary and the light was beginning to enter Alara's room and prompted her too wake up and stretch. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and proceeded to go to the bathroom to freshen up and prepare for her day. When she finished she checked her clock and saw it was 8 in the morning and checked on the still asleep Amber. She then left her house and went walking to Rick's house. As she got closer she could catch the faint smell of smoke coming from the house.

When she smelled the smoke she immediately used **Teleport** to get to the door, she then used her secret key to the house and opened the door. When she opened it she saw Jean in the kitchen cooking and he then looked at her.

"Hey little lady, how have you been? Want some breakfast? You have not lived until you have tasted my breakfast burritos."

Alara nearly yelled at him, "Jean last time I checked, you don't burn burritos." She then picked the food up with **Psychic** and placed the pan in the sink and turned on the faucet.

Jean sweatdropped, "That was so uncalled for."

"You're letting the house get filled in with smoke. I know you're a fire type but think of everyone else." She then used **Psychic** to open the windows.

"Looks like I better wake Seras so she can cook breakfast."

"Yeah you do that. Actually, just let her sleep. It's still early in the morning. Is Rick still asleep?"

"No. He's in the sparring grounds behind the garden training with Serenity."

"Thanks, I'll see you later and I'll be eating breakfast here today. So save me a plate."

"Will do, bye Alara."

"Bye Jean."

Alara then left through the backdoor and walked through the garden and then to the supposed sparring grounds where she saw Rick and Serenity duke it out. She then sat down on a stump that was on top of the hill looking down at the sparring grounds.

[At the Sparring Grounds]

Rick was dodging Serenity's attacks and she was using her newly mastered moves on him. She brought one of her paws up and a purple aura enveloped it and she threw it to the ground and a large shadow lunged itself towards Rick who jumped out of the way.

"Good, you're getting the hang of **Shadow Claw**. Better try another tactic since I need to be on the ground to get hit by it."

She nodded and fired a wave of fire at him and he just moved slightly to dodge it and fired a **Psycho Cut** at Serenity who disappeared into thin air. Rick then smiled and looked behind himself and saw her hit him with a **Flamethrower**.

"Ha! Got you!"

She then heard a voice behind her, "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Good try though." Serenity then turned her head to look at Rick who was preparing an **X-Scissors** and she immediately disappeared to dodge the attack. "Nice! You've really got the accelerated speed down slightly. Still slower than my movement since I can still see your movements and you're tiring. If you went through what I went through, you would do it with little to no fatigue. Jean and the others can move like me too and you might be able to do it really soon if everything goes right."

Serenity nodded and sat down to take a break. Just then they both heard clapping from a hill. They looked and saw Alara sitting on the stump applauding their training.

"That was awesome guys. Serenity really did get stronger, faster, and she learned more moves."

"She didn't just learn that. Show her Serenity, hit the practice dummy."

Serenity then nodded and stared at the practice dummy and then fired a **Psycho Cut** at it, slicing it in half. Rick was looking at her and smiled and Alara just had her mouth wide open.

"She learned how to fire her **Psycho Cut**?"

"Not just **Psycho Cut**, but her **Night Slash** as well. She learned **X-Scissors**, **Dark Pulse**, **Flamethrower**, **Shadow Claw**, and **Zen Headbutt**. She learns super quickly and I'm proud of her."

Serenity then got his attention, "Umm actually I know one more move that I didn't tell you about."

"What move?"

Her horn then began to glow white and she lunged at Rick who quickly dodged it and she hit a tree and it split in half.

"Damn your fast!"

"Oh so you learned **Mega Horn**. That's two bug attacks, one ghost attack, two dark attacks, one fire attack, one water attack, one normal attack, and two psychic attacks. Anything else I don't about?"

"I know **Ice Beam** and **Faint Attack**. I kinda pushed myself to get stronger so I trained myself a little until I learned a large cache of attacks."

"You're an Absol. Your species knows more attacks than any other known pokemon. So you're a walking weapon." Serenity then laughed slightly. Rick then looked back at Alara, "Which brings me to you now. How long have you been there?"

Alara then smiled, "I've been here for a few minutes. I just wanted to come see you guys."

"Well I say we've trained enough today. So let's head back to the house."

Both girls nodded and ran towards the house and Rick used **Teleport** to beat them there. He then opened the door for them and then went straight to his bathroom to shower and Serenity did the same.

Alara then went to the kitchen where she found Seras cooking breakfast and saw Jean reading a book. She was surprised to see Jean wearing glasses, she never saw him as the type to need reading glasses.

"Hi Seras!"

Seras then looked at her, "Hi Alara! Fancy seeing you here so early. You here for Rick?"

"No, just here to hang out with you guys and helping Rick get ready for his family. They're coming later on today." She then sniffed and was mesmerized by the smell of Seras's cooking. "Wow that smells divine! What are you cooking?"

"My famous omelettes and making Jean's burritos. He burned them to a crisp."

They then heard Jean, "Hey I'm a fire type. Give me a break!"

The girls then laughed and Alara walked into the living room and turned on the tv while Seras went back to her cooking. Jean then got up and walked towards Seras and wrapped his arms around her, catching her off guard.

"Well we're alone again."

She then smiled, "And I'm cooking. You want the food to burn again?"

Jean then chuckled, "It'll be fine, I'm not stopping you. I'm just showing you some affection."

"That your are. You're lucky my brother is still asleep."

"I know, he would bitch but I don't care. I get some time with you again."

She then giggled and felt him hold her tighter, "Hey let me cook and I'll make out with you later."

"Aww why not now?"

Seras then sighed and rolled her eyes before turning to face him, "Fine come here!" She then kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Suddenly a fire covered the pan and Seras disconnected from Jean and put it out, thankfully the fire didn't burn anything other than the omelette.

Jean was irritated over this, "Even the human's God is cockblocking me now! Now where were we?"

"No Jean, I need to tend to the food. Afterwards, yes. When I'm not busy, or you don't want to eat?"

Jean then mumbled, "I want to eat but you better keep that promise."

"I will. Just be patient and I'll reward you later." She said seductively.

His eyes then shot wide open and he chuckled, "It's worth waiting. How long until breakfast?"

She giggled, "About five minutes. Go get everyone."

"Yes ma'am!"

Seras then thought, *He'll do anything if you say something seductively.*

Jean quickly called Alara in the living room. Woke up Dartz and threw him in the bathroom.

"Get ready! Breakfast is on!"

He then got Serenity and Fang before he ran into Rick's room and banged on his bathroom's door.

"Rick breakfast is on! Get out!"

Rick then responded, "I'll come out when I'm good and ready!"

Jean then picked the lock and entered the bathroom to force Rick out. "Come on dude!"

Rick was mad and a little shocked, "Jean what the fuck man!? Get out of here! You're lucky I'm in pokemon form! Let go! I'm going to kick your ass!"

In the struggle glass could be heard shattering, crashes, hits, and then a loud punching sound and Jean flying out of the bathroom and hitting the wall. Rick then walked out of the bathroom with multiple veins and soaking wet while cracking his knuckles.

[In the dining room]

Dartz was listening to the multiple sounds coming from Rick's room and everyone else seemed to have also been listening to the sounds. Seras just facepalmed knowing why Jean was like this at the moment.

Dartz then said, "Well Jean's going to be in pain today. Also, 3...2...and a 1."

After he finished they all saw Jean falling down the stairs and landing hard on the floor. Rick then ran down the stairs and kneed Jean's face when he tried to get up.

"This is what happens when you do that shit! Now you know what NOT to do in the future!"

Jean then said weakly, "Got it...sorry."

"You are lucky I'm a psychic type and was able to fix everything. Damn it! Well I'm here and I'm dry because of the beat down I just gave Jean." He then calmed down and sat at the end of the table next to Alara while still glaring at Jean, who was crawling to his seat between Dartz and Seras. Fang and Serenity were sweatdropping over what just happened but refused to ask.

After the breakfast everything seemed to be in a calm atmosphere. Just then everyone heard what sounded like running outside and heading to the house. Then the door flew open and Amber came into the house looking for Alara.

"What the hell!? Why didn't you tell me we were having breakfast here today?"

Alara then responded, "I never wake you up and you're usually awake before I am. Also, don't worry, we saved you breakfast." She then took the food, said "hi" to everyone and sat down to eat.

Rick was confused, "Amber, how did you get inside my house?"

"Me and Alara have keys to this house. Our parents had us have them for safekeeping. I'm guessing that's how she got in here or you guys let her in."

Rick then looked at Jean, who was the only person who was awake at the time.

"Don't look at me, I didn't let her in."

Rick then looked at Alara with squinted eyes, "Explain yourself please."

She then too a deep breath and answered Rick, "Well, I was walking here from my house and when I got close I smelled smoke. So I quickly got to your door and opened it to see what was causing the smoke because I was afraid that your house was on fire. But it turns out that it was only Jean burning burritos."

"Okay that's excusable. Also, Jean you were burning burritos?"

Jean then sighed and refused to answer the question. Rick then sighed and got up and went to the living room followed by Alara and Serenity. Fang went outside to be in the garden for a while. Dartz then went to his room, leaving Jean and Seras alone in the dining room.

"Well Seras we're alone now...want to fulfill that promise?"

She then giggled, "Sure."

They then began to make out until one of the lit candles fell over because of their movements. The fire then grew bigger and Seras noticed and put it out.

Jean was irritated again, "Oh come on God! What did I do?...besides everything that was on that list that I told that one priest about...I'm cursed. I'm definitely curse. I'm amazed I haven't been struck by lightning on the balls." Just then he heard a rumbling and dove for cover. "Oh come on! I'm sorry! I repent! I repent!"

Seras then grabbed his hand, "Calm down. It's just Rick's family coming to visit...A lot of them to be exact."

Jean then looked outside of the window, "Wow and to think we ate with them last night and didn't think about their size. Now look at them."

Rick heard the rumbling and opened the door only to be greeted by a mob of his species that shared his blood in a way. Rick quickly let them all in and put them in the living room and dining room.

"Oh Arceus, what did I get myself into? Umm hi everybody!" He received a collective "Hi Aeru!". Rick was completely clueless on what to say. "Umm, welcome to my house. I'm really not used to speaking, so if anyone wants to break the ice then go right ahead?"

Alara then spoke up, "Um okay, how has your return been?"

"This is a reunion not an interview Alara."

One of his cousins then got up and said, "Hey cousin, we actually want to know how your visit has been. Come on tell us."

"Alright, well it's been..." Then there was a knock at the door and the door swung open to reveal Alara's parents, Rick's uncles, and his grandparents coming in.

Alara's father then said, "Sorry we're late. Did we miss anything?"

"No sir. You didn't, you're actually on time."

Alara then greeted her parents, "Hi mom, hi dad!"

Alara's mother then said, "Wow she's here already." She then looked at her mate and chuckled.

They all then sat down to hear Rick speak on and they all asked him questions and socialized for hours on end until it was late in the afternoon and Rick was actually enjoying himself. By the end of the day Rick was cracking jokes and relating to his relatives. The reunion turned into a party when Rick ordered hordes of food for his relatives. He was actually having a good time and so were his friends and he got to know his many relatives a little better and learned a lot of things about his parents.

After a while Alara's parents went over to sit with Rick in the living room while his family began to leave for their homes and he ordered a ride for his grandparents.

Alara's father then asked, "So Rick how has your stay been?"

"Well I've been great. Nothing bad has happened to me in the last five days. That's a good week for me.

Alara's father then responded with a small laugh, "I'm glad to hear that."

"What are your plans now sir?"

"Nothing really. I cleared my schedule for this and have nothing to do. It's five in the afternoon and I have nothing."

"Me neither. I've had nothing planned since..." He immediately stopped and could sense something. It was distant but he knew it was powerful.

"What's wrong?"

"There's something powerful...actually it's two things about fifty miles north of here. I think I know the beings that are giving off these readings."

Jean quickly ran towards Rick, "Dude, we got Rocket Projects. Two of them, fifty seven miles away and...crap it's them."

Alara then asked Rick, "Umm Rick, what's going on?"

"Don't worry about it but I probably have a fight on my hands. I'll be back later or I'm coming back in a coffin."

"What are you talking about? What's a Rocket Project?"

"I have no time to explain. I have to take care of this. You'll find out later but tell me, do you remember the Specters and the Colossus?"

"Yes, we have the Colossus right here." She said while pointing at Fang.

"Good now these things are like...one hundred of them...and they're smart and can talk. Actually they're kinda like me."

"How?"

"You'll find out."

Seras, Dartz, and Fang immediately came from the balcony.

Seras then spoke, "Rick I think you know what I'm sensing."

"Yeah."

Alara then asked, "How are you guys sensing this? I don't sense anything."

"Enough questions. Let's go guys!"

They then went out back and got into their cars, but before they could leave Alara, her family, and Rick's uncles got inside the cars with them.

"Alara, what are you doing?"

"I'm going with you. I need to see this for myself."

"Too dangerous, go home!"

"Make me!"

Rick then glared at her but didn't do anything but sigh and drove off. With the others following.

[30 minutes later, 57 miles north]

Rick got out of the car and was joined by his team, Fang, and Serenity. They then walked quietly and slowly peaked over a hill where they saw two pokemon with weapons talking to one another. One was a male Garchomp and the other was a female Zoroark.

Rick saw them and quickly whispered, "Ah Shit!"

They then heard the Zoroark talk, "Well this was a colossal waste of our time. Giovanni needs to know what missions are worth our time."

The Garchomp then replied to her, "Calm down, we're here looking for whoever killed that grunt. It was a pokemon and we could already tell that. It's a reconnaissance mission, but if we find the target we're allowed to attack. Those were our orders."

"Pisses me off though. We've been here for two days and have found nothing but the bodies of the grunt and his pokemon. Some great information Mewtwo gave us! It was useless, he couldn't even tell us who or what it was or where they went."

The Garchomp then sat down in a lotus position and breathed, "Peace child! We'll have our chance soon. You're so brash sometimes Epsilon."

A vein appeared on the Zoroark's head, "Shut it Beta! I don't care if you're the oldest, no one talks down to me."

He then sighed, "Whatever. I thought you might of matured by now. You're 27 and yet you're still childish in your own way. Grow up some time Epsilon."

Epsilon then lifted a scythe onto her shoulder and walked towards a tree and cut it in half along with five surrounding trees.

Rick then did something unprecedented in his friend's eyes. He got up and walked towards the two pokemon. Beta quickly noticed him and opened his eyes, he did not attack, seeing Rick as a normal Gallade walking about. Epsilon then noticed him and reappeared on the path in front of Rick. Rick then stopped and looked at the two pokemon.

"You there! Gallade, what business do you have here?"

Rick then smiled, "Oh just passing by. Seeing what's going on here. Apparently nothing special considering the fact that I see you here."

A vein appeared on Epsilon's head again, "What did you just say!?"

Beta only grunted which made Epsilon back down from attacking Rick.

"Calm down, I didn't come here to fight. Then again, I wouldn't be afraid of fighting you."

Epsilon laughed at him, "Not afraid!? You have no idea who you're messing with here, do you? I'm Rocket Project Epsilon and that's Rocket Project Beta over there. Two Team Rocket creations of the highest caliber. You should be terrified."

Rick chuckled, "You never scared me in the years I've known you?"

Beta then grunted again and stood up while Epsilon was confused, "Have we met?"

"Oh we've known each other for years. Never on good terms though. It was always hard getting through that thick skull of your's Lucrecia."

A large vein then appeared on her head, "How the hell do you know my real name!? Who are you?"

"Wow I haven't fought you in seven years and you completely forget about me. I worked side by side with you for three years and now I don't exist."

Epsilon and Beta's eyes then shot wide open and she then said, "Beta! It's the brat!"

"Nice to see you too Epsilon."

"Wow I knew that whoever caused that much destruction had to be powerful but I wasn't counting on you. I thought you were enjoying life with your trainer."

"He has been dead for five years now. I've been on my own since then...killing pieces of Team Rocket crap."

She then yelled at him, "Don't give me none of that! You're no different!" She then smiled and continued. "You're no different than me and Beta...Alpha!"

Alara then walked out of hiding and walked towards Rick who motioned for her to go back which she disobeyed. "What do they mean when they call you Alpha? Something you need to tell me?"

"Yes, it means go back to your parents and the others because it might turn ugly. I don't want you getting hurt. Beta there won't harm you but that Zoroark there is name Lucrecia but her codename is Rocket Project Epsilon."

Epsilon then laughed out loud, "So who's this? Your mate? Aww little Alpha really did grow up. The last time I saw you you were a little Kirlia and now look at you. I'm guessing you haven't told her everything about your past have you."

"I told her that I was in Team Rocket against my will and that much is the truth."

"Oh but you didn't tell her that they turned you into a superweapon called Rocket Project Alpha...the #1. Listen here girly! The one there that you call Rick is actually one of Team Rocket's greatest creations. A monster of great power but he was useless because he was not as savage as the others. I guess the fact that he resented Team Rocket fueled his insubordination but still he's a monster that could of killed you all if he had the guts to do it."

When Alara heard this she looked at Rick who tried to hide his face from her in shame. She then looked at Jean and the others, who went to join Rick. She then asked Seras, "Is this true about him?"

Seras nodded and told her, "Yes, he was a Rocket Project. A Rocket Project is a perfect Specter, one that did not face any of the negative effects of the genetic experimentation. He was the first one to be created and because of that we have these guys and Mewtwo. Rick was the catalyst that eventually led to all of this shit happening but now he works to correct everything and set it straight. Don't worry, he's still the Rick you know. Does his past really matter?"

"I guess not, but I should of known sooner."

Rick then spoke, "I admit, I should of told you and my family but I felt like I wouldn't have to reveal this while I was with you guys. I'll explain more about this later Alara."

Beta then spoke to Rick for the first time in that day, "Good to see you alive and well Alpha. Of course I wish it was in good terms. I'm surprised to see that you evolved, but at least your stronger."

"I'm happy to see you too Beta. You can burn in hell Epsilon. Oh yeah, Alara that's Beta he's one of the only Rocket Projects I'm actually somewhat of a friend to. He's very honorable and respectful and he's the oldest of the projects. That's Epsilon, otherwise known as the ball biting harpy bitch of the century...and that's putting it softly."

"Hey I heard that asshole!"

"Now ask me if I care. Now what are you guys planning to do? You can leave and we'll pretend like this never happened or we do this the hard way."

Epsilon then grinned, "Oh I've been waiting years to take you on again. But I want to test you out first. How long can you last before you crack under pressure...or under my illusions. I'll take all of you on alone."

Seras then told Rick, "I'll take on Epsilon."

Rick then grabbed her shoulder "No! She'll tear you to shreds if you take her on alone. She'll use her illusions on you and you'll be helpless. I'll take her on but I don't know how you'll fair against Beta." He then turned to Alara. "Go back to your parents, these guys are not normal pokemon. They are genetically enhanced to support Legendary DNA. I have no idea what they'll do to you but you, Fang, and Serenity are not strong enough to take them on."

Alara then asked him, "And you guys are?"

"Don't worry, this isn't our first tango with these guys. We'll be fine but they'll throw out Specters so be prepared for some actions. Go tell your parents of everything you've heard." He then sensed that she and Serenity were worried. "Don't worry girls, I'll be alright." Once he said that they noticed a bright red glowing "A" on his right shoulder. They then looked at the other two projects and saw a blue "B" on Beta's sternum and a purple "E" on Epsilon's cheek.

Alara then told Rick, "I'm guessing that those letters on your bodies give away who you are. How come I've never seen the "A" on your shoulder?"

"Because it only shows up when I'm around projects. I can control when it shows up to hide my identity though. It's the Greek letter for Alpha. Each Rocket Project has their letter branded onto their bodies all from Alpha to Omega."

Alara then thought for a second, "So there's twenty four of you guys?"

"Nope, twenty two. Poor Upsilon, Epsilon's older brother whom she murdered. Also, I no longer count myself among them, I'm their enemy."

"This is a lot to take in. How powerful are they? Is that the reason you beat Daedalus?"

"No, I never use my project powers. I'd rather win with my own strength. The last time I used my powers was when I escaped the facility and the last time I fought Epsilon. So needless to say I decimated the facility and made it out alive from my fight with her."

Alara then nodded and ran to her parents and Rick heard Specter capsules being dropped onto the ground. He then turned to see the Specters coming out of the ground and he then saw Epsilon throw a Colossus capsule a good distance away.

"We're going to have a little fun. You guys versus us and our little army."

Jean then told Epsilon, "Jokes on you! We're used to fighting these things."

"True but not when you're fighting two projects. You're in trouble. Okay, get 'em boys!"

With the command the Specters pounced and the team quickly turned human and took them on. Epsilon then looked towards Rick and saw Alara running. A devilish smile came on her face and she vanished and Rick reacted quickly and did the same, beating her to Alara. He then wrapped his arms around her and pulled Alara back, in time to miss the scythe attack from Epsilon.

"Damn, that was close."

Alara then held on to him when she saw Epsilon stare at her, "Thanks Rick...what is she?"

"A monster. A pure, black-hearted monster with no remorse or reason. I need to keep you safe and she's not going to let you get to safety, so stay behind me."

Epsilon then laughed again, "Aww look at you! Protecting your girl. How noble, but pointless."

Epsilon then began to glow and, to Rick's amazement, she turned human. She had long red hair in the same fashion as when she was a Zoroark. She had a black shirt with a red skirt and black jeans. She then looked at Rick and Alara and gave a menacing smile to intimidate them. Rick quickly tried to shield Alara and drew his blades.

"You're not going to protect her forever. But it's cute to watch you try to protect her." She then vanished and Rick quickly pulled Alara closer to him to dodge another attack. "Well you're quick on your feet Alpha. This is fun!"

(Battle Music: **United We Stand, Divided We Fall by Two Steps From Hell**)

She then disappeared again but Rick charged an **X-Scissors** and managed to hit her as she reappeared. She went flying and Rick took the opportunity go get into a more open space. He then tried to run Alara to a safe place but was cut off by Epsilon's scythe.

"You don't know when to stop, don't you Epsilon?"

"I have to entertain myself somehow. Also, that hurt you bastard! Now lets see how you fair against this."

She then charged an attack in her hand and Rick identified it as **Dark Pulse**. Rick then got in front of Alara and charged a **Signal Beam** to counter it. Epsilon then fired the black twister at Rick and he let the **Signal Beam** loose and the two beams connected and canceled each other out. Rick then saw another **Dark Pulse** being fired at them but he couldn't counter it fast enough and took the hit for Alara. He took it but with little damage.

Epsilon laughed, "Aww so cute. You took the hit for the girl. I think I like you better when you're not on the assault and taking the blows."

Alara was worried about Rick, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I've taken harder hits than this. You know this yourself but don't worry about me. I need to protect you from her. Just try to stay within my sight and safe okay, I can only do so much."

"Thanks...also, watch out!"

Rick then looked back at Epsilon and was barely able to block her scythe attack. He then pushed her scythe away and charged **X-Scissors** onto his blades and lunged forward and pushed her back. No matter what he did she just kept coming back and laughing more and more until Alara fired a **Signal Beam**, staggering Epsilon. Rick then took the opportunity and hit her with an **X-Scissors** combo, knocking the scythe away and forcing her to the ground.

"Thanks for the assist Alara."

"No problem, let's get out of here before she regains consciousness and attacks us again."

Out of nowhere Epsilon regained consciousness and kicked Rick away and glared down Alara before grabbing her by her neck and lifting her up with no difficulty.

"It's amazing that you actually managed to annoy me so quickly." Alara then began to flail to break free but with no avail. "What!? Running out of air? Stupid bitch, you brought this onto yourself. I'm guessing that you're surprised at my strength. Rocket Projects are extremely strong and durable, more than average pokemon."

Alara then began to black out until Rick returned and **Focus Punched** Epsilon to make her let go of Alara. He then caught Alara and put her down so she could get some air. Alara noticed his eyes were glowing red and he was growling and bearing, what looked to Alara like, fangs. He then began to choke out Epsilon until he was stopped by a **Dragon Pulse** from Beta, who was fighting Jean.

[Fight against Beta]

Jean had his hands full with the powerful Rocket Project. No matter what he did Beta outmatched him and he was forced to play the defensive. Not too long after Serenity came out of hiding to save him from a **Dragon Rush** by hitting Beta with an **Ice Beam**. Jean was surprised by her action but was happy she came at the moment she did.

"Thanks girly! I was in some trouble with that guy." He then looked on in astonishment when Beta got up from the attack like if it was nothing. "How did you take the hit? Ice is your major weakness."

"You honestly believe that a Rocket Project is going to go down that easily? I'm the #2 so you're in for a real battle." He then looked to see Seras, Dartz, and Fang decimating hordes of Specters. "You guys are some tough customers. But I was not ordered to kill you so we should just end this battle. I find no joy in killing my enemies, nor do I get off on it."

"You're very honorable, I never forgot that about you Beta and I only fought you once. But let's just try to have a good fight, or just call off Epsilon and the Specters." He then felt the ground shake and the incoming Colossus roar. "And call that thing off too."

"Sorry, I can't call back a Colossus. They are their own masters but they know who to attack and who not to."

"Very well, then let's continue this fight. Shall we?"

Beta nodded and punched the ground causing an **Earthquake**. Jean immediately jumped into the air and Serenity did so as well. Serenity was then hit by a Dragon Pulse and sent flying towards Seras and the others fighting the Specters.

Jean then landed on the ground and immediately rushed Beta, who dodged all his attacks despite being so large compared to Jean. Jean then tried to hit him with a **Focus Blast** but he caught it with his bare hands and threw it back Jean who immediate kicked it into the air. Seeing his opportunity Beta vanished and reappeared in front of Jean, who was still in the kick position, and hit him with an **Aqua Tail**. The attack knocked Jean to a rock wall and nearly took him out. Beta then appeared in front of him and punched him into the wall repeatedly. Jean was in pain and he was still conscious, Beta then proceeded to charge water around his tail once more and lunge it at Jean. Suddenly his tail stopped in mid air and an angry Seras appeared and kicked him away from Jean. Her eyes were glowing, meaning she was using **Psychic**, and she helped Jean off the wall.

"Jean are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'll sit this fight out. I have no moves that can hurt him and...watch out!"

Jean then used a **Sky Uppercut** and took out a huge Specter that was behind Seras.

"Thanks, let me get you out of this fight. Beta, if you mind if I do so."

Beta then nodded his head, allowing her to take away the injured Jean until Jean made her let go and he pulled out two Sitrus Berries and chewed them and regained his composure.

"No need to take me anywhere Seras, I'm good now. Now to stop fooling around." He then jumped onto a rock and turned human.

Seras then sighed and went back to her brother but not before she told Jean, "If you're going to fight, then fight for real."

Jean then laughed and responded to her, "Yes dear. Now then Beta, go ahead and turn human. I want to face you like that."

Beta nodded and transformed. He had an eye patch, army buzzed blue hair, he looked like a larger more battle scarred Lt. Surge. He then brought out two large swords and waited for Jean to bring his weapon out. Jean then brought out two chakrams, which surprised Serenity since she though he had a greatsword.

Jean then cracked his neck and ran towards Beta who swung his swords at Jean and he blocked them with his chakrams. Sparks could be seen flying as their blades connected and they then got themselves in a power struggle.

"Well you're still tough Beta. I guess I shouldn't go lightly with you."

Beta chuckled, "I won't either. But you have no attacks that can do too much damage on me."

"Well I can try."

"How?"

Once he finished Jean fired a **Flamethrower** at him and disappeared into thin air. He then appeared behind Beta and fired a **Focus Blast** at him. Beta quickly turned around and sliced the attack in half and lunged at Jean with his swords glowing with **Dragon Claw**. Jean quickly dodged them and hit Beta with a **Double Kick** in the gut making him hunch over. He then got him with a **Sky Uppercut** and grabbed his leg and pulled him into a punch. He then knocked Beta to the ground and continued to punch him repeatedly.

Jean then let out a sigh of exhaustion, "Wow that was easy."

Beta then shot his eye open, "You'd like to think that wouldn't you." He then hit Jean with a **Dragon Pulse**, sending him flying to the other end of the field towards Rick.

[Battle with Specters]

Dartz was fighting horde upon horde of Specter with Fang, Seras, and Serenity. He used his garrote wire to keep the Specters at bay and to kill them by the bundle. Seras was using her bladed fans to help her brother, she was wondering why they weren't attacking the others but she guessed it was because they were fighting the projects.

Seras quickly jumped into a horde of Specters and began to dispatch them with her fans and Serenity joined her. Serenity used her new attacks to cut down the Specters and she began to see how her training was starting to benefit her. She found the fight too easy and single handedly killed nearly a hundred of Specters in a few minutes. She then took on a large Specter and killed it but turned her back on the other Specters. When she noticed she was staring at them bringing down their weapons on her. They then were sliced to pieces and Dartz jumped in front of her and killed the others around her.

"Damn it Serenity! Don't get cocky! Yes we're stronger but sometimes these things will surprise you. Also there's a Colossus coming so I don't need you getting careless. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sorry. I'm just trying out my new skills."

Dartz sighed and calmed down, "It's okay, I understand but you have to watch our backs and take care of yourself as well. Be aware of everything around you." He then fired a Shadow Ball at a Specter behind him. "Like that. I know Rick taught you how to increase your awareness."

Serenity nodded and then noticed a blue "A" on his right hand. "How do you have an "A" on your hand? Are you a project too?"

"No. I'm a remnant. Rick gave me this when I accepted his offer for strength. He's the Alpha project and me and the others are his remnants. Now he's not going to make just anyone a remnant, only those that he sees fit."

"What benefits does it have? How does he make you a remnant?"

"We'll explain later."

All of the sudden another earthquake happened and the head of the Colossus could be seen coming out of the ground.

[On the hill]

Alara's parents were shocked at what they were seeing.

Alara's mother then said, "You guys are seeing this too, right? And you heard what Rick said, right?" They all nodded. "Well he's more interesting than I thought. Shouldn't we help them?" They all nodded again rushed into the battlefield.

Alara's parents helped Seras, Dartz, Fang, and Serenity. Zant and Daedalus went to help Jean fight against the powerful Beta. Amber went to help Alara and Rick but knew that she was of little use against Epsilon, so she just jumped on Alara's back.

[Fight with Epsilon]

Rick was attacking Epsilon mercilessly and tried hard to make sure she didn't use her illusions. He then stopped when he heard screaming coming towards him and saw Jean flying towards him. He then stopped in midair as Alara caught him with **Psychic**.

"Thanks Alara...look out Rick!"

Rick then turned around and hit by a **Dark Pulse** on his gut, which threw him back towards Alara and Jean. "Ow! Thanks for the heads up. Too late."

He then saw Beta appear behind Jean and lift his blades. Suddenly Daedalus came out of nowhere and hit Beta with an **Ice Punch**, making him fly towards Epsilon, crashing into her.

Epsilon quickly pushed Beta off of her and jumped to her feet. "I've just about had it with you idiots! Specters attack!" After a moment, nothing happened. "Where the hell are all my Specters!?"

Amber then jumped on Alara's back and said, "My parents and Rick's friends killed them all already. Also, the Colossus is free and headed this way."

Rick then asked her, "How the fucking hell did we miss that?" The rest of the crew then joined Rick and the others to face the two remaining projects.

Epsilon then gave a frustrated scream, "That's it!" Her eyes then began to glow blue and her arm began to glow pink and she slammed them to the ground, causing a dark shockwave of energy. It was so powerful that it knocked everyone away, all of them landing in random locations on the field.

Rick then grunted, "Shit...she used **Night Daze**. Ow! What a bitch? Ow!" He then felt something on his gut and noticed that Alara landed on him.

She then woke up and told him, "You pissed her off. Ow! You beat the living shit out of her. I wonder what came over you."

"You tell me." He said as he tried to get up.

"Well you tried to strangle her to death, your eyes were glowing red, and I think I saw fangs in your mouth."

Jean then laughed, "Ow...haha, he almost went into Alpha state. That would of been the time I would of kicked his ass myself."

"Huh?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later."

"Can someone please explain something to me instead of telling me that they'll explain later?"

Rick then told her, "We're in a fight, you really want to talk?"

Alara then sighed, "Fine!"

"Good, now get off of me."

Everyone then got up in pain and looked around to see where the projects were. Rick then stood up and looked to the top of a hill. Suddenly the ground shook again and everyone scrambled to stay on their feet. Just then everyone heard a laugh coming from the hill Rick was looking at.

"Looks like you guys are tougher than I thought. Alpha, you royally pissed me off, I'm amazed I actually had trouble with you. But now you're in trouble, let me present our Colossus!" The colossus then appeared over the hill and roared loudly, everyone covered their ears to protect themselves. "Have fun with him, while we just watch you guys get slaughtered. Also, here's something for you guys to not get bored." An army of Specters then appeared after the Colossus.

Seras then yelled, "No fucking way! That's just way too many of them!"

Fang's eyes then shot wide open when she saw the Colossus, "Claw!"

"Claw?"

"Guys that's my mate! Please don't kill him."

Rick then looked at her, "You're fucking kidding me! Guys don't kill that thing until you destroy the gem on its head. Damn! We don't have enough energy to take these guys on."

Jean then sighed and grabbed Rick's shoulder, "Bro, forgive me for this."

"For what?"

Jean then took his bag off and opened the largest pocket and dumped everything inside in the air. Twelve pokeballs then went flying in the air and burst open. All of the sudden a large team of pokemon appeared around Rick.

"Jean, you didn't! You got our team back!?"

"What do you think I've been doing for all these years? I wanted our family back and they all agreed. I was planning to tell you at a later time, but we need them now."

All of the sudden a Pidgeot hugged Rick, "Rick, it's so good to see you after so long."

Rick was gasping for air, "Gloria!...I'm happy to see you too...but I can't breathe!" She then let him go.

"Sorry little bro."

Alara then asked Rick, "Is this your family that you've told me about?"

"Yes."

A Sceptile then grabbed Alara's shoulder, "Pleased to meet you too, but we'll introduce ourselves later. We have a fight on our hands. Don't worry Rick, we heard everything. We won't kill the Colossus."

Everyone then nodded and rushed the incoming army. There was an incredible view of the Specter army being decimated by a number of different pokemon. They were coming from land and from the air. Gallades, Gardevoirs, a Lopunny, Espeon, Umbreon, two Absols, a Machamp, Alakhazam, Sceptile, Gengar, Lucario, Salamance, Nidoking, Raichu, and a Scizor were on land. In the air were a Pidgeot, Flygon, and Altaria.

Alara was amazed on the sheer variety of pokemon that was in Rick's family and then she saw a group of Specters heading towards her. Immediately a Machamp saved her and.

"Thank you so much!"

The Machamp then spoke and Alara noticed his Brooklyn accent, "No problem girly. The name's Wayland. Pleased to meet you. I've heard a lot about you through the pokeball. So you must be Rick's little lady."

"Oh no. We're just friends and he protects me."

"Understandable. Now, time to kick some Specter ass! Stay near me, I don't want to worry Rick."

They then heard a voice coming from in front of them, "No need Wayland, I'll take her from here." When they looked they saw Rick heading towards them while killing Specters with his dad's sword. "This thing works like a charm, it's like there's nothing it can't cut through." Rick then noticed a Specter heading towards Alara. "Chaos kill that Specter and bring me Alara!"

The Chaos Scarf then came to life and attacked and killed the Specter. Alara looked at Rick and sensed that he had a lot of mixed feelings. She was then wrapped up by the Chaos Scarf and placed next to Rick.

"Thanks Rick. Are you okay?"

"I am. Don't worry, with these guys here this battle is going to end really quickly. Look out!" He then grabbed Alara and jumped of the way of a **Dragon Pulse** from the Colossus. Rick then looked up and called for Gloria the Pidgeot. "Gloria! You and the other girls have to take care of the Colossus. Destroy the gem first, don't kill it."

"Will do Rick! Ladies aim for the gem!" All the other pokemon that were flying nodded and Fang went to join them.

They then began to attack the Colossus with weak aerial attacks to get its attention away from the others and it worked. The Colossus started to fire **Dragon Pulses** and **Hyper Beams** at its aerial enemies. One nearly hit the Altaria.

"Wow! That was close!"

The Flygon then asked her, "You alright Aleerah?"

"Yeah Anna. It missed me. **Dragon Pulse** time?"

"Yeah."

Fang then joined them, "Mind if I help with the attack?"

"It's your mate, go ahead. Do you know **Dragon Pulse**?"

"Yeah, it's my main attack."

"Awesome, let's do this. Aerial bombing time!"

The three dragon types then charged their Dragon Pulses and fired them at the Colossus, but missed its gem. One hit its back, the other hit the side of its face, and Fang's narrowly missed the gem and hit it between the eyes, forcing its head up.

Gloria then saw her opportunity, "Perfect!" Her body then got covered in blue flame and lunged herself at the gem. "**Brave Bird**!" She then picked up speed and hit the gem and bounced off of it. The gem then cracked and broke apart.

Gloria then regained her composure in midair and opened her wings to fly again. The Colossus then roared and aim at the others on the ground before charging a **Hyper Beam**.

The Alakhazam then shouted, "Everyone, use Protect!"

Rick immediately grabbed Alara and formed an energy shield and the rest of the crew did the same with Jean, Seras, and Dartz protecting Alara's parents, Amber, and Rick's uncles. The Colossus then released the **Hyper Beam** and the Specters were decimated along with a good chunk of the forest.

[In the Ilex Forrest, Johto Region]

Celebi and Mew were flying around the forest until Celebi suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong Celebi?"

"I sense... a disturbance... in a forest in the Sinnoh Region."

"I'll go check it out." Mew said while flying into a portal.

With that Mew disappeared and Celebi sat on a tree branch in a fetal position.

[Back in the Sinnoh Region]

Everyone lowered their Protects when the attack finished. Rick then charged the recharging Colossus and sliced it with his father's sword. The blade went easily through the dragon Colossus's think, armored skin and Rick jumped on its head and fired a **Hyper Beam** inside the gaping wound, killing the Colossus. He then jumped off and let the Colossus implode into a Salamance.

Fang immediately landed next to the Salamance and rubbed her head on his. The male Salamance then woke up and looked at Fang.

"Fang? What happened?"

"Oh we got taken from our den and got turned into Colossi. Then Team Rocket sent me to fight the Gallade that just beat you and they turned me back to normal and did the same to you."

"Well that clears that up. Thank you for freeing me."

Rick then smiled, "When Fang told me that you were her mate, I had to save you. It took some effort and lots of bodies but we managed to do it."

Rick then helped Fang carry her mate to the rest of the team. Rick then looked back and Epsilon appeared on the field behind everyone and charged another **Night Daze** and brought it down. Rick's sword then began to glow red and an energy void covered him and his friends and stopped the **Night Daze**.

"Wow this sword is better than I thought. It just protected us."

Epsilon then yelled and conjured up a black void around Rick and his allies. She then laughed and turned to Beta. "Well that takes care of them. My illusion void should slowly drive them mad and kill them slowly."

"Let's go back to headquarters. You didn't have to do that Epsilon."

"Hey it got the job done, didn't it!?

"Our job was to gather information, not to fight them and waste so many Specters and a Colossus."

"Oh shut up old man. Let's leave!"

They then turned to leave and then they heard cracking from the illusion void. Rick then walked out of the void and the smiled at them.

"You know, that was a smart move. But against me it's useless."

Epsilon was shocked by what she was seeing, "How did you get out of there?"

"See this scarf around my neck, it's called a Chaos Scarf." The Chaos Scarf then took the form of a dragon's head and roared at the Rocket Projects. "It fights for me but it also negates and neutralizes the power of illusions. Let me give you an example." Rick then looked at the void and the Chaos Scarf lunged itself inside and the void shattered like glass, revealing everyone inside in fetal position and holding their head. They then regained their composure. "Ta da!"

Epsilon was now furious and brought out her scythe. She then began to glow purple.

"I'm going to kill you and all your friends right now!"

Beta then grabbed her shoulder, making her stop what she was doing, "No! We're leaving. They won!"

"We're not retreating!"

"We have no choice. Even you don't stand a chance against Alpha, much less him and his remnants. Besides, there is no shame in retreat, you're living to fight another day. Especially if your opponent allows is." He then looked at Rick. "Will you?"

Rick then responded, "Yeah. I'd rather not drag this fight on any longer. You're free to go."

"Thank you Alpha."

Epsilon was disgusted, "What's with the friendly conversation? We're enemies! We kill one another!"

"Enough! We're leaving Epsilon!"

With that they were beginning to be covered in a dark aura and were disappearing. Just then Epsilon made one more threat to Rick and his crew.

"You got lucky this time. Next time it won't go so well for all of you. I'll kill you all. No one defeats me!" Serenity then spat at her and Epsilon glared at her. "You'll regret that! I'll be seeing you all again." With that she and Beta disappeared.

The Sceptile then said, "Another victory in the name of out brothers and sisters!" Everyone then cheered and hugged one another.

Alara then walked up to Rick and grabbed his head and made him look at her, "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

Rick then sighed, "That I do."

Mew was looking at the battle from the sidelines and thought to herself, *I have to tell the others this.*

This one took me forever to get right but I like how it came out. I know you guys probably have a lot of questions, most questions will be answered in the next chapter. So tell me what you think guys. Well have a memorable day guys. Bye!


	20. Chapter 20: Past Revelations

Hey guys, this one took me so much time because I kept messing up on it. I wanted to post it earlier but circumstances wouldn't allow me. Anyways, I'm happy seeing that this story is actually picking up so much attention and I only have you guys to thank. Anyways, enjoy! Current view standings: 1st) US, 2nd) UK, 3rd) Canada (But is catching up again), 4th) The Philippines, 5th) Sweden.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick's house was completely filled with individuals from his past and present. They were all socializing like in the old days. Rick sat on a chair in the living room and Alara was sitting across from him with her parents, Amber, and Rick's uncles. Rick knew that he had to come clean about everything that happened to him in his past but he didn't know where to start.

"So where do you guys think I should start this explanation for you guys?"

Daedalus then replied, "From the beginning. After you were taken by Team Rocket and I want to hear the full truth Aeruthael."

"Well I have yet to lie to you so there's no need to lie now. After I was taken from my parents, me and my sister were separated and taken to different facilities. She handed me her locket before she was taken away from me. I was taken to a facility in Hoenn, where I was then given the news of my sister's death on her way to the Sinnoh facility. I was crushed and so I didn't put up a fight anymore, I lost my will to even live. While I was there they commenced a project called Project Archangel. Project Archangel called for the creation of a being that could withstand the genetic mutation of their own DNA and fuse it with the DNA of legendaries. All the DNA came from fossils and bio-matter that was found. I can't tell you what DNA I have because all projects were to be in the dark about it and never be told. I was never given a reason or cared about it, I just let them experiment on me, hoping it would kill me. I was told that I died seven times during the experimentation and that each time my heart just came back to life, I guess you could say that it was dumb luck. I became the first success in the entire project, I can't tell you how many other innocent pokemon lost their lives because of it. Because of this I was named Rocket Project Alpha and they began to put me through many tests and training exercises."

Alara's father then asked, "And I'm guessing those didn't go so well?"

"In them I killed multiple Rocket personnel and scientists. I was a destructive force and they had to constantly sedate me to keep me under control. Eventually they got someone to reach out to me, her name was Esper. Esper was the daughter of the head scientist and an amazing woman. She taught me how to control my renegade abilities and to control my temper, she was the first friendly person that I've met since Team Rocket kidnapped me."

[15 Years Prior]

Rick was in his cell cracking a puzzle that was left for him to train with. Once he managed to solve it he quickly compressed it and threw it at the wall of the clear transparent cell. He then proceeded to beat on the cell wall with his fists until one of the guards outside opened a small hatch to speak to him.

"Hey you little monster, quit with that already!" Rick then hissed at him and fired a **Signal Beam** at him, which missed. The guard quickly retaliated and stung Rick with a stun baton. Rick quickly shrieked in pain and fell back further into the cell. "That ought to show you who's boss you little piece of shit!"

The room immediate went dark and yet all the lights were still on, the only light visible was coming from Rick bright red eyes, that were glaring at the two guards.

The second guard then told Rick, "What the hell are you? A demon or something? You better stop playing games before you get shocked again."

Rick immediately responded to the threats by launching both guards at the facility's walls with his psychic power but remained where he was and didn't bring light back into the facility. One of the guards quickly got up and grabbed his stun baton and shocked Rick again, forcing him to lay down with his face down. The guard then noticed that Rick didn't bring the light back.

"Are you going to listen to us now? Bring the lights back or you'll get stunned again."

Just then a hand came on the guard's shoulder. The guard looked to see a young woman with a lab coat, glasses, a red blouse, a black skirt, and purple hair glaring at him.

"I would assume you have a good reason for attacking Project Alpha?"

"It attacked us first."

"HE has a savage heart because of the experimentation, he's been through a lot! You are not to attack him unless absolutely necessary! Am I understood!?"

The guard the sighed, "Yes Dr. Esper."

"Good! Now leave, I have to inspect Project Alpha. Also, I don't want this to repeat itself."

"Yes ma'am."

The guards then left the room with Esper and Rick inside. The light in the room returned but the transparent cell was still dark for some reason. Esper then knelt down and touched the cell wall with both hands to see Rick. He was in the corner of the darkened cell sitting in a fetal position.

"Alpha...are you alright?"

Rick quickly glared at her with his red eyes glowing brightly through the darkness, he was growling, and his fangs were showing. He was obviously apprehensive of the presence of another human near his cell, that he spent most of his time in.

"Alpha it's okay. It's me Esper. I'm just here to see you and I don't mean any harm."

Rick's eyes then returned to normal and his fangs retracted. After he did that the darkness left the cell and Esper could see him better, he had a few bruises from the stun batons but no other injuries. He then stood up and limped over to the cell wall and put his hands to where her's were.

"I love seeing that you're learning. Don't worry, not all humans are evil and not all humans mean you harm. Talk to me, I want to hear you in my head again. You haven't talked to anyone or me in a month. Aren't you lonely? I want to help you but I can't do it if you don't speak to me, which I know you can do. I'm happy that you're able to master all the puzzles I leave for you as homework but I need to perform more exercises than that."

Rick just looked at her and took his hands off the wall and looked at them. He then sighed and spoke to her mentally, _"Am I a monster?"_

Esper was excited to hear his voice again, "Great you spoke! But why would you ask that?"

_"The guards keep calling me that. They always do. You guys even have me in a cage and keep stinging me to keep me under control. At least it's not as bad as the sedatives."_

"The guards shouldn't keep abusing you like that. You've done nothing wrong but they see your emotional episodes as a form of aggression. I wish I could help you better but I can't figure out what you want."

Rick's anger instantly returned, _"You humans will never know! You haven't lost your parents and your baby sister, the people you loved the most in this world! Why should I care about you humans or myself!?"_ The cell was immediately covered in darkness again and Rick laid down with his back turned to Esper.

"You're right, I don't know how it feels to lose your family. I hate Giovanni for doing such an unspeakable evil against you. Tell me, what do you want?"

_"Open this cage!"_

Esper shrugged, "Okay."

Rick was confused and shocked at her sudden compliance. Esper then opened the door of the cage and the darkness of the cage began to spread outside of the cage. Esper could quickly feel the temperature in the room drop dramatically, to the point that she could see her breath. Rick then stepped outside of the cage and glared at Esper. He then sprouted tentacles from his back and wrapped her in them before using them to bring her to his eye level.

Rick then spoke to her and his voice sounded distorted, as if multiple voices were speaking to her, _"I don't get you. You know I can easily kill you and yet you still let me out."_

Esper then told Rick, "Because I don't fear you. I'm amazed how many changes my dad had caused to your body. It's almost as if he planted a demon within you, with the distorted voice, the darkness, and the freezing cold. Listen to me, just put me down and let me help you. I think letting you out was enough for you to see that I mean no ill will."

Rick then let her go and retracted the tentacles, his voice then returned to normal, _"Very well, I'll let you help me, but don't take me for a fool. I doubt you can do anything."_

"Don't worry, I won't. Also, call back that darkness and return the temperature to normal." Rick complied and light and heat returned to the room. "Good, now tell me what that was a minute ago. The demonic-like episode."

_ "Ever since your father experimented on me I would begin to transition between normal and that demonic state. The episodes start after I go through emotional distress or when I am filled with wrath. Your father calls that the Alpha State. Your father says that I no longer need anymore experimentation and he's sorry for doing this to me, but he cannot disobey this Giovanni guy. I already hate this Giovanni guy and I've never even met him."_

"I'm no friend of Giovanni either. I wish this never happened to you. Alpha State, sounds like a curse when you think about how young you are. How can something so dangerous be imprinted within a child and Giovanni expecting you to be able to control it so that you can be used for his benefit? It makes no sense why you were chosen."

_"I wish I knew. Say, can you help in controlling my episodes?"_

"That sounds like a good way for us to bond. I think I know some exercises to test on you. Let's see if we can control this."

[Present Day]

"So those were my first days as a project. Dr. Esper helped me control my episodes and I no longer have them. I can still do some of the actions but I can no longer go complete Alpha. So, any questions?"

When Rick looked, Alara, her family, and his uncles were starring at him with their mouths wide open in complete shocked.

Alara's father then asked, "So you're a demon and a pokemon?"

"No, I'm a complete Gallade. I haven't sprouted the tentacles or had an episode in years."

Alara then asked him, "How did the experimentation work? What legendary DNA do you have?"

"None, I was an attempt to create a custom legendary or a pokemon to rival the legendaries. The other projects have legendary DNA, but they are not told what DNA so that they can learn on their own."

"So you're different in a way?"

"Yeah, I was just an attempt to see how much power a pokemon can take but I wasn't like other pokemon. Like I told you, I died a few times but kept resurrecting, and so the experimentations continued until they were satisfied with the results."

"That had to be a horrible way to live. I know I sound stupid but you were so young. Did the experimentation change the way you thought."

Rick then thought, "Well I couldn't think like a child because of it. I matured too quickly and never had a childhood since I was seven. My thoughts were too adult for my age. When I was a kid I was thinking about battle scenarios and strategies. I thought about relations, combat, logistics, and training. It was horrible, I couldn't think like a kid. They increased my intelligence too much but only to a point, they still left room for development."

"Umm...can you show us some of these powers that they gave you?"

"Only those that won't send me over the edge. So no tentacles, claws, or...I'm actually leaving it there. Might as well not remember some of these weird abilities."

"Okay that's fair. Now show me something."

After she said that the light left the room and it became cold with Rick's eyes glowing bright red through the darkness. The house could then felt as if it was shaking and Rick's grin was visible with his fangs. As suddenly as all the events started they ended and Rick's fangs and eyes returned to normal, the light returned, and the heat returned to the room.

"Enough for you or do want to see more. That's just environmental and I can do that without using energy. That's the first time I used it since I was thirteen and I don't want to do it again."

"No that's good I believe the power now. I'm just surprised on how you have dark powers and yet your not a Dark type and your not evil."

"My aura used to be red, bright crimson. After my experimentation my aura changed color to match the type of power that Team Rocket imprinted in me. Any more questions?" He then looked back at Alara. "That has nothing to do with my powers."

Alara's mother then asked, "Can you tell us about your time as a Project?"

Rick sighed and thought, "Well, after four months in the facility I was separated from Dr. Esper and sent to another Rocket facility in Hoenn and there I got to meet the other completed projects. I was Alpha because I was created first and the others were named based on what Giovanni saw fit. When I arrived I was met by Projects Gamma and Delta, an Arcanine and a Ninetales. Those two were my best friends as a Project and they took care of me since I the youngest. I remember that I was in their team throughout my entire time there and I was partnered up with Project Zeta for a period, then with Epsilon, and then with Gamma and Delta. I was there until I was ten, then I began to think about rebellion against Team Rocket. It all started with a mission that we failed and it was because of me, I hesitated to kill a target and they got away."

[12 years prior]

Gamma and Delta entered Rick's room to check up on him after the mission. It was a minor mission that Giovanni didn't expect them to complete and forgave Rick but they sensed something was still not right with Rick.

"It wasn't your fault Alpha", said Gamma while leaning on a wall across from Rick, who had his back to him and Delta.

"How the fuck can you say that Gamma? Everyone knows that it was my fault we failed."

Delta then told him, "Hey we're a team. We were all responsible, we knew something was bothering you and yet we sent you to finish it."

"Come on guys! I dropped the ball!"

Gamma replied, "So what? It was a little mistake. We've all made them. Look I'm just trying to make you feel better Alpha."

"Really? So why don't you go pat Upsilon on the back, high five Beta, maybe pet Epsilon?"

"You know that's not what I meant."

Rick sighed, "I know, I'm just not in a good mood."

Delta then sat down next to him, "Listen, I know something is bothering you. You're normally not like this. Want to talk?"

"...sure, why now?" Rick then stood up and walked to his window that saw directly into Giovanni's office. "It's him."

"Master Giovanni?"

"Who else?"

Gamma then asked, "What about him?"

"I don't know but you know how much I hate him. I don't know how much longer I can keep serving him."

"Come on! He's given us everything."

Rick then punched the window and cracked it, "And he's taken everything away from me! I can't serve my enemy!"

"Oh yeah I almost forgot about your story."

"So you know why I'm feeling apprehensive about this? That's why I usually don't go on domination missions or assassination missions. I'd rather only do defense, recon, and intel because I don't have to kill innocent people or pokemon."

"So that's why you were hesitant today? Because it was a search and destroy mission?"

"Exactly! I refuse to kill someone in his name. I have a higher body count with killing Rockets than enemies. Don't say that you never thought of that."

"I did notice that but I...I don't know what to tell you."

Delta then asked Rick, "So what are you going to do?"

Rick thought for a second, "I don't know. I'm in the dark about this. Let's just wait and see."

A voice then came over an intercom system, "All Rocket Projects report to Master Giovanni's office. I repeat all Rocket Projects report to Master Giovanni's office."

"Fuck! Now to see his face again today. Did he change his mind about not punishing me?"

They then left the room and walked towards Giovanni's office and met up with other Projects before entering. In the room Giovanni was sitting on his chair drinking from a glass and looking at the Projects with a sly smile on his face.

"I'm glad that you guys could make it. Don't worry, no one is in trouble. In fact I'm here to congratulate you guys. Even though you guys failed the mission, it opened up a fabulous opportunity for us in the Lake of Rage. With the absence of the target their but his benefits still in the area we can take it over and benefit from it. So Alpha it was actually a good thing that you didn't kill the target. Through your failure you found success and helped us spread in the Johto region. So this brings us to the ranking computer, to see what place in the standings in our little friendly competition you all now stand in. The top five are being presented now: Alpha had just accomplished reaching 1st place with this little event, followed by Gamma, Delta, Beta, and Upsilon."

Epsilon quickly put her translator on so she could speak out loud to Giovanni, "Sir, I thought my mission was a success. How did I lose my rank to my brother?"

"Your mission required secrecy and stealth. Yes, you did succeed in your mission but you failed to stay hidden and ran into battle unnecessarily. I'm sorry Project Epsilon but I cannot have you among the top five if you're going to make such rash decisions. Your brother, on the other hand, had to go a fix all your mistakes and stayed hidden. I don't want this to discourage you though Epsilon, you will have your chance at redemption really soon."

"Yes sir."

"Anyways, I want you guys to take a break for a while. I have no more assignments for you at the moment, so take a vacation if you want. Alpha, stay here for a little while. I need to speak to you. Everyone else may leave and do whatever they see fit for their time."

With that everyone left the office and Rick was alone with Giovanni. Giovanni then sat down on his chair and spoke to Rick, who was glaring at him.

"Now Alpha I don't want you to go thinking I'm an unreasonable man."

"Too late for that but I'm listening."

"I've noticed that you have been rather stressed lately, that concerns me. You are one of my greatest creations and I would love to know what I can do to make you feel better."

"Well first you can go jump off a cliff, that'll make me happy."

"Ah so it's that kind of anger. So you still haven't forgiven me after three years?"

"You think you can just win my forgiveness that easily? No, you need to do a lot of shit to win that. You may win my forgiveness but you'll always have my wrath and hate against you."

"I want to make it up to you. I left you a little gift in your room. I'll go with you so that I can see the look on your face."

Rick quickly turned and walked towards his room, with Giovanni behind him. Once he reached his room he opened the doors to see what the surprise was. When he looked inside the room his rage boiled at the sight of three female Kirlias chained and on his bed. Rick quickly turned and held Giovanni on his wall with **Psychic**.

"IN WHAT WAY IS THIS A GIFT!? IF THIS IS A JOKE THEN IT IS A PRETTY FUCKED UP ONE!"

"Calm down Alpha. They're for you to have. I thought that female companionship would help you relax and maybe conceive a new family."

"YOU'RE SICK! LET THEM GO" Rick then released Giovanni and he stood up and looked at Rick.

"If you don't want them then I'll just send them back to the pen to be experimented."

Rick quickly waved his hands, "No! Don't do that! I'll take them, just leave!"

"I knew you would listen to reason. Enjoy them!"

Giovanni then left the room and Rick looked at the three females Kirlias in his room. They were huddling around each other for protection. They were all scared because they knew why they were there.

"So what are your stories? How did you three end up here?"

The three Kirlias then looked at him and one answered, "We were from the same Ralts line colony here in Hoenn. About two weeks ago Team Rocket kidnapped us from our home."

"I don't remember an operation like that. Did Team Rocket attack your colony?"

They shook their heads, "No, they just saw us and took us."

"Bastards! Can you point at the location of the colony on the map next to you?"

One of the Kirlias then pointed at the location and Rick memorized the location. Then then stuck his hand out and the Kirlias cowered in fear. Suddenly their chains broke off their arms and they opened their eyes to see Rick creating a portal for them.

"So, here's your chance to get out of here."

"Why are you helping us?"

"One, because Giovanni actually expects me to mate with you guys and that is unforgivable in my eyes. Two, because I was taken from my family too and I know how it must feel. And three, because I hate Team Rocket with a dark passion. Now go and return to your lives and put this experience behind you." He then went to a cabinet in the room gave them food and water. "You guys must be hungry, eat and then leave."

The girls then began to eat and they got their strength back. "Aren't you going to get in trouble?"

"Most likely but what do I care. It's not like I killed anybody. Besides, he can't afford to lose me now."

"Thank you so much! We won't forget this!"

"Goodbye girls."

The girls then waved him goodbye and walked through the portal, back to their home. Rick then closed the portal and laid down on his bed and began to laugh.

"One step at a time and soon this will all be over." He then began laughing again.

After a few hours Giovanni returned to Rick's room and saw that the Kirlias were gone. He was confused and he then put the pieces together.

"Let me guess. You let them go, didn't you Alpha?"

Rick then smiled and stood up, "Oh look who's so smart? Did you figure that out by yourself?" He asked sarcastically.

"Don't play me for a fool Alpha!"

"Too late for that again."

"Where did you send them?"

"Back home. They don't belong in your clutches...No one here does." He said sternly with a strong hint of aggression.

Giovanni then began to yell at him, "You think you're better than me, don't you?"

"Of course I do. You don't sully your own hand and you send us to do all the things you can't do. As far as I'm concerned I've always been better than you." Rick then walked up to him and stared him head in the eye.

"You ungrateful piece of shit!"

"I have nothing to be grateful for. What's there to be grateful for? Killing my family? Turning me into a monster? Or making me your slave? As far as I'm concerned, you're not worth shit to me!"

Giovanni then immediately slapped him, "Shut your mouth you little ingrate! I should of known better than to of left you alive. I knew you might comeback to bite me in the ass one day. You deserved to die with your pathetic little shit of a family."

Rick's rage finally broke out, his eyes turned black with red irises, and his fists were covered in black lightning. He immediately punched Giovanni and sent him flying to the wall behind him. He ran up to him and began to pummel and throw him with **Confusion**. Rick continued to beat him until two grunts pulled him off. Rick then killed the two grunts and resumed his assault before being punched off by Epsilon, who arrived on the scene. Epsilon quickly held him against the wall and tried hard to hold him back.

"What the hell Alpha!? Calm the fuck down!"

"Epsilon...you know better than to get in my way!"

With that he blasted her with a **Signal Beam**, knocking her back and he returned to face an injured Giovanni. Giovanni immediately looked at him and tried to scurry away but was stopped by Rick, who lifted him up with **Confusion**.

"You brought this onto yourself. I should of killed you a long time ago, it would of saved me any future trouble and you any future pain." He then punched Giovanni in the gut. "I'm actually enjoying this far more than I should." He then looked at Giovanni glaring at him. "What clown!? Do you feel humiliated? Disgraced? Undignified? Now you know how I felt all these years." He said as he punched Giovanni. He then dropped Giovanni on the floor and charged a **Shadow Ball** in his hand and pointed at Giovanni. "Now for my revenge. I've been waiting for so long to kill you and now here's my chance. See you in Hell you bastard!"

Before Rick could fire the attack, he was hit by restraints that tied him to a wall in his room. The restraints were on his wrists, abdomen, ankles, and neck and kept him in place while he flailed and roar-like sounds came from his throat. Rick quickly bared his fangs and snarled at the sight of Beta with a restraint gun in his hands.

"Damn it Beta! Release these restraints RIGHT NOW!"

"I can't do that Alpha."

Giovanni then stumbled to his feet and wiped the blood off his face. He looked shocked and afraid of Rick and didn't even dare enter the room since Rick could still fire attacks at him. Instead he stood at the doorway until an Infernape(Zeta), Gamma, Delta, and Upsilon arrived.

Gamma immediately asked, "What happened?"

Giovanni then answered him, "Your little friend here just assaulted me and nearly killed me if it wasn't for Project Beta.

Gamma, Delta, and Upsilon immediately looked into the room and saw Rick flailing in rage and roaring loudly. Delta almost cried but instead buried her head into Gamma's shoulder. Upsilon was afraid for Rick at this point and began to plea with Giovanni.

"Lord Giovanni, please understand. He's been an emotional wreck all this week, he probably just snapped and attacked you because of one of his dangerous episodes."

"It was no episode. He did it on purpose. If it was an episode he would of been in his room with the light and heat gone, as usual." He then looked at Rick. "Alpha, listen. I'm not going to kill you for this but because of your little attack you can kiss that Ralts line colony goodbye. You are to stay in your quarters until the attack is over. Epsilon and Upsilon will stay to guard your door and make sure you go nowhere. Gamma and Delta will stay here to stop you from leaving as well. Beta and Zeta will go with me to the colony to kill everyone. Their blood will be on you hands for this and you'll never wash your hands clean of it."

Rick immediately yelled at him, "DAMN YOU GIOVANNI! YOU COWARD!"

With that Giovanni closed and sealed the door to Rick's room and gave the order to organize the grunts and to not take their pokemon with them. Epsilon immediately leaned on the door and recovered from Rick's attack, she then drew her scythe and stood at attention, Upsilon then did the same but he was more hesitant. Gamma and Delta then walked away and returned with their weapons.

Hours later Giovanni, Beta, Zeta, and some armed grunts left in helicopters towards the location where the three Kirlias were found weeks before while the other Projects and some grunts defended the door to Rick's room. Rick was finally able to get out of the restraints and dropped to the floor, his eyes were still in the same fashion and thought about his next action carefully. He knew that he couldn't let Giovanni take out the colony but he had a lot of people to fight. Regardless he knew he had to do something and he couldn't let Giovanni get away with this. He knew that Giovanni put a restraint on his portal creation in his room, so he decided that he had to fight his way to the supply lab to inject himself with the serum so he could create a portal to beat him to the colony. Rick then took a deep breath and held his locket to his head and then began to punch at the steel door.

Outside the door, the four rocket projects took their positions to stop Rick when they saw dents appear on the door. The grunts kept their guns fixed on the door but where afraid of what would happen when Rick managed to bust out of the room. Soon Rick stopped beating at the door and everyone could hear a frustrated growl coming from the room.

Epsilon then laughed, "Wow he can't even get through the door. No need to worry right now."

After she said that another growl was heard and another hit and the floor flew off the door-frame, hitting Epsilon and knocking her over. (Battle Music: **Two Weeks by All That Remain**) Darkness and cold then came out of the room and Rick stepped out and glared at everyone around him. The grunts then fired at him but the bullets stopped in midair and fell to the ground. They then backed up in fear and Rick snarled at them before disappearing and reappearing in front of them and started his attack. He quickly snapped one of the grunt's necks and grabbed him to shield him from bullets. He then took the grunts gun and shot six grunts, he then took a combat knife and used it to dispatch many others. Gamma then charged at him and Rick kicked him back to the others and proceeded to kill the grunts. The other Projects then tried to stop him so he brought his tentacles out and held them to the walls. He then charged a black ball on his hands and the dark power went to his arms and he slammed them to the ground, causing a small explosion, killing most of the guards.

The other Projects struggled to get loose but couldn't. Gamma then told the others, "Looks like we finally lost him. He's the true Alpha now, a killing machine beyond our power. Poor kid."

Upsilon then cursed his luck and responded, "I wish things could of gone differently. Poor little buddy."

Delta began to cry and Epsilon looked disgusted at how they were acting.

"Don't tell me that thing was your friend. Brother, you can't be serious!"

"Epsilon please. We're not all as cold as you, we actually enjoyed Alpha's company." He then looked to see Rick killing the last of the army of grunts with claws that came out of his fingers. Rick was finally the Alpha Project but he was against them this time. The beast was unleashed for the first time in its history.

After Rick killed all the grunts he began to laugh in a distorted voice and slammed the other Projects to the ground and walked towards them. He was laughing and the room became colder than usual. Rick then lifted them up off the ground and spoke to them.

"I'm free at last. Trapped for too long and now I am free to take out my revenge against the world that created me."

Delta then spoke to him, "You're not our friend. Where is he?"

"He's with us, somewhere in this body. Giovanni tried to conjure me out multiple times, but finally Rick couldn't hold his killer desires any longer and let me out." He then put them dropped them again and spoke again. "Those who play the games of gods will eventually meet their eternal judgement. Giovanni is one such individual, trying to take the place of a god in this world but he will die by his own creations. It is inevitable!"

Delta then glared at the thing in front of her, "Begone monster! The real Alpha wouldn't think of such blood thirsty things. He was a calm gentle soul and never wanted to kill anyone...well except for Giovanni."

"Stupid girl! I am the real Alpha! I am the ultimate creation made by Team Rocket and I'm also their greatest mistake and nightmare." He then walked towards Epsilon and looked at her dead in the eye. "You my dear are the most annoying of all of these. You think yourself as the most powerful of the creations but look at your brother, he's stronger than you are. So not only are you not the strongest but you're not even second best." He then grabbed the discarded steel door and lifted it with ease. "So sad, you strove to do something great but you end up failing in the end. You're worthless. Goodnight you shoddy factory recall!" He then hit her over the head with the door, breaking it in half and knocking her unconscious. "What a waste of space."

The other Projects were shocked by what they just saw and didn't move. 'Rick' then walked back to Delta and spoke to her again. "You see, it's the cowards that die first and then the hypocrites. Survival of the fittest works only for the strong and for those who stand tall at the end and she was none of those. She's alive don't worry...for the moment." He then drew his claws and stared at Delta. Gamma and Upsilon tried to stop him from whatever he was going to do but he drew his tentacles again and pinned them to the walls. "Looks like these guys can't save you. Goodbye girly!" He then brought the claws down on Delta but stopped inches before touching her. Something was stopping him from following up on his plan. "I see. You guys mean a lot to him. Very well, I won't kill you guys but I will put you all to sleep. Goodnight." He then charged a black ball in his hands which expanded and covered the Projects, putting them to sleep.

After he finished 'Rick' passed out for a quick second and then opened his eyes to reveal that his eyes were back to normal, his fangs and claws were gone, and his tentacles were not present. Even the room returned to normal, revealing the onslaught of what happened a few minutes ago. Rick then got up and saw his unconscious comrades.

"I went a little wild, didn't I? Too late to turn back now. I have to end this now before it's too late." He then ran into the supply lab and injected himself with a serum and conjured up a portal before running into it.

When Rick arrived on the other side he could feel many eyes on him and he was right. All the Ralts, Kirlias, Gardevoirs, and Gallades in the colony saw him. They all stepped back until the three Kirlias he saved earlier welcomed him. Rick didn't have time to commune with them.

"Everyone hear me! A large battalion of Team Rocket grunts is headed here to wipe you guys out." Everyone then began to panic and talk among themselves. Rick then got their attention again, "Listen, I need to know where I can send you guys before it's too late. There has to be some sort of safe haven for you guys."

One of the three Kirlias then showed him a location on the southern end of a map of the Sinnoh region.

"That's going to take me some energy since it's so far away but I can do it. Now once the portal opens you must all run through. Take all that is absolutely necessary and go."

Rick gave them all five minutes and then opened the portal. The people of his species then ran through and he closed it before jumping on a rooftop and waiting for Giovanni and his goons. "You have to get here soon Giovanni and I'll be waiting."

Twenty minutes later he could hear helicopters land in the nearby woods and he stood up and saw a large group of armed grunts enter the homes and finding nothing inside. Needless to say they were dumbfounded and so was Giovanni.

Giovanni then said, "What do you mean that this place is abandoned? Did someone tip these things off?"

Rick then yelled out surprising Giovanni, "I did. Your defenses sucked and the Projects went down easily."

Giovanni couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at Rick, in one piece and outside of the headquarters. "There's no way you could of made it out of there. I had every guard watch your room and four Projects."

"Well all of them, except for the Projects, are dead now. You should of thought this through a little better. Now then too finish what you started."

(Battle Music: **Escape the Dahaka from Prince of Persia: Warrior Withing OST**)

Rick immediately disappeared and reappeared punching Beta and kicking Zeta to the ground. He then attacked the grunts, killing them quickly. They all the fired at him but he kept disappearing from sight and slaughtering them. He then fired **Shadow Balls** in various directions accompanied by **Signal Beams**, killing more and more guards and setting the area on fire. When the dust settled there were hundreds of dead bodies everywhere and Rick walking out of the flames of a burning building. He then turned his attention to Beta, Zeta and Giovanni and took two combat knifes from two dead soldiers and charged at them.

Beta immediately stepped in front of Giovanni to shield him and took a slash to the left eye. He then threw a knife at Zeta before throwing him away with **Confusion**. Rick then battled the blinded Beta in a fight. Beta tried to slash him but Rick quickly dodged it and climbed onto Beta. Beta tried to grab Rick until Rick stabbed him in the back with the knife and then fired a **Thunderbolt** at the charging Zeta, stopping him in his tracks. He then hit Beta with an **Ice Punch** and took him down.

Rick then quickly turned to face a scared Giovanni. "Now you fear me because I defeated everything you through at me. You're pathetic and now I hope you made peace with yourself." He then threw a knife at Giovanni's leg, making him fall over. "Goodbye Giovanni."

Suddenly, Rick felt Beta hit him with **Dragon Claw** on his gut, which sent him flying towards Zeta who had a tree in his hands. Zeta then hit Rick like a baseball and nearly knocked him out. Rick was on the ground twitching from the hit, he couldn't move but he could still see and hear. Rick looked up to see Beta carrying Giovanni by one arm and Zeta looking down on him.

Giovanni then said, "You turned out to be more trouble than I anticipated Alpha. I'm still not going to kill you, you're too valuable to this operation to lose right now. But you will no longer be with us at headquarters. You're going back home but for a different reason." He then nodded at Zeta and Zeta knocked Rick out by kicking his head.

[Present Day]

"So I woke up three days later back in the facility that experimented on me. Another three days later I escaped and blew that place to kingdom come."

Alara was surprised by all she heard as were everyone else that never heard this story.

She then asked, "So they just let you live after you killed all those people?"

"I didn't understand why. I thought I would of died because of it but he just let the torment continue. I feel bad for every kill I've stacked up. But I had to do it to save that colony."

Alara's father then spoke to Rick, "So that was you?"

"What was?"

"You were the one that saved our colony in Hoenn. It was an attempt to create a Sanctuary there but then someone saved them from an onslaught. I never expected it to be you. You're full of so many surprises."

"I guess I am. Anyways, that's enough for today. I need to collect my thoughts."

Alara's parents then looked at each other and nodded, "Why don't you go to the hot springs to relax for a while?"

"That actually sounds nice. Where is it?"

"It's not too far from here. Let's all go, my treat."

"Thank you so much. I would enjoy that very much." Rick then got up and the others followed him to the garage.

Alara's mother then sent her mate a mental message, "_Step one commencing."_

A few minutes later they all got into their cars and headed for these hot springs, Rick completely in the dark of Alara's parents' plan.

Man this took a long time and a lot of brainstorming. Anyways, tell me what you guys think about it and continue to review, PM, sending me questions, and suggestions. Bye guys.


	21. Chapter 21: Step One, Day Out

Wow this one took me longer than any other chapter I have ever written and it's also the longest chapter I have ever written. I was delayed by school, a party, World of Warcraft, and a stomach flu that REALLY hindered me. Anyways, I'm back to 100% health and was able to finish this chapter. I'll try to keep my usual routine of one chapter on Mondays and Fridays since I shouldn't have any more distractions. Anyways, enjoy guys and I was surprised by the results of September's final view standings. I'm no longer counting US because they will always have the most views. So #1) Canada (by three views and I was so surprised), #2) UK, #3) The Philippines, #4) Sweden, and #5) Mexico. Also, I got some pretty funny yet interesting request on making a Blade and the Embrace movie parody. Because of this I posted a poll on my profile of the three requests I have received, you can vote for two only. Also you can request an option for me to add by PM or by review. I don't mind writing any movie parodies you guys request for me to do as long as I have seen the movies. The voting will end on the 15 of October. Anyways enjoy the story guys.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

The entire crew arrived at the spa center where the hot springs were at and Rick helped Alara and her mother out of his car before jumping over Jean's car and walking through the doors. Once he entered he was greeted by a Gardevoir that was behind a counter.

"Welcome to the Dream Oaks Spa Resort. How may I help you?"

Alara's father then walked up to the receptionist, "Yes we have a reservation for the hot springs for today."

"Oh Chief Saifer! Yes we remembered, the springs are ready for you guys to use today." She then bowed her head, "Please enjoy."

Rick was immediately suspicious, "How did you manage to get it reserved without us knowing? You were in the car with me and I didn't see you make any calls."

Alara's father quickly smiled, "Oh I was going to make this a gift to you but you guys never let me explain because of all the events that happened yesterday and today. Anyways, let's enjoy our time here."

The boys quickly went to a locker room to get their towels and the girls did the same. Not long after the boys got out of the locker room wearing towels and heading towards the hot springs. Before Rick could enter the men's spring with the rest of the guys he was stopped by Alara's father.

"Say Rick, look over here for a second. I need to ask you something."

Rick was suspicious but decided to play along, "Sure, what is it?"

"Well I just want to know how you like your father's house?"

As he was saying this his mate appeared and switched the 'males' and 'unisex' door signs and teleported back to the locker room.

Rick then answered, "I like it...still the constant views of the images that my parents left behind are beginning to freak me out."

"I'm guessing they left more memories than they should of?"

"Let's just say that I still feel uncomfortable in my own room after I saw a memory they left behind and then there's the memories of me that seems to be conscious of its surroundings."

Alara's father was now curious, "How can that be?"

"I can feel it when it touches me and it responds when I talk to it...not only it but my parents' images."

"Are sure they're images or ghosts?"

"If there are ghosts so why is there an image of me when I was a Ralts?"

"Good point. I should investigate that. Anyways, go inside the hot springs already and relax."

Rick almost rolled his eyes and walked into the door that had the 'males' sign on it. Alara's father then put the 'males' sign back to its place and walked into the males spring with a sly smile. Soon after the girls came out of their locker room, some in their human forms, wearing nothing but towels and entered the females' spring. Alara's mother and Amber then stopped her.

Amber then asked her, "Sis can you go back to the locker room and get me another towel. Just in case."

"Sure."

With that she used **Teleport** to return to the locker room and her mother quickly switched the 'unisex' sign and the 'females' sign before she could return. She then reappeared with the extra towel and she gave it to Amber before walking into the room. Alara's mother and Amber then nodded at one another and quickly locked and sealed the door. They then high fived each other and switched the signs before walking into the females' spring.

When Alara entered the room she looked towards the spring and saw no one there. She was confused by this and then saw someone coming up from the water. She then noticed the hair and the arms and knew it was Rick. She then gave a small shriek, which got Rick's attention as he wiped the water off his face. He then gave a small yell.

"Rick! What the hell are you doing here!?"

"What am I doing here!? What are you doing here!?"

"Can't you read the fucking sign on the door!? It says 'females"!

"You need glasses then because it says 'males!" They both then looked at the door and saw the 'unisex' sign. "Oh..."

Alara then finished his sentence "...crap!"

They then looked at each other and then Rick got up and put his towel over his shoulder and walked to the door. "Well it's been nice seeing you...well almost a lot of you but I have to go." He then tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. He then tried to pry it open with **Psychic** but it still wouldn't budge. "What the hell? It's sealed!"

"Don't tell me we're stuck here and I'm naked."

"Then quickly get in the water and submerge yourself."

Rick quickly teleported back into the water and tried to relax. Alara was still a little embarrassed by what was going on. However she walked towards the water and walked in.

"Fine but keep your eyes somewhere on my face at all times or else."

"No worries. Just relax and enjoy your day...Also, I think I already know who's behind this."

"Really? Who?"

Rick just looked at her with an expression that said 'are you serious?'. He then closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head. Alara then hesitated to take her towel off but did it and stepped into the warm water. She then sat across from Rick with her arms covering her body. They then sat there in the water for a few minutes just enjoying the relaxing warm water.

Alara then broke the silence, "Don't you feel awkward about this?"

"Can't you sense emotions? Yes, I can. However not as much as you, and I can sense that. That and the fact that your blushing redder than a rose that fell in a can of red paint."

Alara immediately looked at her reflection and saw that she was blushing in a bright red. She then submerged herself in the water to try to calm down and then came out and saw Rick control some of the water. Rick was making the water form into a column.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just trying to pass the time. I wonder how long it'll be for us to be able to leave here."

[In the males' spring]

Alara's father finished letting everyone in onto their little plan.

Lucian, the Lucario, then said, "So let me get this straight, you want our help in getting Rick and Alara together...why?"

"Because, he's the son of my best friend and he's been Alara's only male best friend she's ever had."

"They were babies! What did they know about being best friends?"

"You're missing my point. She's always been a hard stone to crack and Rick broke through her expectations easier than any other male I've ever seen. She almost seems attached to him and I came up with a plan. It's crude but I think it just might work. Rick seems to be the only male she allows to get close to her without her permission. I also want my best friend's legacy to continue through my family, for his honor and for my pride."

Jean then said, "That's odd. You're a dad that's actually trying to give his daughter to a male with no apprehension whatsoever. It's weird...but I'm game!"

"Good! And the others?"

All the males then said in unison, "AYE!" They then raised there hands.

"Well that was easy."

Celand, the Sceptile, then said, "Hey we wanted Rick to get a girl for a while and this is the closest and only opportunity we have to hook him up with a female of his species. Also, the circumstances are perfect. He's known her all his life, he's already protective of her, they seem to trust each other...to a point, and he's not trying to get away from us this time."

"So it's settled then. If this fails today then we shall make more scenarios for them to go through."

The guys then looked at one another, "You know that he probably already found you out, right?"

"Yeah, I kinda figured."

[Females' Spring]

All the girls got the same message and immediately wanted to be part of it.

"Wow I barely said anything and you girls already want to pitch in."

Anna, the Flygon, then said, "Of course. Rick deserves this much and they seem to make a good couple."

Amber, Serenity, and Seras then looked at each other and said, "Right...whatever you want to think."

Serenity then said, "They make a good couple because they're the same, personality-wise. But at times they tend to fight with one another."

"What's a relationship without a few fights here and there?"

"No I mean that their fights are destructive without Rick even going on the offensive. Alara usually tried to hurt him to no avail whatsoever."

"That's a relationship for you."

Alara's mother then intervened, "So we're all clear on what we're trying to accomplish if this tactic fails?"

They all then raised their hands and said, "AYE!"

Amber then said, "Well I don't hear them killing one another. You don't think..."

Seras then said, "No, Rick isn't an easy conquest and by what I've seen of Alara, neither is she. They are probably just trying to not make eye contact."

[Unisex spring]

Rick and Alara were looking everywhere, well except for Rick was looking up so that he didn't see Alara.

"How long do you intend on looking at the sky like a fucking idiot?"

"You told me not to look down, so I'm not doing that."

"I actually have a favor to ask of you."

Rick then looked at her face, being very careful to not look down, "Oh you do? Lay it on me." He then closed his eyes again.

"I want you to train me."

Rick then looked at her with the 'are you serious?' face again, "Umm why?"

"Because if we run into Projects again I want to make sure I stand even a ghost of a chance against them."

"Umm that's wishful thinking on your part."

"So how can Jean and the others hold their own against them? It was by training wasn't it?"

Rick then sighed, "Yes and because of something else."

"Something else you neglected to tell me?"

"Jean and the others, not including Serenity, are called Remnants. In short, they share my experimental DNA because I chose for them to have it. They are as much a part of me as a limb and the DNA heightens their senses. Call it as a form of Pokerus that can never go away and is not contagious. But they have to choose whether or not they want it."

"How do you give them your DNA?"

Rick then brought out a small spike from his index finger, "This spike acts like a viper's fangs. It's hollow and almost useless in battle but it injects whoever I choose with my DNA. Don't worry the DNA does nothing to their own DNA. You keep your own genetic makeup but your skills are increased. You can tell who are my Remnants because a blue "A" will appear on their bodies when my red "A" appears. It does not make them stronger, it just pushes their limit mark to a further point so that they can do more than other pokemon."

"I see...so how does it work?"

"I stab you in a blood vessel with this spike and inject you with my DNA. Nothing too complicated about that. Then you'll have a short spasm while your body assimilates to the DNA. You'll be disoriented for a little while and then you'll wake up with a blue "A" on your body. Then you have to start training...immediately to get the full advantage of it."

"So what happens then? Does your strength rival that of a Projects?"

"Yes and no, considering how well your training has been. Jean and the others can hold their own but I don't know if they're able to kill a Project."

Alara didn't say anything and just sat back and thought. She then looked at Rick with a curious look.

"No, I am not going to make you a Remnant. Mainly because I wouldn't be able to leave you then...mainly because you'll become a part of me."

"You turned the others into Remnants and you still left them for a few years."

"Yes, but we're of the same species. It works differently than onto others from other species. If I turn you into a Remnant then you will, in a metaphoric way, become me. Your DNA will sync with my own, in readings you'll come back as me but you're still yourself and if a DNA test were to take place you will still have your parents' DNA."

"I'm still a little confused. So I metaphorically and quite literally become part of you?"

"Dead on."

"So what are the consequences for that?"

"Well, you're prowess will increase but your senses of me will increase to the point where you feel what I feel. Maybe not physical pain but I'm going to affect you mentally and emotionally at some points."

"You already do that."

"That's because we've been around each other too much but you can't read my mind or my immediate thoughts."

"So I'm guessing that with your DNA I can?"

"Yeah, to a point. In battle you can tell what I'm going to do before I do it but not if I'm your opponent. I can tell when you're in danger and you can tell when I'm in danger."

"That actually sounds very useful. Why are you so apprehensive?"

"Because then Team Rocket will target you if they find out that I assimilated you. Mainly because you're another me...only without the Alpha state. I'm doing this to protect you, now get over it."

Alara then glared at him, "Why couldn't you just say that? Now I understand."

"I was hoping that you would of gotten the point that I wasn't going to do it."

Alara then sighed, "Alright but what's your answer about my request of you training me?"

Rick opened his eyes for the first time in a while, "I'll do it but you better not complain about my training methods."

"Oh don't worry. By what I've seen with your training sessions with Serenity, you'll make sure I'll be okay. Also, this won't be the first time I've been through training. Everyone in the Sanctuary has to go through some sort of combat training. My father, mother, Zant, and Daedalus trained me for a few years, but it was general combat."

"Good to know. Your training might go by faster than Serenity..depending if you have her desire to learn."

"And I want to learn. Don't worry, I'm not going to give up and quit."

Rick then chuckled, "We shall see soon enough. When do you want to start?"

Alara then thought for a second, "Give me some time to prepare, I have a few things to do this week. So next week is good for me."

"Very well. Let's make sure everything goes well before that."

Alara arched an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Think for a second. We just fought two Rocket Projects and I'm the Alpha Project and I have no trainer anymore. They will be looking for me again and they now know that I'm in the Sinnoh region. However, they have no idea where in the Sinnoh region nor do they know about the Sanctuary. However, if they find this place then I'm going to kill a lot of Team Rocket members, including some Projects. Which I don't want to do?"

Alara was shocked at the last remark, "What are you talking about? If you kill them, everything gets solved and Giovanni looses all his ammunition against you and the world."

"I was stronger as a Kirlia, when I was a complete project. I gave up my Project powers a long time ago."

"Huh? What do you mean by that? You can give up your powers?"

"Yes I can...to a point. All the Projects came after me and all of them have a piece of my powers. I gave up my project powers when I joined my trainer, so that I could live like a normal Kirlia. I could no longer do any of the things that I did as a Project. However, there's backside to this. If a Project dies, the imprinted power will return to me and it will make it harder to hold in the Alpha state. I will gain back some of my powers the more they die."

"But you used some powers in the fight and earlier."

"I told you during the fight that Epsilon killed her brother Upsilon in a greedy rage. Because of his death I have some of my powers back. When they die you can tell when some of the power is returning to me because it manifests itself as black ribbons like things that will speed off towards me and impale me. It will weaken me for a second so that the power can return to its place. Then I might go into a quick Alpha state like rage like what happened to me when we fought Epsilon. And I don't feel like explaining more of this since it might not happen while I'm here."

"I understand. So if we kill the Projects, you'll gain your powers back?"

"Only if we kill the first few Projects that I was trained with. So that means that in order for me to become Project Alpha again, Projects Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, and Upsilon will have to die. Upsilon is out of the picture and I will never kill Gamma and Delta, they were like family to me. But I won't hesitate to kill Epsilon though. She has done so much against me that caused me so much pain. She killed her brother, broke Seras's arm one time, put Jean in a coma, stabbed me in the back...literally, she set my trainer's house on fire but we put it out quickly, she also tried to murder Seras, she even murdered a Marowak in Kanto just to get to its child, poor Cubone. I have to stop her once and for all."

"I feel you but will you actually do it?"

"No, not yet. I need to stay off the radar for a while and that means that I have to live like a normal Gallade for a little while."

"You know what popped back into my head? Your mission to get the amulet to Maylene. What happened to that?"

"Nothing. I'm still going to do it but the circumstances just got too dangerous and Epsilon knows how my human form looks like now and she is going to use that to identify me. Damn! Once again I've been delayed."

"Don't worry. Now you have a home to stay at and come back to. I know that'll make your friends happy since they know where to find you."

"You may be right, but I've only been here for two days and I still need to get to know the place better."

Alara then closed one eye in her usual fashion when she gets an idea, "I have an idea, are you game for another outing tomorrow from morning to night?"

"I have nothing to do. I'm game and what do you have in mind?"

"Just going through the Sanctuary and the attractions here. We're going to have some fun."

Rick then chuckled and closed his eyes again before submerging his head into the water.

Alara then sent him a mental message, _"Don't drown now."_ She then giggled a little and Rick then reappeared.

"I won't drown, don't worry about me. So how long do you think we're going to be locked in here?"

"I have no idea. I wonder what the others are doing."

Rick then chuckled, "I'm going to get us out of here. Just wait, I'm not even going to move."

Alara was confused but didn't ask since she knew that Rick had a solution to almost everything.

[Males' Spring]

The guys were enjoying their day and joking around with each other. Alara's father then got a mental message.

_"How are you doing sir? It's me Aeru. You have one minute to get me out of this room before I blow this place up. Yeah, I'm kinda on to you. Next time don't make it too obvious. Bye! Me and Alara will be waiting. If you can sense some energy building then that means that I'm no longer playing around. Ciao!"_

Alara's father then felt some energy building in the 'Unisex' room and he quickly got up and ran to the room releasing the seal and opening the door only to be met by Alara's fist. Alara then walked out of the room with her towel on and she then spoke to her father.

"Low blow dad, a very low blow. Well we're out now and I'll deal with you and mom later. Bye!" She then walked into the female spring where they could hear the girls give a surprised gasp and Alara quietly growling at her mom and Amber.

Rick then helped Alara's dad up and walked him back to the male spring where the guys were waiting. When they saw Rick they quickly looked at one another and back to him carrying Alara's father.

Jean then asked, "What happened to Alara's dad?"

"Alara punched him and she packs a wallop. Anyways, let's just enjoy our time. I was stuck in that room for almost an hour."

After a few hours in the springs everyone decided to leave and returned to Rick's house where another dilemma presented itself. On the way back to Rick's house they dropped a tired Amber off at her house and then made it back to Rick's house. Once they entered the house many of the guys began to call dibs on the rooms for them to sleep in. Rick, Celand, and Jean quickly stopped them and Rick had to tell them the situation with the house.

"Sorry guys. I would love to have you guys living here with me but there's a few problems. One, there's not enough room for all of us here. Two, my parents made it perfectly clear that they wished that no one, other than myself, my sister, my mate, and temporary tenants were to live here. Sadly, none of you are my sister, mate, or tenants so I can't let you guys stay here."

A large number of his friends then gave a collective "aww" and they could tell that Rick would of let them stay if he could.

Alara's father then told Rick, "I figured this might happen if your "family" came and I actually have a surprise for you."

"I see that you like to think ahead like me. Mind telling me what you've planned?"

"Nearby there is a condominium building that had just finished being built. I think it will be a great place for these guys to stay. I'll even pay off the expenses for a few month and you guys will be the first individuals to live there."

Rick sounded as if he was suspicious as usual, "Sounds good, however I'll pay off their expenses for about a year, maybe even permanently if everything goes alright. Anyways, this seems way too planned out, want to explain?"

"Sure, once I heard your story from Alara I thought that there was a good chance that your friends might catch up with. So after taking every precaution and with the luck that the condos were finished, I decided to reserve a few rooms after Alara told me that there were sixteen of you in total. The condominiums have over a hundred rooms."

"That's amazing planning...also, I'm surprised on how modernized you guys are. For pokemon you guys act so much like humans in the way that you have technology and the such."

"We're actually get a lot of support from humans. Private companies and charities and they actually have franchises here. We're the closest pokemon to humans and this shows it."

"I would expect that pokemon would of been apprehensive about living like humans."

"Oh we live with human influence but don't mistake us for them. We keep our pokemon lives we just get support. All of our residence have lived in the wild at least once in their lives and it helps that we can't verbally speak to humans."

"But we can speak to them mentally. Anyways, this is off topic. How do I sign them up for their homes?"

"Tomorrow morning you can sign them up...but tonight they have to stay elsewhere. I think you have to keep them here."

Rick then scratched his head, "Well I guess you're right. There's five rooms here so I think that we can fit three in each room and all the girls in one. But that means I'll have to give them the largest room and I guess that's okay...but we'll have to fit four guys in one room."

"Um..Rick. We can't put them in your current room. It's your parents room and I know they would of wanted only you to be there."

"I'm really missing the point on why they want this place pretty much isolated to only family occupancy."

"It's a form of honor. The family home stays in the blood, even the most intimate room in the house, your parents' room. Is this understood?"

Rick then sighed, "Yes it is. I'd rather not think about what went on in my room. The images that only I can see are enough for me."

Alara's father laughed quietly before Alara proposed something, "The girls can stay with me and Amber. We actually have a guest room in the basement that they can stay in. It has a couchbed and two more beds."

"Now that sounds too perfect, care to explain?"

"I have friends here too you know. They like to stay over some times and I need a place for them to stay over at night."

"Wow...I have no input to give you. So what do you girls think?"

The girls in the room then gave a thumbs up and nodded. Rick then said, "Well it's settled. So I'm guessing that your girls are just going to fly over there?"

Alara then gave them her car keys, "You guys can use my car..." She then looked at Rick. "...they can drive, right?"

"Yes...why are you giving them your keys?"

"So they can drive to my house without drawing attention. Anyways, you'll drive me home anyways once we're done here. Also, your Scizor friend seems to be super tired anyways."

"Who Amari? I'm not surprised, she's a fierce fighter."

"So now you see my point? Anyways, I want to speak with you about tomorrow."

"Fine. I'll take you home afterwards. What do you need to talk about?"

"Follow me to your garden so we can speak privately. You guys can have your fun talking."

Alara then walked towards the garden and Rick followed her. Before Rick left he looked at her parents and smiled and narrowed his eyes, scaring them.

After they left Alara's parents got everyone's attention. He father then said, "Okay I have a feeling that Rick is on to us. Apparently it's hard to trick him and we're going to have to switch up our tactics. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Seras then said, "Well I don't think putting them into some awkward situations is going to help."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Just leave them be. They seem to be bonding by themselves just fine. But I do have one suggestion."

"Which is?"

[In the Garden]

Rick and Alara sat down on a bench in the garden. Rick had never taken the time to see just how large the garden was and was surprised that his dad actually made a garden like this but something told him that his mother had something to do with it too. Alara then snapped him back into reality by snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"You okay there?"

Rick shook himself back into reality, "Yeah, just zoned out for a second."

"I don't blame you. My parents used to walk me through this garden when I was little. It always surprised me how your parents were able to make it since my dad tells me that your mom and dad built it with their own bare hands. This garden is amazing, for that reason I always wanted to live in this house but my parents never let me. I'm guessing they were saving it for you...oh well, at least the owner is my friend."

"Well you got that." He laughed. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh yeah, looks like I zoned out this time." She giggled with her hand to her mouth. "I just want to plan this out better. What time do you want to go?"

"After breakfast, if that's alright with you. I want to see this place a bit more."

"That works for me. We're actually going to be walking throughout the entire thing, so your feet might hurt at the end of the day."

"I walk miles for the hell of it sometimes. This will not be a problem for me."

"Good because I was not going to put up with any whining. I also know where we're going to eat tomorrow. Let's say it might be a repeat of Hearthome...only without the fancy restaurant and the guys following us."

"You'll never know when they will be following us."

"I asked them not to. I told them to give us our space."

"We're just going for a day out in the town."

"True but you know how Amber and Jean are some times."

"Good point."

"Well is that all you really want to talk to me about?"

"Not completely. Word of caution: We might run into a Gallade called Sayer and there might be trouble."

"Oh, ex-boyfriend?"

"He wishes! He's infatuated with me but he's a grade A asshole, especially towards Amber. He tends to become possessive when other Gallades get near me. He thinks I'm playing hard to get but what he fails to recognize is that I seriously don't like him."

"So let me guess, he'll probably try to attack me?"

"Maybe but I'm usually the one that hurts him."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since I was nine. He's easy to point out. Look for one of the biggest Gallades in a group of four Gallades with red hair."

"I'm guessing he's a fighter."

"He's part of the military but has yet to do anything extraordinary. He pisses me off so much. He lives in the fourth den...which is, sadly, where there's a restaurant that I wanted us to have lunch in. I guess I should change it."

Rick then waved his hands in front of himself, "Don't do that. You already know he can't do anything to me. I would destroy him and his gang quickly."

"You're probably right. Fine, but I don't want that to ruin our day tomorrow."

"Let's hope not. Want me to take you home?"

Alara shook her head, "Not yet. I need to speak to you about something else."

Rick shrugged, "I'm all ears."

"You can sense that my parents are on to something, can't you?"

"I figured it out immediately. They think they're sneaky but I have a feeling that your mother has something planned for us and your father is completely oblivious to her plan."

"What do you think they're planning?"

Rick then rolled his eyes without Alara knowing, he was surprised that even she had no idea what was going on. Rick then told her, "I have no clue. Just keep your eyes and mind prepped for anything. So is that it?"

"Yeah. I just want to walk around the garden a bit more. Too many memories here and I would like to relive them."

She then walked down a path and Rick went to follow her. Just then another memory that his parents left behind caught his eyes. He then stopped to watch them and saw the images walking down one of the paths laughing and enjoying each other's company. They then walked towards and through Rick, prompting him to turn around and see them walking down the path Alara went down. They then stopped and kissed one another and disappeared. Rick just smiled and chuckled before walking down the path and seeing Alara sitting on a bench and looking at a fountain that Rick did not see initially when he scoped the area.

"I see that you really like fountains. First in Hearthome and now here."

"I do. I love looking at them. I actually want to play some music right now. I now know how you feel."

Rick smiled and teleported his guitar to his hands, he was then surprised to see Alara teleport a harp and getting ready to play it. Rick chuckled and sat down next to her on the bench.

"What do you want to play? I've never heard you play your harp before."

"I want to play that song you taught me on the piano. I actually practiced it since we got here, but on my harp not the piano."

"Pachebel's Cannon? Sure, it will be interesting to see how it will sound." (Play **Pachelbel - Canon in D Major (Harp and Guitar)**)

[In the House]

The girls were close to leaving and everyone was talking to one another and then they heard what sounded like music coming from the garden. The all immediately went to the large balcony to oversee the garden and traced the music to a fountain surrounded by arches. They then saw Rick and Alara playing their instruments and they all then relaxed and listened to the soothing music.

Alara's parents were surprised at the music. Alara's mother then told her mate, "I guess she wasn't kidding when she said he was a musician. I like him as a person even more."

"Yeah, I think we've chosen correctly. They seem to enjoy each other's company very well. It reminds me so much of Aeru's parents. I wish I can see the images he sees."

Alara's mother then thought, "You don't think the images are here for another purpose? I can sense that Rick can still see them but they shouldn't still be there after an entire day. They must have a message to convey to him...or just teach him what went on in the house."

"I think they are teaching him their past. Rick didn't have a lot of time to learn a lot about them personally outside of them as his parents but not as individuals."

"I guess you're right. Just enjoy the music."

After a few minutes the music stopped and everyone scrambled inside so that they didn't know that they were there watching and listening to them.

[In the Garden]

Alara and Rick finished playing and teleported their instruments back to their original places and then burst out laughing out of nowhere. Alara then rested her head on his shoulder and couldn't stop laughing.

Rick then said in between the laughs, "Why are...we laugh?"

"I have no idea. I'm just happy for no reason. We've gotten along too well lately."

"That we have because normally you would be getting off my shoulder at this moment."

"...this is true."

They then began laughing again and Rick then helped her up and they walked back into the house where everyone was acting casual. It would seem less of an awkward situation if Jean and Dartz weren't singing show tunes and the others were watching static on the TV.

Rick then said, "You know you guys are bad hiding the fact that you guys were watching us."

Dartz and Jean then quickly began to sing again, "Ummmm...Y-M-C-A."

"Shut up!"

"Okay."

After ten minutes, Alara's parents and Rick's uncles left the house to retire for the night. Alara then decided that she wanted to go home and prepare for tomorrow. So Rick and Alara got into Rick's car and Rick drove her to her house, where they saw her car parked outside and Rick could sense that everyone in the house was asleep.

"Wow, they really were tired even after a spa day. Anyways, here's your stop." Rick then got out of the car and opened her door for her. She then walked to her house and unlocked the door before turning around and talking to Rick.

"Well thanks for the...interesting day."

"You're welcome?" He laughed, "I have no idea what to tell you about that one."

"Well it was interesting to say the least."

"You yourself are pretty interesting. Your past and everything."

"Well I can't control that."

"But you didn't have to go and fight those guys."

Rick then looked up and then back at her, "Ordinary people run away from danger, I just tend to get in its path...way too much to my own liking."

Alara laughed quietly at this and opened her arms. Rick had no idea what she was doing, then a vein appeared on her head.

"Aren't you going to hug me?"

Rick then sweatdropped, "Since when did you allow me to hug you?"

"We know each other enough...technically we've known each other for twenty one years."

"This is technically true...oh what the hell!"

He then hugged her and she kissed him on the cheek before waving goodbye and closing the door.

"What the hell just happen?" He then shrugged and got back in his car and drove home.

[The Next Morning]

Alara and the girls arrived at Rick's house and Alara opened the door before peaking her head in and smelling to see if there was any fire. Luckily there was none and so she and the other girls walked in and made themselves at home with Seras heading to the kitchen to cook up some breakfast.

Alara then walked into the dining room where she saw one of Rick's friends, an Alakhazam, siting down by a window and reading a book. He then looked at Alara as she came into the room and greeted her.

"Why hello there child! Are you here for Rick?" His voice sounded much older than the rest but still kind but stern at the same time.

"Yes. Is he awake?"

"Yes, he's in the garden somewhere. That boy has sure changed since he was a Kirlia but I guess it's for the best."

"How long have you known him?"

The Alakhazam then put his book down and leaned back on the chair, "He's been on out team for twelve years but I've known him for nearly fourteen."

"In what way did you meet him before?"

"He was part of Team Rocket and me and my old master used to battle Team Rocket. Along with the others. Me, Gloria, and Wayland have had past run in with Rick. Usually violent since we were on opposing sides. Even Jean was Rick's enemy at one point but once Rick left Team Rocket we welcomed him into our lives with open arms. I never understood why my master wanted to let him in. Probably to compensate for the old Rick."

"Old Rick?"

"Yes, Rick was my master's second Gallade. The last one died trying to protect us and we've never forgotten his sacrifice. So when our master named him after his predecessor it told me that he was to carry on his work."

"Seras told me of the old Gallade on your team. So I don't think you need to fill me in on the details just yet. Did Rick ever meet this old Rick?"

"No, he died before Rick was Project Alpha. He died four years prior to the events that created Project Alpha. So there was no possible way for them to have met. Anyways, I'm forgetting my manners. I didn't even introduce myself. My name is Winston. I'm the oldest of our team and the only remaining member of my master's old team. No need for you to introduce yourself, I was told about you already."

"Very well, nice to meet you Winston. So Rick is in the garden? What's he doing there?"

"I would guess meditating or sharpening his psychic prowess. Either way it's okay to go see him."

"Okay, thank you!"

With that Alara went out back to the garden and then started the task of finding Rick in the maze of paths in the garden. After a while she found him in a small island in the middle of a fish pond, sitting. He seemed to be lost in meditation and Alara sat down on a bench across from him. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he looked at Alara without changing his emotionless expression.

"Good morning Alara! I wasn't expecting you here for about another hour or two."

"Well the girls wanted to come back here. How did you know I was here?"

"I sense you walk into the garden a while back. Your emotions are easy for me to pick up."

"Oh yeah, I forgot we could do that. Anyways, what are you doing?"

Rick then jumped off the small island and landed in front of her. "Well I was just relaxing. Just some meditation for a bit. When you're a psychic you would like to keep your psychic powers as sharp as they can be." With that he turned around and lifted a boulder that was around the fish pond with **Psychic** and crushed it while closing his hand. It broke little by little until he finally crushed it with a big pound of psychic power. "Well I need to work on it a little more. I haven't done it in a while."

"That was incredible in its own sense. You're stronger with **Psychic** than I thought."

"You should be stronger at it but I'll help you when we start your training next week. For now let's just head inside, I can already smell Seras's cooking."

Alara then nodded and both of them teleported back to the house where they found everyone sitting down at the dining room table indulging themselves in the breakfast. Rick and Alara then joined them and quickly ate their breakfast.

Jean then asked Rick, "So Rick any plans for today?"

"Yeah, Alara wants to give me a tour of the Sanctuary today. So I won't be home until this afternoon or later tonight."

"Sounds fun. You two behave now." He said deviously.

Rick and Alara then hit him in the back of the head and high fived each other before returning to their food. They finished eating with the others and then got up to leave for the day and waved goodbye to everyone before heading out.

Rick then turned and told the others, "Before I forget. I called the condo building. You're homes are ready for you guys to move in. Courtesy of me, so enjoy."

Everyone then cheered and Rick and Alara left the house.

"So where to first?"

"Well we could start here in this den but you pretty much know it enough now. So do you want to go to the second den?"

"Sure."

With that they went to a large elevator that was near Alara's house. They were joined by many other members of their species and soon the elevator took off and they arrived at the second den.

When Rick looked at the den he could stills the sky and then he remembered that Alara told him that the people in the dens created their own ecosystem to mimic the outside world. He then noticed a large crowd in a place that looked like a market.

Alara then told him, "This is the trade district. There are actually quite a few here in the Sanctuary but this is where a lot of the trade goes down. This section of the second den is called the Trade District but on the other end is the Watch District."

"What's it used for?"

"It's where the...well humans call it the police are found. It's just the Guard Unit's headquarters."

"So are we going to hang around here for a while?"

"I actually didn't want to stay here long. This may be the Trade district but you need things to trade. The Shopping District is in the fifth den so we're not getting the for a while. The third den is completely one of the many Residential Districts and the Military district in the center. The Watch and Military District actually have stations in each den for reasons of security. So let me ask you, do you want to walk around here or go down to the third den?"

"Well this place has nothing to offer unless you're a merchant here for trade or a guard. So let's go to the next den...mainly because my family is from there."

"Fine then let's go back to the elevator."

They then made the short walk to the elevator and went down another level until the third den was in view and Rick was surprised on how gigantic the den was. He then saw a large fortress in the center of the den and he immediately identified it as the Military District. The elevator finally stopped and opened up and Rick immediate walked out and looked over the cliff that the elevator was on. He leaned on the railing and looked at the scenery.

Alara then got his attention and pointed at a certain point in the area. "That's where your family lives. My family lives in the same place. So I'm guessing you want to see your family?"

"No I spent all my morning and most of my afternoon with them yesterday. I'm just here to have fun."

After some time they were walking around the area and Alara then began to look around cautiously. Rick was confused about why she was acting like this and didn't help that she was holding onto his arm, moving him at every one of her movements.

"Dare I ask what you're doing?"

"What did I tell you last night?"

"Oh the Sayer guy?"

"Yep. He's bound to be somewhere around here and I do not want to find him."

"Calm down. What's the worse he can do?"

"I'm just hoping he doesn't do anything. He's the one reason I try not to come here, but I'm here often because of my family. I was here all the time because my high school and college was here too."

"You have a college now? We're pokemon."

"Yeah, I have a diploma and a degree."

"A degree for what?"

"...Biology."

"Wow so close to mine."

"Wait you went to college?"

"Yep."

"What time did you have and what the hell would someone like you possibly major in?...wait, don't tell me. Considering your deductive skill I'm guessing Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, or any form of investigative science, right?"

"None of the above."

"Then what the hell is it?"

"Wildlife Biology."

Alara then stopped and looked at him with a confused look. "Wait...what? I would of never of guessed that."

Rick then laughed, "Exactly! You would never of guessed but it actually comes in handy some times. Besides it pissed Team Rocket off because that was not what they wanted me to learn."

"I'm not even going to ask."

They then proceeded to walk again and soon reached a park where there were a number of statues of former Warlords. Alara then took him to one that she felt he would recognize immediately.

"Does it look familiar to you?"

Rick then chuckled, "Yeah, it's my dad. I look so much like him, I never thought about it."

Alara then giggled, "Yes, you do. He's one of our most honored Warlords."

"Why?"

"He made our guards and our army stronger than they have ever been. He changed our protection protocol which has save our lives more than once...of course I wasn't born yet but my dad tells me so much about him. Although his most shinning moment was when he help us win our war with an entire Mightyena colony. I don't know anything about that as much as I should but because of that we've honored him so much. That's why you have a celebrity status here now, because of them and because you returned after twenty one years." Alara then took a magazine out of her bag and handed it to Rick. "Read it for yourself."

Rick then began to read the front page of the paper. "Hmm looks like I do have a celebrity status here now and I have yet to speak to anyone...hell, most people didn't know I existed up until then." Rick then turned the page and chuckled while shaking his head when he read it.

Alara was confused, "What is it?" Rick then gave her the magazine and she saw the section that said, "Aeruthael and Alara: Possible Romance? Oh Arceus this is going to stick for a while. Oh well it's just a magazine. It's not like people actually believe this."

Rick then said while pointing behind her, "Then tell that to all the paparazzi, journalists, and onlookers taking pictures."

Alara then turned around and saw the crowd that had gathered. She then grabbed Rick's arm and pulled him along to get away. They then made it out of the park and made it to an area with a lot of shops and restaurants.

After about an hour of Alara giving him a tour of the place they ended up in an area full of shops and restaurants. Alara was actually pretty excited to be in this area and Rick could tell without sensing her emotions.

"I take it this place means a lot to you?"

"Yes, me and my friends used to hang out here all the time when we were in high school. I usually still see some of them here." She then saw a restaurant that looked like a saloon and she entered with Rick in tow. "A few of my friends actually work here. I should introduce you to some since you introduced me to about thirteen of your friends."

She then walked up to a counter and a Gardevoir appeared from behind the counter. "Hello and welcome too...Oh! Alara it's just you."

"What do you mean 'it's just me', is that any way to talk to a patron?"

"We go way back girl. I don't have to give you the introduction. Hell, even the owner has you on speed dial if anything."

"Well this was our hang out during high school. Oh yeah, Serah this is Aeru. You probably know already. He likes to be called Rick so go ahead and call him that."

"Really? Pleased to meet you Rick."

Rick then said, "Charmed!"

"So what brings the two highest class children in the Sanctuary here? You two on a date?"

Alara and Rick immediately yelled, "NO!"

Serah laughed, "I'm just kidding but yesterday's magazine is bringing suspicion to others."

Alara then sweatdropped and asked, "How many people actually read that article?"

"It's the most popular magazine for the youth of our species. Almost everyone read that article already, just look around you."

Alara then turned around and saw all the teenage Gardevoirs and Gallades reading the magazine and almost fainted. "Oh crap! Have you seen Sayer anywhere around here lately? Last thing I need is for him to come crashing in here in a jealous rage."

"He's still trying to get you to be his mate. Does he ever grow up?"

"No, it's annoying. Anyways, Rick you want some lunch?"

Rick then said, "Yeah I can use a snack."

Just then an older Gallade came out of the back and saw Rick and Alara and walked up and hugged Alara.

"Alara it's good to see you my dear."

Alara then responded, "Hey Mr. Rolin. It's good to see you again."

"What brings you around here today?" He then noticed Rick. "Oh you're with Warlord Xeron's son? Are you here for lunch?"

"Yes, I'm giving him a tour of the Sanctuary today."

"Well order whatever you want. It's on the house!"

"Aww thank you."

Rick and Alara then sat down at a table and then ordered their meals. Rick was chuckling the entire time and Alara seemed to have noticed this.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing I'm just trying to picture you as a teenager and coming here everyday."

"Well I'm not very different than when I was a teenager. Also, speaking of which, how did you even go to school?"

"Team Rocket made sure I was educated. I went to college at the age of nine. I didn't have much of a childhood and my teenage years were full of training and combat. My only friends were my allies and I never really went out much. Me and my friends did go out every now and then but not too much."

"So you're not used to this? Wow! I guess we should do this more often so that you can get accustomed to it."

"If you want. I have nothing to do anymore. I want to deliver the amulet but I need to lay low for a while."

"So we agree. Good."

Soon their food arrived and they began to indulge in the delicious dish. Not long after Alara stopped and looked at the door with an irritated look. Rick then looked and sensed what she was sensing.

Alara then said, "Crap!"

"Let me guess, it's going to be one of those days?"

"Yep. Get ready for trouble. Here comes Sayer."

Alara then went to drink her drink and a large Gallade walked into the room with a group of three other Gallades. When Alara felt him enter she rolled her eyes and tried to make herself unnoticeable. It worked for a time and Rick stayed quiet so that he didn't give Alara's presence off. Sayer then went to the counter to where Serah was cleaning.

"Hey Serah, what's on for today?"

She then stopped cleaning the counter and looked at him, "We have soup and pie. Are you going to order some thing or just annoy me again?"

"Calm down! I'm just here to eat something. Say, have you seen Alara around?"

"Nope. You probably give up on her, she's not interested. So what's your order? I want to be able to get on with my day."

"Oh not this again. Come on she's only playing hard to get. I just need to push her a little more."

When Alara heard that she almost jumped out of her seat in a rage but Rick managed to calm her down mentally.

"That'll never work. Besides don't you read the local magazine?"

"Oh yeah I saw. There's no way that featherweight will conquer her, I bet he can't even beat me."

Rick chuckled silently at what Sayer just said and he then told Alara mentally, _"Oh I like him already."_

_"Just wait and don't draw attention to yourself. I'd rather not risk a confrontation with him today. It's usually a daily thing here."_

_"Oh so you do come here often."_

_"Almost everyday because all my friends are here. But I haven't been here since I left so Sayer doesn't even know I'm here. Just be quiet and try not to laugh."_

_"No need to worry about that. I won't attack him unless he tried to do something to Serah. He seems to be a pretty rash individual but he has to remember that he's a Gallade and he has to respect a female's honor."_

Sayer then told Serah, "I'll find her later. Actually, let me call her."

Alara then facepalmed, _"I forgot. One of my friends gave him my number by accident. Crap! I have my Poketch."_

_"This is about to get interesting."_ Rick then smiled and just waited for the fireworks.

Sayer then dialed the number and called Alara. Just then her Poketch began to ring and Sayer looked at Alara while Serah facepalmed.

"Well looks like you were lying to me."

Serah then told her, "Sayer leave her be. She doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Oh shut up! Hey there Alara."

Alara then glared at him, "What the hell do you want Sayer?"

Rick just leaned back on his chair while Sayer walked up to her. "I just want to talk. Nothing wrong with that."

"How about no and get out of my sight before I throw you across the den again...I'm surprised you're even okay after that."

"I landed in the lake. Anyways, and if I don't? Also, who the hell is this?"

"He's Warlord Xeron's only son. The one that came back."

"Aeruthael?"

"Bingo dipshit!"

"So the magazine is true. You're going to go for him and not for me."

"I'd rather go for him than you! At least his actually a Gallade worth my time."

Rick just smiled and thought, *This is better than I thought.*

Sayer then told Rick, "So you're trying to steal my girl?"

Rick then smiled again, "Your girl? I don't hear that. Sounds like you're the bane of her existence. Sorry, but get it through your think skull: She...does...like...you. Got that Roderigo? (lol Shakespeare reference from "Othello")"

"Do you want me to kill you?"

Alara then snickered, "Oh please. He'll destroy you."

"Is that a challenge?"

Rick then said, "Alara please. I'm here to have a good time."

"At least do me the favor."

Rick then sighed, "Alright." Rick then used Psychic to open the door to the diner and teleported out with Alara. He then yelled, "Coming out or not?"

Sayer then walked out with his gang and took his jacket off. He then drew his blades and Rick just yawned with Alara giggling at how casual he was acting and because of how she was going to enjoy this.

Sayer then told Rick, "So do you expect to survive today?"

"I'm expecting to walk out of here without a scratch, take Alara back home, then head back home, and then take a nap. So yeah, I am expecting to survive."

"...I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should."

Sayer immediately charged at him. Rick quickly disappeared and hit him with a **Shadow Ball**, making him fall down.

"That was pathetic. I know you can take more than that."

Sayer jumped back to his feet and charged a **Night Slash** but Rick moved out of the way and tripped him.

"Too slow!"

"Are you trying to make me look like a fool?"

Rick then laughed, "I'm not trying, I'm succeeding. Now come on and fight for real."

Sayer again got up and fired a **Signal Beam** and Rick who caught it with his bare hands and redirected it back to Sayer. Sayer was sent flying into a brick wall and was cratered within it. Rick and Alara then teleported in front of him.

"I love 3-D art but this one is in poor taste. Kinda ugly too." Alara giggle when he said that.

Suddenly Sayer burst out of the wall and brought one of his blades down on Rick. Rick's expression immediately went from playful to serious and he caught the blade with no problem. Sayer was surprised by this and Rick just held the blade with his hand.

Alara then told Rick, "Alright, enough fun. End it Rick."

"Okay." He then glared at Sayer. "You will never be able to cut me, your power is just too low to even damage me. Now this is how it's going to go down: You're going to leave Alara alone, you're going to stop disrespecting every Gardevoir you meet, and you'll just go back home and fix your fucking attitude."

Sayer became even more irritated and attacked Rick with a barrage of **Shadow Balls**. When the dust settled Rick was behind Sayer and had his dad's sword to his throat.

"What did I tell you? You'll never beat me."

Almost immediately Sayer's gang attacked Rick and he jumped off Sayer, making them hit Sayer with their attacks. Rick then landed in front of Alara and drew his blades. They then fired another barrage of **Shadow Balls** at him and he and Alara jumped out of the way. Rick then caught Alara in the air and landed on the ground in front of the gang and fought them while still carrying Alara.

After a few moments they were all on the ground in pain and Rick didn't have a scratch on him. Alara then giggled again.

"Hey Rick, can you put me down now? Also, don't you guys get it, he's stronger than any military personnel you throw at him."

Sayer then got up, "Well not the Warlord."

Rick and Alara then looked at each other and laughed before walking back into the diner to continue their meal.

When they made it back to their meals they received an applause from the people inside and the owner then walked up to Rick and shook his hand.

"Well done my boy. We've been waiting for someone to put him and his thugs in their place and you did it with no difficulty. You really are your father's son and your appearance and power prove that. You're welcome here whenever you want and your meals are on the house."

Rick smiled and waved his hand, "No, you need to make a living and it's not fair to take even one bill from you. I'd rather pay like everyone else but I'm glad to have helped." He then turned to Alara. "So I'm guessing he wasn't just a menace to you."

"Nope, he would bully everyone else. A lot of people have wanted to beat the daylights out of him but no one would dare with his gang always around him. Then you did that and I bet they'll leave us alone now...for a while.

"I wouldn't mind beating the crap out of them again." Rick then turned to his food and told Serah, "Serah, this pie is to die for." Sayer then walked into the room and charged Rick again. "Say may I borrow that steel chair?" Serah then gave him the steel chair and he folded it before hitting Sayer in the stomach and then taking a major league baseball worthy swing to his head. "And that's how you deal with assholes. Any questions? No? Alright, class is dismissed."

Alara then walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder and they waved goodbye and left with Rick carrying the unconscious Sayer outside and dropping him in front of his gang. They then quickly made it back to the first den and kept laughing.

"Alara, what are we laughing about?"

"That was just so much fun to watch. You really kicked his ass and I actually enjoyed that. He'll think twice before messing with me since you're going to be around."

"Let's just home. Anyways, let's get into my car already. It's...wow it's already six in the afternoon. What the hell were we doing all day?"

"Having fun."

With that they arrived to where Rick had parked and drove off to Alara's house. After a few minutes he arrived at her house and did his usual thing of walking her to her porch and saying goodbye.

"Well this day was...memorable." He then laughed.

"It got a little populated. Want to do that again someday?"

"You tell me. I'm free for anything."

"Alright. I'll tell you when. Well bye."

"Bye"

She then hugged him and walked into the house. Rick then turned and walked back into his car and he then remembered, "Oh fuck I left the guys in my dad's house unsupervised!" He then sped off to his house in hopes that it was still standing.

[Somewhere]

Mew was floating in front of a dark room and was apparently speaking to someone that was hidden behind the darkness of the room.

"And that's what happened. I don't know how but I'm sure it's him. Who else can fight like that?"

A voice then came from the room, "Hmm, very well. I want you to bring him to me. I must speak to him, he will definitely be useful. Now go Mew, we don't have a lot of time to waste in idle chatter. Report back to me when you have brought him to my domain."

"Yes sir!" Mew then bowed and immediately flew into a portal and left.

"Hmm let's just hope that he will be willing to help us. Forgive me Aeruthael, but I must bother you for a task that only someone like you can complete. After all you're the only one with the experience to do this."

Too much writing and too much medicine went into writing this one. Anyways guys keep reviewing, sending me requests, questions, and suggestions. The next Q&A is going to come out once I actually receive more questions. So yeah, thanks for everything. Bye!


	22. Chapter 22: Meeting Your Makers

I'm finally at 100% health and I've been able to write this monster of a chapter in a short time. I really like how this chapter came out and it's full of action and plot devices. I hope you guys enjoy it as well and I've been having a good week. I get my laptop tuned up, I find out that I have all A's in college, and a friend of mines is getting married. So my good mood helped me write this chapter. View Standings: #1) Canada, #2) UK, #3) The Philippines, #4) Iceland, #5)Mexico.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

After his day with Alara, Rick rushed to his house to breathe a sigh of relief in seeing that it was still standing. He then walked in and also found it in one piece and nothing broken. He figured that the gang had gone to their new homes and decided to go to his room to take a nap. However before he went to his room he decided to take a walk in the garden for some odd reason.

When he arrived at the garden he immediately entered arches and caught sight of another image of his parents walking in the garden. This image was different from the last one because the image of his mother was holding a Ralts, which he quickly knew was him. He then saw them sit down on a bench and they spoke to one another but Rick couldn't make out what they were saying. He then decided to do something he hasn't done up until that point, he walked up to the images. Only then did the words become audible to him.

His mother's image said, "So what are your plans for little Aeru?" She said while rocking a drowsy baby Rick.

"What else? I want him to grow as strong...no, stronger than me. Soon I want to leave him with the Warlord title but only if he chooses it to be his destiny. I'll be proud and supportive of any and all decisions he makes."

"Is that all?"

"Well I want to leave him Shadowbane."

"Your sword? I doubt it will serve him any purpose. It might become a gigantic piece of rust by the time he inherits it."

"Well it hasn't done that for over a thousand years."

Rick immediately looked at his sword and said, "So you're over a thousand years old...and your name is Shadowbane? Interesting." He then went back to listen to the conversation.

"Well if you want to leave him your sword then I won't stop you."

"What will you give him?"

"Well besides my good looks, I'll leave him my locket."

"The Golden Dahlia? What for?"

"So he can use its power someday."

Rick immediately looked at his locket and examined it closely, "What the hell? Power? This thing has never done anything for me." He then went back to listening.

"What power again?"

"It allows me to use dark type attacks. Mainly **Dark Pulse** and **Night Daze**. All I have to do is activate it."

"You never explained to me how that works?"

"I can use the attacks because I absorbed the attacks within the mirror behind the picture. I activate it's power by just wearing it."

Rick immediately put the locket back on and flipped the picture over to reveal a mirror with rose on it. He then tried to see if he could fire a **Dark Pulse**. Not too long after trying he was able to fire charge a dark purple ball and then released a black twister into the air. "Holy shit! This is badass...I wonder what other attacks this thing has besides dark attacks." He went back to listening.

"Let me see that locket?" His mother then took off the locket and gave it to her mate. Almost immediately the locket disappeared and returned to her neck. "Stop playing. Also, don't wake Aeru up?" His mother giggled at him and then gave him the locket. His father then put the locket on and tried to fire a Dark Pulse and failing miserably. "You have to teach me how to do that."

"Maybe one day. Can I see Shadowbane?" She asked as she stuck her hand out to receive the sword.

Rick was waving his arms in protest and then felt like an idiot for trying to stop an image that already happened. He then saw as his father unsheathed his sword and gave it to her. Rick was expecting her to be electrocuted by the sword but was shocked to see that she could hold it without any problems.

"Why did you want to see my sword?"

"I just wanted to hold it again. I miss the weight of a sword in my hands but I still prefer my daggers to it."

Rick then arched an eyebrow, *She used daggers and she's a Gardevoir...oh wait, Alara uses a sword.*

His mom then continued, "Also, you've never explained to me why this sword has never shocked me even before we became mates."

"Oh that's because..."

His dad was caught off by Fang and Claw landing in the garden next to Rick. He immediately looked at them and smiled.

"Hi guys. What are you guys doing here? Did you already settle into your condo?"

"Yes, but me and Claw actually came here to say goodbye."

"Huh? Why?...Actually, I think I know why. You guys should get back to your lives."

Claw then told Rick, "We want to return to our den in Mt. Coronet. Don't worry we already said goodbye to everyone, including Alara. We'll come back to visit every now and then. You guys are our friends now."

"Well you guys are always welcome here."

They then moved forward and hugged Rick before saying goodbye and flying away. Rick just looked at them and waved goodbye. He then looked back to the images and saw that they had disappeared when he looked away.

"Great now I can't learn anything else about these things. Oh well, now to probably go to bed."

He then heard a little, high, childlike voice behind him, "Aww it's good to see you again Rick."

Rick quickly turned to see nothing there he then felt something flying behind him and then felt a tail on his shoulder. "Mew? Long time no see."

"Aww you figured me out. Fancy seeing you here in the Sanctuary, but I guess it was to be expected since it's full of your species." Mew then floated in front of him and smiled.

"So what's the grandmother of all pokemon doing here?"

"I actually came to come get you."

"For what?"

"A very special person has a very special job for you."

Rick then stopped smiling, "I'm sorry Mew but I have a lot of objectives to do right now. However, who wants the job done and what's the job?"

"I can't tell you that. You must find out for yourself." She then began to fly around him and sniffed him. She then began to giggle, "Aww looks like you've been around a female for quite some time. Boy is Meloetta going to be so jealous."

"She's still infatuated with me?"

"Yep...go figure."

Rick then sighed, "Take me to the person who wants the job done...also, it's not Meloetta, is it?"

Mew giggled again, "No, think bigger...like WAY bigger."

Rick chuckled a little, "Okay just open the portal. I'm curious now."

Mew then flew backwards and opened a portal and then rested on Rick's shoulder as he walked into the tear in space and time. Once on the other side Rick could see a large hall covered in white crystals. There was also a large court like structure that led to a dead end. Rick quickly walked towards the dead end and looked back, trying to figure out where he had to go.

Mew then handed him a flute, "Here play this."

"Umm, I don't know how to play the flute."

"Just play it, the flute itself will teach you how to play it."

Rick knew better than to question a legendary so he mouth to the flute's reed and blew into it. Almost immediately he knew what notes to play and he played a short melodious tune. Once he finished the wall that was at the dead end rippled like water two large golden doors appeared. Mew then took the flute back with her tail and urged Rick to walk through the doors.

"I guess I should enter then?"

Mew shook her head and began to pull him towards the doors. Once Rick reached the doors, he put his hands on it and then took a deep breath and lightly pushed one of the door and then the doors opened by themselves.

"I guess I was expected."

"Yep you were. Come on, let's not keep him waiting."

She then grabbed Rick's arm with her tail and pulled him along. After walking a few feet the door shut behind them and there was no light in the room. Just then Rick could feel Mew let go of his arm and then he saw a light coming from a floating plate. Suddenly another plate began to glow and then another, continuing until two golden hemispheres of a wheel began to glow.

At this point Rick identified what he was about to look at so he grabbed the Chaos Scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around his eyes and fell to his face so that he didn't see Arceus stand before him. Rick didn't even try to move and Mew was rubbing his shoulder and then could here him shiver, he was scared to stand before the Alpha Pokemon, his god.

Mew was still rubbing Rick's shoulder to get his attention but he kept ignoring her, she then stopped and floated out of the path of an approaching Arceus. Arceus then dropped his head so that he could see Rick, who was still averting his sight from him.

"Aeruthael, why do you hide your face from me?" His voice was very gentle for a being of such great power and yet it still made Rick quiver.

Rick reluctantly replied, "B...be..because who am I to look upon you."

"I see that even through all your strength you are still humble but nothing is going to happen to you for looking at me. Now arise, I have an important task to ask of you."

Rick then got to his feet and slowly took the Chaos Scarf off his eyes and back on his neck. When he opened his eyes he saw Arceus staring at him in the face.

"Good, happy to see your face. Now allow me to tell you what I want from you. But first let me tell you everything that you probably already know."

"You know everything, there's no need to tell me, my lord."

"I just need to brief you but let me ask you, are you up to the challenge that I am going to send you on?"

"Anything you tell me, I shall do but I must know what it is."

Arceus then chuckled, "Then let me tell you then. Your history is a dark and pain filled one. You lost your family to Team Rocket and you were then turned into Project Alpha. Then you managed to escape and scar Team Rocket permanently with your escape. However, you didn't kill any of the Projects or Giovanni himself. Then you were taken in by a man name Ryu Hirayu, a former ranger that has had an extensive experience with us Legendaries and became the Sinnoh League champion. He died about five years prior and you've taken it onto yourself to take his amulet to his granddaughter Maylene, the gym leader in Veilstone City. And now you are here."

"That is correct."

"Well then now to get to my point. The way of life of all pokemon is in great peril at the moment Aeruthael or at least not yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone has threatened my domain. They have imprisoned my children, enslaved them, and turned them into monsters and are trying to use them to control the world that I created with my thousand arms. This person is none other than the leader of Team Rocket himself, Giovanni."

Rick then narrowed his eyes, "I knew his name would come up. I had the idea this would of been about Team Rocket. Don't worry my lord, they are as good as dead."

"Don't be so hasty to go into the slaughter so quickly now my child. They have allies now."

"Allies?"

"Giovanni has joined forces with the other syndicates in the regions. Team Aqua, Team Magma, Team Galactic, and even Team Plasma are all working with Team Rocket to achieve their goals under the promise of rule over the Earth with him."

"Should of know but what is he trying to accomplish?"

"When you escaped Giovanni's clutches, you destroyed the only way they knew how to create more Projects like you and the first others. Now they need the combined intelligence of all the teams to create a new breed of Project...but they have been sorely unsuccessful."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No, because they used the DNA from the already completed Projects to help create the new ones. Even your DNA that was recovered from the wreckage. Mainly from the blood that you dropped when they shot you when you escaped. They used that DNA to create only one other Project that is supposed to rival you almost completely. This Project was the last one that was ever created, Project Omega."

"Damn it all to hell! How did I not see that coming? A Project that can rival my power...that's not good."

"No it isn't and that Project was created for the sole purpose of destroying you."

"So let me guess, you want me to eliminate all of them and obliterate each and every team on Earth. I think I'm going to need a team though."

"That's actually the task I wanted give you. Aeruthael, the Legendaries cannot take on Team Rocket and their allies on their own. They have grown too powerful with their Projects since they have Legendary DNA and are powerful beyond belief. Aeruthael, my task for you is that I need you to not only form a team but I need you to raise an army of all the major pokemon civilizations."

"Excuse me...what?"

"I need you to be my blade in my war against Team Rocket. You will form and lead an army of every pokemon civilization. You will have my blessing and every pokemon will call you Master. You will have rule and jurisdiction over all of them and the Legendaries will be at your command. You will be among the ranks of a Legendary for them and you will be their leader, their captain, and their master."

Rick was shocked by the task and the blessing that Arceus had just given him. He told him to become the master of all pokemon armies and to lead them in a war against every criminal organization in the world. Him, a Rocket himself, a monster, a Project.

"My lord, I'm honored but I believe you have chosen the wrong pokemon for the task."

"Why do you say that? Haven't I given you my blessing? Do not be afraid, if anything I will send my message to the other civilizations when you have prepared your species' army."

"My lord, I was one of the Projects, a part of Team Rocket. I was used to not only capture other pokemon, but to also slaughter hundreds if not thousands of innocent people and pokemon. I was a monster created for nothing more than chaos and destruction. No...you've chosen the wrong pokemon."

"Do you not trust my judgement?"

"I do but I don't think it's the best move. I don't think I can be of any help. Not with the dangers of myself involved."

Arceus then began to glow brighter and he glared at Rick. Just then his light exploded around him and Rick cowered to not see him. "Aeruthael! Who gave you life!? Who knew you before you were even born!? Who has led your steps every second of your life!? You gave you the ability to walk, talk, think, and breathe!? Was it not I!? Haven't I been your friend, your father, and your god!? Haven't I been your protector and your keeper!?" Rick was shivering in fear and sat with his head on his knees and his hands on his head, looking away from Arceus. He then felt Arceus's voice return to its usual gentle tone and something trying to comfort him though there was no touch, just warmth. "Oh Aeruthael, listen to my voice. I know the risks involved, I know the beast that resides within you and the dangers of killing the Projects. However, no one is more experienced and has the power to fight them. I need the armies to become powerful enough to take them down. I can't find anyone else who can do this. Only a king of the Projects can end the Projects and take down his creators."

Rick then rose his head, "King of the Projects?"

"You were the first and most powerful and you know more of their secrets than anyone else. Now do you see why I need you. Will you take up the task?"

Rick then bowed his head, "I'll do it. Tell me what I need to do."

"When your uncle offers you the Warlord position one more time you will accept it and become the new Warlord. You will then prepare the Sanctuary's army, training them, teaching them, and guiding them. You will change many of the things that your father had left there before you but all in my name. Once you have finished that process you will be sent to a meeting with the other Legendaries in the court here in the Hall of Origin, you will be named the Commander Lord of the Legendary Army. All the leaders of the other civilizations will be watching the meeting and so will all their subjects. You will have to put your current mission on hold until then and you will need to live among your species for the time being."

"What of the Projects?"

"As long as you stay within the confines of the Sanctuary you will be safe. They cannot locate you there and they never will. However, if the opportunity arises to kill one then do it. Just a heads up, Project Epsilon has something planned for you. This will be the perfect way for you to test out the Sanctuary's army when you finish their general training."

"I still have much to learn myself. What do I do?"

A voice then came from behind him, it was male and familiar. "You can start by not asking so many questions and doing what your told, son." Rick looked back and his eyes shot open as he stared into his father's eyes. "It's good to finally see you again." After he finished speaking a Gardevoir appeared behind him.

Rick jumped to his feet and stared in utter amazement, "Mom...dad?"

His mother then said, "Who else do you know that's of our species that's dead?"

"But how...actually I'm in the Hall of Origin with Lord Arceus. Anything is possible here. I'm guessing he brought you guys here to help me. So your still dead but are conscious."

"How correct you are. Look at you, you're all grown up. You look just like your father but smaller."

Rick's father then said, "We're here to teach a few more lessons before you return to your world. You wanted to learn how you're going to do this then listen up...or more like draw your blades."

"...huh?" After he said that his dad attacked him and Rick could feel his blades on his, completely confusing him since he thought he wasn't a solid figure.

(Battle Music: **I Stand Alone by Godsmack**)

"You wanted to learn a little more, so now you're going to." With that he lifted Rick with his blades and threw him to a nearby wall. "Have you forgotten? I'm stronger than Daedalus myself." He then charged a **Shadow Ball** in his hand. "So let me ask you, how powerful do you think I am?"

Rick laughed slightly, "As power or more powerful than I am...but I'm about to change that." Rick then jumped to his feet and charged a **Shadow Ball** as well. "Let's go old man."

"I'm not an old man. I died relatively young. I was only 30 years old and you want to call that old? Hell, I could be a hundred and you would of still not have the audacity to call me old. Let's see what you got son!"

They both then fired their Shadow Balls and they exploded when they hit each other. Then Rick and his dad charged each other through the smoke and the spark of their blades clashing could be seen through the dimly lit room.

Mew and Rick's mother were watching the fight and Mew was surprised by the sheer power in the fight. "Wow they are both powerful."

"Of course my lady. Like father like son. However, we're here to give Aeru a few guiding tips before he returns home."

"Which one of them is stronger?"

"It's hard to say. My mate used to be the most powerful Gallade in existence and Aeru's his son and a former Rocket Project. My mate is just trying to force him to full power."

"Full power? This is insane as is."

"Oh it gets worse, just give it a minute."

While they were talking Rick and his dad managed to punch each other in the face. They then pushed each other's fists aside and headbutted each other.

"Well dad, looks like we're even."

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" He then let go of Rick and stomped on the ground, cracking it. He then put his arms in an X and Rick could see his aura building. "You're about to be in a world of pain."

"Looking forward to it. Let's see it."

With that Rick's dad gave a loud scream and his aura exploded in shades of Red and Purple. Rick then looked and saw the area around his dad breaking and disappearing. His dad then disappeared and Rick felt something punch hit. Then again and again until he was suspended in the air by only punches. His dad then reappeared above him and **Focus Punched** him to the ground. He then stayed in the air above Rick and charged a **Hyper Beam** in his hands and fired.

"What did I tell you? I'm stronger than you are. You went down pretty easily."

Just then a black **Signal Beam** lunged towards him and he smacked it back towards the smoke and made it clear. When the smoke cleared Rick was growling and his black aura was out. His dad immediately landed back on the ground and stared at him.

"Don't take me as a child anymore dad. I'm no longer one, I'm a warrior like you. Let's end the child's play and go all out."

"Sounds good to me. I've never fought you like this before...actually I never fought you as a Gallade either...wow it's been that long? Man, it's been too long. Let's see how much strength you have in that form."

Rick then disappeared and reappeared dropkicking his dad in the face. His dad went flying but Rick grabbed his leg and pulled him back to hit him with a **Focus Punch**. He tried it again but his dad caught the fist and punched him in return. Rick hit a wall but quickly pulled himself out to dodge a fired **Psycho Cut**. They then charged one another again and exchanged blows for a few moments and then breaking apart.

When they broke apart they both had blood on their mouths and they were bruised all over. Rick was still growling like a beast and his dad then laughed at the sight.

"I have to admit, you really did become powerful. However, I also have to admit that this was not the life I wanted for you. I wanted you to live peacefully, to take care of your sister, and to never use the skills I taught you unless they were absolutely necessary. But of course the circumstances did not turn out like that and I have spent many a dead night thinking, what if I never left the Sanctuary. Would we all still be alive and you wouldn't of become a monster for Team Rocket. These thoughts have plagued me for fifteen years and my deceased mind had never given it a rest. By now I expected you to be mated, to have your own family, and your own home."

"That can still happen, but I need to end Team Rocket first. I already have a home and a family. They may not be legacy but they are great for me."

"And the mate?"

"Let's not talk about that. That'll come in its own time."

His mom then said, "Oh what about Alara?"

"Mom! She's not my mate and how do you guys know anything about that?"

"We're dead not blind."

"Oh whatever! First her parents and now mine. Just great!"

His dad then laughed, "Hey it's your fault for being around her all the time. To be perfectly honest that was the female I though you would of chosen when you grew up."

"Dad, I'll kill you."

"Umm no you can't! I'm already dead asshole! Point 1 for parents."

"You know what I mean. Anyways, why would you think that?"

"You guys were inseparable as Ralts. Then we left and...we died. So to our surprise you actually ran into her by accident and now you guys are becoming best friends again. It's only logical and besides you barely know any other Gardevoir...correction, you don't know another Gardevoir."

"Oh shut up and fight me."

"Okay. Brace yourself because here comes my favorite attack."

"The **Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun?"

"The **Psycho Cut** Gatlin...okay when and how?"

"I kinda taught it to myself after I became a Gallade."

"Wait...you can do that? Do you have any idea how long it took me to create that attack?"

"It learned it in two weeks."

"It took me two years!"

"Well what does that tell you about me? I'm better than you."

His dad then glared at him, "I'm so going to enjoy this way too much."

Rick immediately drew his blades and charged his Gatling Gun and his father did the same. Rick's blades began to glow black and his dad's blades began to glow red. They then released the attacks and each blade clashed in the air with each other.

Arceus then appeared next to Rick's mother and Mew, "Well they sure know how to fight...and to destroy."

Rick's mother then said, "Oh yes. Aeru is just like his father. Can't resist a challenge and overpowered for no reason."

Mew then asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Depends on what you mean by that. I'm strong myself...watch!"

Rick's mother then disappeared. In the fight Rick and father were finished firing at each other and returned to fighting one another with their fists. They then slashing each other with their blades again and both blades were stopped by a dagger. Rick then looked to his right and was blasted in the face with a Dark Pulse. His dad received the same punishment and they were both sent flying to the walls of the chamber.

Rick then sat up and saw his mom standing with a smile on her face and her locket glowing gold. Rick then felt around his neck and noticed that he didn't have the locket around his neck.

"Huh, how do you have the locket? It was around my neck."

"The locket has always been in my possession. Since it's around me again it returned to my possession and I can benefit from its abilities. I see that you never used its abilities or you just never knew about them."

"Oh I found out earlier today. Also, I've been meaning to ask you guys about this, what's with the memories that you guys left behind?"

"Ask your father."

Rick then looked at his father who finished prying himself off the wall.

"Well we wanted you to know how your life was before we left. You were a baby and you wouldn't remember anything."

"Should I tell you some of the memories you guys left?"

"Please do because we have no idea what we left behind."

"How do you not know!?"

His mom then said, "Because after twenty minutes of me placing my memories strategically in areas around the house all he did was press his mental randomize button. That just dumped some random memories in the places where they happened. Tell me some of the memories that you've seen."

"Well, I saw the images that led to dad's study and armory, then the second images that I saw led to your room...and you guys were in the process of mating."

His mom then glared at his dad, "Xeron, you left that memory!?"

His dad then tried to defend himself, "Remember, I just pushed my mental randomize button. I was supposed to leave good memories...and that was a damn good memory." He then laughed and then got blasted by a **Dark Pulse**. Rick could only sweatdrop at the sight.

"Not a memory to leave our son! He knows he came out of me, he doesn't need to know how he got in there in the first place."

"But you have to admit, that was one awesome night. Don't worry Aeru, keep going the way you're going and that'll be you."

"Xeron shut up! But he has a point Aeru. Keep going the way you're going and you'll eventually be *two whistles*."

Rick then glared at her, "Mom! Damn it I was depressed because of this!? I thought Alara's parents were a piece of work but you guys are the same as they are."

"And you and Alara are the same as us. Like parents like children."

"...Mom, I would of thought that you would of been the realistic one."

"I am and I'm being real."

"...just start fighting me already."

His mom then shrugged and drew two daggers and charged Rick who grabbed both her arms. "That...was pathetically easy."

"Oh you've seen nothing yet."

She then charged two **Dark Pulses** and fired at Rick at point blank range. Rick was sent flying and landed in front of his dad. Rick then jumped up and fire two **Psycho Cuts** at his mom, who dodged them and drew a whip and snapped it at Rick. Rick then ducked and the whip hit his dad.

"SON OF A BITCH! That hurt!" He then laughed, "Kinda reminds me of that night. Remember Aldira?"

Rick's mom then screamed and whipped him repeatedly.

Rick then appeared behind her and tapped her shoulder, "Umm mom, you do remember that you're fighting me, right?"

"Stay out of it Aeru! Our little sparring session is done for today, go home!" She then proceeded to whip her mate and fire **Dark Pulses** at him.

Arceus then stopped her, "Okay there you can stop now. Can you guys just tell Aeru why he's still here?"

"Fine! We're not your opponents, Aeru. He is!" She then pointed to an open room, that Rick didn't see before, and Rick saw a black mass forming in the middle of the floor. "Go ahead. Walk in and face him. His name is X."

"X? What is he?"

"Believe it or not, he's a Gallade as well but he's...special."

"In what way?"

"Stop asking questions and walk in. All will be revealed shortly." She said as she began to push him into the room.

Rick then got his mom to let go of him and walked into the room. The door then shut and disappeared and Rick was stuck in the room with X. He then moved towards the black mass and got to his knees, waiting for something to happen and to prepare his energy for the inevitable fight on his hands.

"So you're my opponent? I wish you're a worthy challenger. I am Rick but apparently everyone else calls me Aeruthael here."

He then heard a muffled voice saying, "I am X. I will accept this battle and I will win."

Suddenly a giant arm came out of the mass and then another, soon both arms where pushing a gigantic black demon out of the void. The creature had many barbed tentacles, black skin, white tattoos that looked like the Unknowns alphabet, and runes on different parts of his body. He had two horns of the top of his head and blades on his elbows and wrists. He also had a tail with a blade at the end, red piercing eyes, and no facial features (the mouth and nose were absent, but the spikes at the side of the face were now long horns). He looked nothing like a Gallade except for the blades.

Rick looked in awe of his opponent before him, "You're a Gallade? You're as big as a Colossus."

"I am a Gallade and I also am not. I represent the order of the sands of time that has been altered by your life. You were supposed to die many times but Lord Arceus continued to change your fate."

"That was mighty kind of him."

"Now face me, in the Plain of Time!" The whole room suddenly went black and clocks, hourglasses, and clock pendulums appeared on the walls. The floor then broke apart and showed different memories from Rick's past.

"Monsters...I guess I should rid the world of one more while I'm here."

"Let's see if you can back that up." X then brought one foot down on the ground and Rick jumped out of the way to avoid it.

(Battle Music: **Fear of Power from Shadow of the Colossus**)

Rick then felt his mom's locket back on his neck and drew his dad's sword. He then dodged an assault of barbed tentacles and a the bladed tail. Rick quickly cut down many of the tentacles but soon realized that the tentacles just kept growing back. Rick was then surprised when X fired a **Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun from his hand without using his blades and not even moving his arms. He fired the attack like a beam attack and Rick had to run around the arena to dodge them.

"How the hell do you know that attack?"

"I represent time and times of time, all you have ever done and used is within my knowledge. Everything you thought, everything you dreamed, and everything you have despised has been made known to me. Enough talk! I will answer no more questions, come at me!" He then gave a monstrous roar that push Rick back towards the wall.

Rick then jumped off the wall and ran towards X again, dodging **Psycho Cuts** and tentacles. Rick then fired a Dark Pulse at X and used the time to slash his legs and forcing him down so he could climb the towering behemoth. However X started to flail and managed to knock Rick off and punch him to the ground as he fell. Rick was surprised on how fast X was for being so large and tried to plan a different approach. He then looked on in fear as X's wounds healed completely and he gave another roar.

Rick then jumped back to his feet, sore and bruised already, but could still fight with little difficulty. He then released his aura and growled at X before letting out his own roar. X didn't seem intimidated and fired a rain of **Shadow Balls** and **Night Slashes** at Rick who disappeared to dodge them. X however quickly figured him out and knocked him back with a tentacle. He then wrapped Rick with a tentacle and slammed him to a wall and tried to stab him with his bladed tail. Rick quickly shook off the blow and cut himself loose with his arm blades and dodged the tail which became stuck to the wall. Rick then ran on the tail and X flailed again to knock him off but Rick held on to a rune that was on back, however Rick dropped Shadowbane in the process. Rick however kept going and fired a **Psycho Cut** at X's back, making him lean over and Rick took the chance to run on his back and hold on to one of the spikes on the side of X's face.

X quickly got back up and tried to grab him but Rick managed to use his incoming hand as a bridge to run to a more secure location. X tried to slash him with the blades on his wrist but Rick dodged it and X severed his own arm and roared in pain. The arm soon regrew and Rick managed to climb up the arm and reach the head spikes again and climbed up onto X's forehead where a glowing sigil was visible. Rick then fired a Black **Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun into the sigil and jumped off of X. Rick then landed on his feet and found his dad's sword nailed on the ground and picked it up.

Rick then looked back at X and saw that he was relatively unhurt and was completely healed again. Rick just kept looking in disbelief and X just glared at him for a moment.

"Did you really believe that you could kill me that easily? You didn't meet the requirements to do so. Your blades are useless against me but I will give you credit. At least you managed to make it that far but all for nothing. Only Shadowbane can take me down and you dropped it in the middle of our little fight."

"Oh yeah...dick move on my part. But now I have it so you're so fucked!" X then lunged a tentacle at him and Rick raised the sword. "I have the sword." X then knocked it away with the tentacle and Rick looked at his empty hands, "I had the sword." Rick then jumped over the tentacle and slashed it and began to run for the sword. X then knocked him away and punched him into the wall, leaving a fist shaped crater with Rick in the center. Rick then disappeared and X kicked into the air next to the sword and kicked Rick into the air before he could reach it. He then drew one of his blades from his elbows and tried to slash the airborne Rick. Rick then quickly used his own blades to shield him but he was launched back to the ground. X then charged a **Hyper Beam** in his right hand and fired it at the downed Rick. Rick then fired a Black **Hyper Beam** at X's and it pierced through the attack, hitting X in the face.

Rick quickly jumped to his feet and disappeared and reached his sword and charged the still disoriented X. X then fired a **Dark Pulse** at Rick and Shadowbane began to glow red and black and pulsing. Soon a red and black void covered Rick and blocked the attack. X then roared and brought both his elbow blades down on the void. His attacked was blocked by the void and then the void disappeared and Rick appeared on his shoulder.

"Hi there! I'm Aeruthael and you just failed big time."

X then grabbed Rick and brought him to his eye level, "Okay now I'm irritated. How did you do that?"

"I left the void right where it was and took the distraction to teleport onto your shoulder without you watching. I also took the free time to gather my energy that I lost from using **Teleport**."

"Should of known. Anyways, I'm going to crush. You should of not let me grab hold of you."

X then started to tighten his grip and Rick realized that he messed up by not moving and began to squirm and flail, but to no avail.

"Let's hear those bones shatter Aeru!" He then began to crush Rick and Rick began to scream in pain and soon he suddenly stopped screaming.

X stopped squeezing and looked at Rick. Suddenly Rick rose his head and shot his eyes open to reveal glowing red eyes. Rick then bore fangs and roared at X and then he sliced X's hand into pieces with what looked like claws coming from his hands. X was surprised to see that Rick was floating in the air without wings and then he tried to punch him with a gigantic **Focus Punch**. Rick then caught the fist with his right hand and forcefully tore X's arm off his body. He then blasted X in the face with a **Dark Pulse**, forcing him to stagger. Rick then let out a louder roar than any that X shot and the room began to shake and pieces of the wall began to fall. Rick then landed on the ground and got on all fours to roar again like an animal.

X then told him, "So you decided to use the beast to fight me? Looks like I made you exhaust all your options. But if I remember correctly, you're not at full power because you gave up most of your Project powers. Let's see what kind of damage this beast of your can do."

Rick then growled and charged X again while running on all fours. X then tried to punch him and fire attacks at him but Rick kept dodging them and soon disappeared. X then began to look for him and then felt the back of his knees being slashed, forcing him on his knees. He then looked at Rick who had black blood on his claws. Rick then appeared in front of him and began to glow purple and ran towards him in an impossibly swift zigzag motion. X then tried to punch him again but Rick dodged it and kept going. X brought his other fist down on Rick but Rick jumped on it and kept up with the motion until he unexpectedly stopped perfectly and a buzzing sound could be heard. Suddenly Rick shot himself in a ray of purple light and pierced through X's head. Rick then turned around in midair and teleported to X's forehead. X quickly put a barrier around his sigil and Rick used a **Night Daze** on the barrier breaking it. X then brought both his hands over his head and brought them together to crush Rick but Rick caught both hands and tore X's arms off and slammed them over X's head, making him fall to the ground. Before he hit the ground, Rick jumped into the air and drew his blade before he brought it down on X's sigil, defeating him.

X then began to disintegrate and Rick jumped off and roared into the air as he returned to normal. His roar turned into a yell when he returned to normal and he re-sheathed his sword. Just then the door reappeared and everyone else walked inside.

Arceus then said, "That was incredible, X never looses and for you to beat him in such a gruesome manner only makes it more... awe inspiring."

Rick's dad then told him, "Well go back there, you're not finished yet with him."

Rick then yelled, "WHAT!?" He turned around and saw a figure in a cloak walking out of the smoke from the battle wielding Shadowbane. Rick quickly looked at the being who was obviously a Gallade but he couldn't see his face, yet he knew it was X. He then checked his sword sheath and noticed that Shadowbane was still in it. "How do you have Shadowbane?"

X then said, "You think you're the only master this sword has ever had? Time for round two, don't disappoint me." His voice sounded sliced, as if two or more voices were talking to Rick and it didn't sound anything like the voice when he was the gigantic behemoth.

(Battle Music: **Emiya by Crow's Claw**)

Rick the drew Shadowbane and took his stance to fight X, but in even terms. X then charged at Rick who blocked him and tried to slash him. They exchanged blows for a few moments and then got into a power struggle. Rick was surprised on how even to his own fighting skill X was and neither of them was winning the struggle. X then pushed forward and made Rick back up. He then swung his sword and knocked Shadowbane off of Rick's hands. The sword got nailed into a nearby wall and X put his blade to Rick's throat.

"I told you not to disappoint me."

"I'm not dead yet. This fight is not over."

"Aye, it's not. I haven't killed you yet."

He then swung at Rick again but Rick ducked under the blade and **Focus Punched** X in the face and ran towards the sword. Before he could reach it a black blade hit the wall and sent Shadowbane flying to the other end of the room.

Rick looked back and saw X's Shadowbane glowing black and he fired another blast at him, which Rick blocked with his arm blades but it made him fall over.

"Confused, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"You haven't unlocked all of Shadowbane's abilities. Until then you are inferior to me." He then fired another blast at Rick and he rolled out of the way and tried to get to the sword. X then appeared in front of him and held his sword to Rick's face. "Is that sword your only lifeline?"

Rick then smiled, "Nope, I have a few." He then drew his arm blades and attacked X, forcing him back. Rick then shot a **Signal Beam** at X and lunged for the sword, grabbing it.

"Good Aeruthael, now we can fight for real." He then rose his blade straight in the air and it began to glow purple.

As Rick was bracing himself for another attack that he didn't know about he felt something hit the floor around him. He then looked back and saw a burn mark on the ground and heard a small crash and saw another burn mark on the ground. He then looked up and saw what looked like a purple meteor shower coming down on him. Rick quickly began to attempt to dodge all the energy balls.

"This my Psycho Star Storm. You need to become a true master of this blade to use it." He then brought the blade down and fired a red blade at Rick, which hit him and forced him to be hit by some of the falling projectiles.

Rick then struggled back to his feet, "I never thought that a pokemon could have such a dangerous weapon."

"Think about it for a second, you're a pokemon and you're Shadowbane's new owner."

"Since you're a master of Shadowbane, how old are you?"

"I am and I'm not. I was but never became. I was grew up but never grew older. I lived but didn't live."

"I don't understand."

"You'll learn more in the future. Let's just finish this."

X then attacked Rick again and Rick jumped out of the way and returned the attack. After a few minutes of the fight going nowhere X stuck his blade in the ground and pillars of psychic energy blasted from the ground in waves. Rick got hit and was sent flying to the other side of the arena.

X then told Rick, "That was called Psycho Cataclysm. It's a good move to use when surrounded. Anyways, listen to me. You won't win...not yet. You need to do what you were told and go protect the ones that you need to protect." He then stuck his blade into the ground, over a visual memory of Rick's team and Alara. Hold on to them, for they will be your own salvation. You can save many, you might just save all but you can never save yourself from fate. Others must do that for you, even the most precious of these that hold a place in your heart."

"I want to keep going."

"Why?

"I may not be able to ever save myself but I want to be able to save them." He then looked down to a memory of him and Alara as Ralts. "All of them."

"Then come at me."

"No! You come at me. I'll end it in one swing or fate has not chosen this for me."

X nodded and charged at Rick with his sword ready. Rick closed his eyes and lifted his sword over his head and waited. A moment later they were face to face again and X swung his blade at Rick and Rick brought his sword down. A crash was then heard and Rick opened his eyes to see X standing in front of him examining his blade, which was broken into pieces. Rick then looked at his blade and saw it glowing black and pulsing.

"I can't believe it Aeruthael, you won."

"No I didn't. I worked my faith and made a decision. My faith has yet to fail me. Neither of us won because I will not continue the fight. I shall not fight an unarmed opponent."

X then laughed, "Honor! Something that all Gallades must preserve for themselves and for others."

"I'll be leaving now. I take it that I'll be seeing you again?"

"Yes, you will see me again and Alara will see me again."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "Alara? She's seen you?"

"Only in her dreams. Don't worry, I won't harm her. I cannot do that."

"I'll remember that. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye Aeru!"

Rick then turned and saw the others standing there with smiles and Mew was clapping.

Arceus then walked towards him, "So, have you made your decision?"

"Yes, I'll do it. If it's for the greater good then I'll do it to the best of my abilities."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now you may return to your home."

Rick bowed down to Arceus and then stood up again and walked towards Mew, but before he made it to her, he hugged his parents.

His dad then told him, "The moment you leave here, you will have my skills as a leader."

His mom then told him, "And you will have my knowledge and wisdom."

"Thanks mom, thanks dad. Will I see you guys again?"

"Yes, you'll be seeing us every now and then. Everytime you return here you will be able to see us. But we'll always be right behind you...and so will X. You will see him constantly, guiding you and teaching you."

"I'll keep my eyes open." He then hugged him again and his mom kissed his forehead.

Rick then turned and was then tapped in the head by Mew. Everything then went white and he disappeared. X then walked up to the others.

He then asked Rick's dad, "So is that it? Can I go back?"

"Yes you may." Rick's dad then drew his own Shadowbane and X became smoke and went into the sword.

As he was being put back in the blade X said, "He's powerful, the perfect individual to neutralize the threat but I must still teach him. I will have to work hard to help him unlock the sword's secrets."

Rick then opened his eyes and looked around, he was in his bed but couldn't figure out how he made it there. He thought everything was just a dream. He then heard someone walk in the room and looked, and to his surprise he saw Alara standing at his door frame.

"Alara? How did I get here and how did you get here?"

"I was in my house laying down on my bed and then I felt your energy exploding. I then felt that something was wrong and teleported over to your location. I didn't even have time to change, I'm still in my nightgown." Rick then noticed that she really was in her nightgown. "When I found you in the garden you were in your power state, your black aura was out and wounds were appearing on your body. I panicked when I saw blood coming from your mouth and tried to carry you inside. I got you to your kitchen and then you roared out of nowhere and I let you go because I thought you were going into Alpha State. Claws came out of your hand and you were covered in a weird purple light."

"So it wasn't a dream?"

"What wasn't a dream?"

He then told Alara what happened and she looked at him in shock. "So you were sent on a mission by THE Lord Arceus and you saw the being that I keep seeing in my dreams? X, is it?"

"I know it sounds crazy but it happened. You saw everything that was happening to my unconscious body."

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you but that's quite the task. Do you think you can accomplish it?"

"I'll die trying if I have to. I have to destroy Team Rocket. Tomorrow, I need to speak to your parents."

"Consider it done."

Rick the laid back down on the bed, he was still hurt from the ordeal and could barely move. He then looked at the clock and saw that it was one in the morning.

"So are you headed back home?"

"You're hurt, I can't leave you like this. Hell I thought you were being attack by Freddy Krueger earlier, how am I going to leave you in this state."

"I'll be fine in the morning."

"I have to stay though." She then sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Do what you want."

Alara then looked towards the door and scurried towards Rick when she saw X standing at the door frame. Rick saw him too and held Alara.

X then said, "Let her stay, she'll be your greatest of allies. Rick, protect everything that is good, even if it seems superfluous. Alara, look after Rick to the best of your ability, he can't finish this alone. Farewell." He then faded away.

"Was that him?"

Rick nodded and said, "Yeah, we'll be seeing him very often."

"I'm not leaving this room. I'm staying here tonight."

"Very well, go to sleep. We'll talk more in the morning."

Alara then nodded and got into the bed next to Rick and the two soon fell asleep, wondering what was going to happen next.

Well this was a fun chapter to write. Tell me what you guys think and keep the reviews coming. Also, the poll is still up and The Lord of the Rings is in the lead of what movie parody I will write. Well keep sending me suggestions, questions, and movie suggestions. Bye guys!


	23. Chapter 23: Change of Tone

Finally got this one finished. I've actually been pretty busy lately and I was barely able to get this one done. Anyways, here it is. I'm currently writing the next chapter as I'm posting this. Enjoy guys and keep voting on the poll in my profile, the Lord of the Rings is still winning. View standings are still the same except that Iceland and Mexico have changed places. Well keep on voting (ends on the 15th) and keep sending me your reviews.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

In the morning that followed their visit from X and Rick's experience in the Hall of Origin, Alara woke up and immediately thought of what had happened and if she could believe everything she heard and saw.

*Was all of that real? I know I saw that X guy last night and I know I'm not crazy because Rick saw him too. Rick, could you really of been sent of such a crazy task?*

Her eyesight then adjusted itself and she then felt her head on Rick's chest again, but this time she didn't try to get off of him. She was worried for him since she knew that things were just going to get harder for him as time went on. Now he had to somehow gather an army and stop a coalition of Team Rocket and the other regional teams.

She then tried to get up and start her day but then felt something around her waist. She looked down and saw that his arm was around her waist. She then teleported off the bed and appeared in the bathroom. She then teleported her towel, her dress, and her toothbrush from her house to the bathroom and got in the shower. After fifteen minutes she came out of the bathroom and looked at the bed to see Rick still asleep. She then walked back to the edge of the bed and saw that his wounds from last night were gone, and there were no signs of injury.

To her something seemed different about him but she couldn't figure out what it could of been. She decided that she shouldn't waste her time trying to figure it out so she left the room and went downstairs to the kitchen.

"I guess I should cook something up for us. Seras isn't here anymore. Hmm, I wonder what I can cook."

She then looked inside of the fridge and found many ingredients that she could use to make a decent breakfast for her and Rick. She then turned on the stove, placed a pan, and levitated two eggs to her hand. She then proceeded to cook them. After a while she finished her feast of a breakfast: two omelettes, two sets of three staked pancakes, two cups of tea, six strips of bacon, and a giant bowl of fruit to top it off. She then set the table by using **Psychic** and waited for Rick to walk downstairs.

It didn't take very long, about two minutes really. Rick walked down stairs drying his head with a towel, which suggests he showered before heading downstairs. He then saw Alara in the living room waiting for him.

"You finally woke up. I was starving! Let's go eat!"

"Good morning to you too Alara." He said while teleporting the towel back to his room. He then walked downstairs and into the dining room, where he saw the large amounts of food that Alara cooked up. "So I'm guessing you were REALLY hungry this morning."

"Incredibly. I didn't eat dinner last night so I need something to keep my stomach busy for a while."

"Oh just eat. We'll talk after you've gotten something in your gut."

They then sat down and indulged in the feast and soon Alara spoke to him again.

"So what's your game plan?"

"Excuse me?"

"What are you going to do about your new task?"

Rick then sighed, "Well I was thinking I would explain it to the others and then go to your parents and talk to them about it. If anything I have to take the Warlord position immediately after my uncle offers it to me again. So then I'll have the entire military rounded up in the military sector and take the position. I just hope they'll accept me and my new way of doing things."

"I would of guessed you would of done the same as your dad."

"No, I'm supposed to change some of the things he did. Mainly because many of the protocols are out of date and they're still following them. I need to build up the army and then take charge of all the civilizations' armies after I finish here. I just wonder how long that will take."

"Let's hope not too soon. If we're going to war I want to indulge in the remaining times of peace."

"I want to be in peace too but that's not going to happen for too long. Besides, it takes a long time to train an army."

"You know I'm going to be there too, right?"

"Wait...what?"

"Yeah, you heard what X said."

"No fucking way Alara! I'm tasked with protecting you, not sending you headfirst into war."

"You really don't have a say in the matter. I'm going to be with you in battle. End of story!"

"No...fucking...way."

Rick was then stopped by a hand on his shoulder, he looked back and stared a X.

"X? Are you going to keep popping up everywhere?"

"She's going with you!"

Rick sweatdropped, "What?"

"She's going with you and that's an order!" He then faded back into nothingness.

Alara then laughed, "Even a time being agrees with me. I win!"

Rick didn't bother to respond he just facepalmed and Alara noticed something on his left hand.

"What's that Rick?"

"What's what?"

"That new tattoo of your's on your hand?"

"Tattoo? I've never had tattoos." He then looked at his hands and saw a marking that looked like the two hemispheres that were on Arceus. "This makes too much sense."

"I'm guessing Arceus put that on you as proof."

"I'm guessing. I feel strange though. I don't know if this has anything to do with it."

"I felt that something was different on you too but I can't put my finger on it."

"We'll figure it out eventually. For now let's go to the Chief's Court to speak to your parents."

Alara then quickly drank her tea and got up and left the house with Rick and got into his car. They then took off for the court and were met by Daedalus and Zant, who seemed to be waiting for them.

Rick then got out of the car and asked, "Were you guys waiting for me?"

Daedalus then said, "Yeah, come on we need to talk."

They then led Rick and Alara inside of the court and they saw Alara's parents sitting on their thrones and they seemed as if they were in deep thought. Alara's dad then lifted his head and smiled at the two young adults and motioned for seats to be brought for them.

He then told Rick, "We need to talk Aeru. Sorry for not greeting you but something has come up that we need to speak of."

"What happened?"

Alara's dad then sighed and rubbed his right eye before continuing, "Well me, my mate, Zant, and Daedalus received a visit from a cloaked figure in our dreams last night." Rick quickly suspected X as the cloaked figure. "He came to us and told us of something that related to you...or rather he showed us what you probably went through last night."

"Oh did this cloaked figure have a split voice, glowing red eyes, and the form of a Gallade?"

"Yes...how did you know that?"

"Because his name is X and that's the guy I fought last night. Seriously, didn't you pick that up?"

"No, the only voices we could hear were Arceus's and yours."

Rick then arched an eyebrow, "And my parents?"

"I didn't see them there. All I saw was you, Mew, Arceus, and X. I didn't see your parents."

"Figures. I'm the only one here that can see them then. Wait, I was fighting them. How did you not see that?"

"The one you call X just showed us bits and pieces of the even, not the whole thing. But he showed us everything Arceus told you...You have quite the task on your hands."

Rick then sighed, "Well he made my job easier because I came here to tell you guys. Looks like he made sure you guys knew I wasn't crazy."

Alara's mother then said, "Well it was quite the story but not an unbelievable one to us. I'm just mad that you got to see your parents and we didn't. Also, how did Alara get to your house so early? I'm surprised to see her here...at seven in the morning."

Alara then said, "Long story, no time to explain. We'll continue this conversation never."

"Seriously? Just tell me already."

Alara then sighed and took a deep breath before answering quickly, "I went to sleep in my house but then I felt Rick's power explode in his house. I teleported to him and found him in the garden covered in wounds. I then took him inside and got him to his room. He then woke up and was still extremely wounded and then X appeared so I stayed with him."

Alara's parents and Rick's uncles just stared at her with awkward stares.

Rick then said, "And that's the way the cookie crumbles."

Alara then proceeded to punch him over the head and knee him in the face. Rick stayed standing holding his nose. Everyone in the room sweatdropped and then regained their composure.

Daedalus then went to Rick and told him, "Well from what I heard, I should give you my position."

"Yes, I heard that too."

"It's rightfully yours anyways. You defeated me and your father was the Warlord before me. So you can have it."

Alara's dad then said, "Well looks like we'll have to gather the Sanctuary."

Rick then asked, "What for?"

"The the change of the Warlord is an important even here in the Sanctuary. It rarely happens and since it's still early in the morning we can have the ceremony happen in the afternoon." He then motioned to some guards. "You heard it all. Go gather the people. Spread the word 'Tune in tonight or come to the Silver Den. We are going to appoint a new Warlord.'"

One of the guards then said, "Yes Sir!" They then walked up to Rick and Daedalus and saluted them. They then left through the doors.

Alara quickly walked back next to Rick and noticed that he felt uneasy. "Rick, what's wrong?"

Rick then looked at her, "I'm slowly becoming my dad and I just happened to notice this after I fought him."

She then smiled at him, "Hey at least you saw him again. I would be happy for that."

"I am but something is off I can feel it...something's off with me."

"I still haven't figured it out either." She then looked at his eyes as he looked back at her. "Wait...have your eyes always been like that?"

"Like what?"

"They have a certain glow to them."

"That's not new. I'm a Project."

"I know that but there seems to be a darker red within the glow."

"Probably my parent's doing last night. They did give me some of their skills and attributes."

"Well not only your eyes, something in your demeanor seems different too."

"Anything else?"

"Umm yeah. Look at your blades."

Rick then drew his blades and looked at them and saw that they now had a red rim outlining them. "How did I miss that?"

"They weren't like that this morning."

As they looked at the blades the red rim disappeared and returned to its natural green coloration.

"What the hell?"

"I think your body is currently still going through changes. I saw give it some time and then try to figure out all the new 'upgrades', for lack of a better word."

Rick nodded and walked towards Alara's parents, who were talking to each other. "So, what's the plan for today?"

Alara's mother looked at him, "Well all you have to do is show up here by this afternoon. I say about three o'clock."

"Okay I'll do that." Rick then looked at Daedalus. "Are you going to be okay giving up your position?"

"Don't worry. I've been waiting for someone to take this load off my back for twenty one years now. I can go back to my job as an army general. You have to deal with the army and the politics involved with it now. I can live in relative peace now that I have one less task on my hands."

"Well I'm glad to take your burden." Rick said sarcastically.

"Let me warn you though, it is not an easy job. Your father was gifted and because of that he led us to glory many times and cemented his name here. You are his son, I hope that you are just as gifted as he was when he was your age."

Alara's dad then told Rick, "Aeru, the Warlord position is no easy task. We usually encourage that the Warlords have a mate to help encourage them. However, you don't have one."

Rick then returned, "And neither did my dad when he became the Warlord. He got the job at the age of 21 like me. He wasn't mated for another year, so your argument is invalid in my ears."

Alara's mother then whispered into her mate's ear, "Nice try. Kid's too smart for you. Good try though."

"Well Aeru this is true. However there is one more task that Warlords perform that need their attention."

"Oh and what task might that be?"

Alara's father then got up from his throne and began to walk around the room, "Well, Warlords don't only play the army commander and ambassador positions but also the guardian position."

"As in?"

"Well the Warlords are assigned to protect the royal family but more importantly they are the personal guardians of the heir to the Chief's throne."

Rick immediately figured out what he was trying to say. He then looked at Daedalus for confirmation and he got it with a quick nod. "So who's the heir? Not that I don't already know but I just need to hear this for humor."

"The heir is Alara."

"Final answer?"

"Final answer."

"Bingo! Yahtzee! And that's the million dollar answer. Congratulations you have stated the obvious! Why am I not surprised?"

"Maybe because you've been spending a lot of time with her and I trust your strength...also, it's your job smartass."

Rick then facepalmed, "Ugh! Fine like I'm not with her for most of the day already."

Alara then shocked him with **Thunderbolt** and put her finger in between his eyes when he turned around. "Looks like your stuck with me again."

Rick chuckled, "Looks like it. I wonder why this keeps happening to us."

They then heard cars pulling up outside of the court and the door flew open with Jean and the team barging into the court.

"Rick! We got the message last night..." He then saw everyone in the room and Rick and Alara standing in the center. "We're kinda late aren't we?"

Everyone then nodded and Seras ran into the room and stopped to look at Rick. "Things just got harder for you."

Rick then hugged her, "Yeah but I can handle this. Besides I already have ideas and all of you are going to be a part of it."

She then rubbed the back of her head before responding, "Umm well you see, I have to go back to Kanto tomorrow. I need to go back to work and I only took a week and a half off."

Rick's face then dropped, "That really sucks." He then whispered to her, "What am I going to do about Jean and Dartz?"

"Well Dartz is coming with me. Jean wants to stay for a while and enjoy his time with you and then go back to Kanto."

"So I'm stuck with him for a little while longer...I can handle that. He's my best friend after all."

"I hope you're right. Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Besides they want me to transfer to another Safari Zone in either the Hoenn region or here in Sinnoh because they want to send representatives their to take over. Also, why are we discussing this now? We have bigger issues to speak of. Are you going to take the Warlord position?"

"Already did dear."

"Oh Arceus it's happening."

"Don't tell me. You were sleeping and a guy in a black cloak appeared in your dream and told you everything that happened to me yesterday. Am I right?"

"Spot on!"

Rick sighed, "His name is X and me and Alara can see him...everywhere we go now."

Jean then put Rick in a one armed headlock, "Well look at the new army commander. So what are your plans?"

"I'll explain it to you later we have to prepare for some sort of ceremony to inaugurate me into the position."

"Man you're going to have less free time now. Man I wanted to get the band back together"

Rick's eyes shot open, "Oh shit...he said it." He then elbowed Jean and uppercut him. "Dumbass! You keep letting go of too much info."

Alara then pulled on his arm, "You have a band?"

Rick then facepalmed and sighed, "Yes. Me and some of these guys formed a rock band a while ago. I was vocal and lead guitar, Jean was grunge guitar and rap vocals, Bolt was rhythm guitar and vocals, Lucian was the bassist, screams, and vocals, Wayland was the drummer, Celand was keyboards and synthesizers, Seras was female vocals, and Dartz, I kid you not, was the DJ. Almost all of us sing."

Alara, Amber, and their parents immediately became interested. Amber then said, "So can we hear some of it?"

Rick immediately glared at Jean, "Why do you ask Amber?"

"I want to hear you guys play something. Heavy metal please!"

"We play too many genres but we're mainly alternative rock, nu metal, metal, and symphonic rock. We can start with nu metal if Jean and Lucian are ready." He then looked back at the guys that were in the band and saw them dressed in all black and ready to go. Jean was only wearing black jeans and black boots. Seras was wearing a long black and red dress and was in her human form. Dartz was also in his human form and was wearing a black pants, a red shirt, and a black trench coat. The others were wearing basic black clothing, except for Wayland who was wearing a black muscle shirt.

Rick then sweatdropped, "Umm dare I ask why you guys have those clothes?"

"We're a rock band. We have to look like one."

"Why all black though?"

"It's stereotypical rock clothing code dude."

"I think I'll stick to my current appearance."

Jean and Seras then tackled him and put black pants and a black t-shirt. "Nope, join the team."

"Fine but this is the only time we play as a band."

"We'll see about that. Now where do we get instruments."

Rick facepalmed and then conjured up the instruments in the court. Everyone then scrambled to get the psychic instruments ready and turned on the amplifiers and tested the instruments.

Alara's father then told them, "Not in here guys. Take it outside in the courtyard."

Rick then sweatdropped again, "Outside?...in public? Oh shit...why?"

"Just do it. I want to hear this."

Rick then sighed loudly and teleported the instruments outside and everyone went outside and set up. Rick was uneasy of playing with the guys again but he picked up his guitar and waited for Jean and Lucian to make a decision on what they wanted to sing. They then turned and told everyone watching.

"Well be playing **A Place For My Head by Linkin Park**. Enjoy!"

Rick sighed again and shook his head before playing. With Rick beginning everyone waited for their parts to come up and they eventually took off.

Alara and her family were enjoying the music and Alara felt that the music was way out of Rick's character since he's never played anything with rock in it. She then looked around and saw some of the residents of the Sanctuary watching the show. She then looked at Rick and saw that he was not enjoying himself very much with so many people arriving to listen to them playing.

After a while they finished and Lucian tried to catch his breath after screaming for a while. They then saw the crowd that had gathered and they thought about playing another song but this time with Rick taking the mic.

Jean told Rick, "Yo Rick! We're done with nu metal. Time for your genre, alternative rock. Kill it man!"

Rick was immediately apprehensive but Jean put the mic in his location and Rick sighed and then announced to the crowd.

"We're going to play **Crawl by Breaking Benjamin**. I'm going to be the only one singing so enjoy."

Rick then swallow the ball in his throat and started to play. Alara was anticipating to hear his singing voice...or at least his rock voice. She was surprised to hear it and that he could actually sing rock really well, she wondered how he sounded like singing something softer and not modifying his voice to change it to sing the songs.

Rick soon finished and received an applause from the audience and then bowed to them and regained his composure.

They sang many other songs that evening to kill the time that was left before the ceremony. They played about eight more songs:

Rick: **Into the Nothing by Breaking Benjamin**, **Savior by Rise Against**, and **Blinded In Chain by Avenged Sevenfold**.

Seras and Bolt: **Awake and Alive by Skillet**.

Jean and Lucian: **Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park** and **By Myself by Linkin Park**.

Lucian: **Tears Don't Fall by Bullet For My Valentine**.

Everyone in turns: **Don't Stop Believin' by Journey**.

They finally finished and Jean smashed his guitar and set it on fire. He then came back with KISS facepaint and Rick could barely stop himself from laughing. They then left the courtyard and walked inside the court where Jean wiped the facepaint off.

He then said, "That was AWESOME! Why did we ever stop doing that?"

Lucian replied, "I think it's because we all went our separate ways and we only did it for fun back in the day."

Alara then asked them, "Do you guys have a name for the band?"

"No, we just did it for fun. Do you have a name for us?"

"No. Let me think it over for a while and then I'll tell you."

"Okay."

Rick then walked into the room and walked passed them while saying, "Don't expect me to do that again very often. I'll be very busy for now on."

Jean then told him, "Of course, we're only doing that for fun. It's not like we're that good."

"Whatever. I have an hour to get ready. I'll see you all here in an hour. Ciao!" He then teleported away and returned to his house.

[Rocket Headquarters]

Epsilon was in her room pacing and growling at the floor. She was obviously still mad over what happened two nights ago. She was doing this while a Glaceon was sitting down at a desk trying to read but was easily interrupted by Epsilon's insatiable growling.

"Epsilon, are you going to keep growling at yourself? Let it go already and concentrate on something else."

"Shut up Theta!"

"You lost, be happy that you lived to fight another day."

Epsilon glared at Theta, "I thought I told you to shut up!"

"You hold no power over me. Listen, I'm not trying to be a bitch but you can't dwell on this forever."

Epsilon then stopped and laid down on her bed. "I hate Alpha...oh so much. I hate all who are stronger than me."

"Don't worry about Alpha too much. You'll have your chance again. I know Giovanni won't let that slide and I know that he told you to not dwell on it too much. You know so very well how you get. I know you probably have something planned for Alpha."

"Not at the moment. I don't know how to deal with him anymore. He rendered my **Night Daze** and my illusions useless. However I do know of one thing that could be his weak point."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Alpha, seems to have a little Gardevoir by his side now. And a pretty one at that." She said with a slight giggle. "He protected her with his life. I'm not sure if they're mates or not but they sure do act like it. If I abuse this little fact I might be able to get to Alpha."

Theta then put the book down, "Oh how cute. He's growing up. I never saw him outside of the Project training grounds and when I finally became a Project he escaped Team Rocket. I had a good time socializing with him though. Also, how's his little lady like?"

"Very curious, if I can say that. She's definitely younger than him but only by a little. I think that their relationship is frankly syncopated. They're the same."

"I wish I could see them. I never saw him as a Gallade."

Epsilon then smiled and the room turned dark and an image of Rick and Alara in the fight appeared on the wall. Theta looked at the image with awe as she saw Rick and Alara, she then giggled a little and waved her paw in front of the image, making it disappear.

"Had fun seeing them Theta?"

"Somewhat. I'm surprised about how much Alpha has grown in these years. His girl is pretty I'll give her that." The tone of her voice then changed to concern. "Epsilon, I think you should leave them alone."

"What kind of bullshit is that!? A second ago you were enjoying yourself and now you want me to leave them alone? Well I won't!"

"Alpha is finally happy and he finally has someone by his side. I think we should just leave him be and proceed with out plans. It's not like he's going to stop us, even with his team fighting along side of him."

"You may leave now Theta. Go back to your room or do whatever the hell you want. I need to think."

"As you wish, but don't forget about what I said."

Epsilon glared at her as she left her room. Epsilon then got up and then closed the door and brought the image back onto the wall.

"So how am I going to use this delicate little rose to destroy you Alpha?" She then focused the image onto Alara. "You will soon be my ticket to Alpha and you will be my opportunity to slit his throat and become the most powerful." She then made the image return to Rick and Alara. "The blade and the embrace...how cute. But the fun has to end eventually lovebirds and when the fun ends fear takes its place and fear will lead to absolute terror. I will be your greatest nightmare, the boogieman that eats away at your very sanity, and the demon that wrecks your soul." She then laughed and the image became a wall with blood dripping down from it. Epsilon then laughed maniacally and laid down on her bed again. the walls then took the appearance of fire and then faded back to normal.

Epsilon then sat up and made a ball in her hands that had the image of Alara in it. "I don't even know your name and yet you're going to be my tool. If only I knew where you were at, then this plan would be a breeze. Looks like I'll have to draw Alpha out to get to you now. Turnabout is such a weird game." She then crushed the ball and went to sleep for the day.

Outside in the hall Theta was walking to her room, in her human form, until she bumped into Beta. She quickly curtsied before her elder and superior.

"Project Beta, it's good to see you."

"A pleasure to see you again Theta. I'm guessing you just came out of Project Epsilon's room?"

"Yeah. She's seriously messed up."

"That's not new. She's a very vengeful person. What is she planning?"

"By what I could hear, she's planning to use his little Gardevoir friend as a way to get to him. Is she his mate?"

"Damn that stupid girl. I don't know if they're mates or not but either way Epsilon has no right to interfere in Alpha's life. Giovanni told us to leave him well enough alone since he gave up his powers and is no longer a threat to us. I'd rather just let Alpha live his life and enjoy what he has. I don't want Epsilon to go around and destroying what he has, regardless if he betrayed us or not. I'm going to go talk to her."

Theta then grabbed his shoulder, "That's not going to work, I already tried. If she does try something I'll go stop her. I wonder..."

"Wonder what?"

"Oh it's nothing but I'm wondering why you guys couldn't pick up Alpha's energy when you were in the Sinnoh region. I know he gave up his powers but he still has a few powers and an incredible energy level. Why weren't you able to pick it up until you got close to him."

"I think it's because he learned how to suppress his power and/or because he's been in this place for Gardevoirs and Gallades called the Sanctuary. We can't sense anything from there and it's hidden from the rest of the world and only a select few know where it is. It's protected by a psychic barrier that prevents us from locating it, even if we're right onto of it. Those creatures are impressive psychics and I give them credit and I wish not to interfere with them."

"You're very honorable Beta. I wish Epsilon could be like that."

"She wasn't always like that. She used to be a kind soul until her envy and wrath got the best of her. She was so kind as a Zorua, so sweet and gentle. She then evolved and was the same until one mission where she became enraged at us for not killing a group of opponents. She didn't want to understand and tried to kill them herself but me and her brother stopped her. She was never the same after that. Mainly because she was injured greatly in the fight and we decided to let the opponents live since killing them was not part of the mission. She swore to become the most powerful and to kill all that got in her way. Which is a reason why she killed her brother. The main reason was because of what Alpha did. He beat her and broke a steel door over her head but before he told her that she will never be the most powerful and that she was not even second best. She went ballistic after that."

"She doesn't need to take it out on everyone. I heard that Alpha wasn't himself when he did that."

"He wasn't and then again I wasn't here when he went crazy on everyone in the facility."

"I just hope that Epsilon quits acting like this."

"You and me both."

[Back at the Sanctuary]

Rick teleported back to the Chief's Court and saw everyone inside preparing for the event. They then noticed that he appeared in the court and Alara then pulled him by the head spikes.

"You were almost late!"

"I'm actually five minutes early Einstein!"

"Don't get smart with me!"

"Oh right what are you going to do? Get that guy who can beat me? What was his name again? Alan McDoesn'tExist?"

A vein then appeared on her head and she tried to punch Rick but he caught the fist and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry. I'll stop."

"I'm sorry too. We haven't done that in a while."

"No. We haven't."

Alara then pulled Rick by the arm and led him to a window so he could see outside. When Rick looked outside he noticed a large crowed gathering outside. He then noticed his family on one side and his Aunt Celenia and his baby cousin Maiyu. Rick then saw what looked like the army standing around the crowd to keep it under control.

"Great more people."

Alara then giggled, "Stop being so reclusive. Be happy, you got a second party in three days. Amber should be jealous."

"Let's just get this over with because I'm going to have one hell of a life after this."

"Alright. My dad is waiting for you at fifth floor balcony overlooking everything."

"Let's go." They then teleported and the rest of the team began their long run up the flight of stairs, cursing their luck for not being able to fly or teleport. The girls flew up flew up to the third floor with Seras, Serenity, and Amber on their backs, and opened the door to the balcony. It took a little while longer for the boys to finally reach the top and they stopped to catch their breath after running up ten flights of stairs. They then composed themselves and walked onto the balcony where Rick, Alara, her parents, and some elders were sitting down.

Daedalus was standing up with Zant overlooking the crowd. They were watching the military perform a blade performance. After a while there were groups of Gardevoirs dancing while music was being played, in preparation for the ceremony.

After the performances Alara's father stoop up and addressed the crowd.

"Surprising isn't it. Another second ceremony after only three days. My daughter Amber is probably ready to go wild right now."

A voice then came from behind him, "Dad, shut up!" Alara's father and the crowd then started to laugh.

"Anyways, I'm not going to bore you all with a speech, so I'm going to get to my point. We're here to inaugurate a new Warlord. Now I know you have all grown fond of Warlord Daedalus and you all remember all he has done for us in his two decades as Warlord. But, as the saying goes, it's time to pass the torch to someone else. Now I think we all pretty much have an idea or some of us have no idea who is the new Warlord. For that I will let Warlord Daedalus continue this address."

Daedalus then walked up to the edge of the balcony and took one good look at the crowd and then began to speak. "As we all know my brother was the Warlord before me. I took over his position to continue his work. We can never forget his contributions to the Sanctuary and some of us, including myself, can say that he was probably the greatest Warlord we have ever had. Then I took over and kept his principles alive in the military and guard forces. However I could not perfectly emulate his work or his tactic but I succeed in continuing our age of peace. I have to unfortunately announce that the drums of war will have to thunder once again. Our existence has been threatened by the criminal organization called Team Rocket."

He then heard chattering among the crowd, they were obviously concerned about going to war. He also knew that some of the residents were in the Hoenn incident and knew about Team Rocket.

"Do not be alarmed. We will be safe and we will not go to war alone. However I do not have the capacity of preparing our armed forces for war. So I am passing the torch to someone who has been trained for war and knows Team Rocket very well. This individual also defeated me and Sir Zant in combat in a handicap battle. He then defeated me in solitary combat. As the rules go that's worthy of being called the next Warlord. So I am pleased to give the title of Warlord and commander of the Sanctuary's army to my own nephew and the son of Warlord Xeron, Aeruthael. Or should I say, Warlord Aeruthael."

Rick then stood up and received a great applause from the crowd and an in sync salute from the army. Daedalus then took off his pendant and his cape and put them on Rick and then saluted him. Rick then saluted him back and then looked back at his team and saw them applauding. Rick then looked back at the crowd and saw X standing in the center of the aisle staring at him and nodding. Rick noticed that no one else could see him or touch him, X then faded away and Rick then smiled for the first time in that night.

Alara's dad then said to the crowd, "Can the individuals that were in the Sanctuary's colony in the Hoenn region during the Hoenn Incident please raise your hands?" A large group of the crowd then raised their hands. "This is the individual that saved you fifteen years ago. He betrayed and defeated Team Rocket for your sake. Also, I do not want any of you to take his former involvement with Team Rocket to affect your opinions on them. He hates them and they ruined his life. He was forced to be with them from a young age and then betrayed them to save you all."

The crowd then said in unison, "We accept him."

Rick then told Alara's dad, "That was fast...and eerily in sync."

"Oh they do that all the time. Now Rick, talk to them."

Rick was hesitant about speaking and then he felt Alara grabbing both his hands pulling him to face the crowd. She then waved at the crowd and stood next to Rick, waiting for him to speak.

"Well, I'm not good at public speaking...or being in front of crowds for that matter. But I have to say that we are going to go to war...but not for a while. I've heard of all that my father has done for you all and I wish to be like my father in any way. However I will need your cooperation." Rick then looked down and saw X staring at him and doing the 'go on' motion with his hand. "Okay I'm going to get to my point. I don't know if I can be the person you all expect me to be. I don't even know if I'm right for the job or if I can be as great as my father before me was. But what I do know is that I have received this job and I am not going to fail any of you. Yes, I was part of Team Rocket and yes I was made into a weapon. But I am not like them and I am not going to ever be like them. You can love me or you can hate me but fact of the matter is that only I can prepare your sons and daughters to protect this land and all pokemon for that matter. So let me finish with a question: What do you want to see in me and what do you expect from me?"

Rick then stepped back and Alara then looked at the crowd and said, "Well?"

The crowd then looked at one another and then a few gave out answers, "A strong leader. Someone stronger and better than your father. Someone that will lead us through this inevitable war." Rick nodded and smiled at the crowd. Then someone said, "Someone like us."

Rick then said to the crowd, "You're in luck. I'm no different than anyone here. My parents were famous but I know they cared about all of you. And you know what...so will I." Rick then received a large applause from the crowd and he then put his hand up and everyone stopped applauding. "Before anything else, I want to have a meeting with the army tomorrow at noon. Now why stand here any longer? We have a party to start." He then turned to Amber, "Amber go ahead."

Amber then smiled and pulled a DJ booth out of nowhere and music started. Rick and Alara then teleported to the center of the aisle and received a military salute from the army.

Rick then asked Alara, "Why are you with me right now?"

"Because I noticed that you don't do well with crowds. So I guess you need someone next to you so you can deal with that. Besides, you're going to be near me for most if not all day for the whole time you're Warlord. Also, my dad wants me to take you to the colonists from Hoenn that you saved."

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot about them."

Alara then grabbed his hand and led him to a group of about a hundred that was in the crowd. The moment Rick showed himself to them three Gardevoirs ran up and hugged him. Rick then assumed these three used to be the Kirlias he saved from Giovanni.

One of them then told Rick, "It's so great to see you again. You grew."

Rick was surprised but still answered, "Umm great to see you guys too. You also grew up. Looks like you guys stayed here after I rescued you all."

"Yeah, I'm surprised on how far you've come since that day. First you saved us and now you're the Warlord. I don't know if that counts as a success story but it sure feels like one. Oh I never introduced myself, even as a kid. My name is Ruby. You save me and my sisters."

Her sisters then began to speak to Rick. One told him, "My name is Silver."

The last one then said, "My name is Seera."

"Please to meet you guys again. So what have you guys done since that day?"

Silver then told him, "Well we began our lives here again and then we grew up. We eventually went through school, got mates, and started families. But we never forgot about you and what you did."

Rick then chuckled and Alara just looked at him and smiled. Rick then said, "That's great to hear. I wish I had more time to speak to you three but I need to get going. We'll speak again. What den do you three live in?"

"We all live in the fifth den. We'll be looking forward to a visit someday."

"And I'll visit when I have time." He then gestured to Alara and the three girls began to laugh.

Alara then pulled Rick's face spikes and told him, "Don't think that I couldn't understand what you meant. Don't worry I won't stop you from going anywhere because I will most likely join you."

"Then I will be visiting you guys soon. I have to head home and prepare for tomorrow."

One of the girls then asked, "You're not staying for the party?"

"No, I don't party. I just like peace and quiet but I like being sociable. Don't worry, I'll see you three some other time. Goodbye!"

They all then said, "Goodbye Warlord Aeruthael!"

Rick then waved goodbye and walked with Alara, "It's going to take some time to get used to that title."

Alara then told him, "Just wait awhile. You'll get used to it."

Rick then chuckled and then stopped when he felt something tug at his leg. He then looked and saw Maiyu tugging at his leg. Rick then smiled and picked her up.

"Aww hi Maiyu. It's good to see you again."

Maiyu the hugged him and said, "It's good to see you too cousin Aeru." She then looked at Alara. "Oh hi Miss Alara. I wasn't expecting you to be with my cousin."

Alara then chuckled and rubbed Maiyu's head, "I'm just going home with him Maiyu. It's so good to see you little one."

Maiyu then arched and eyebrow and then looked at Alara and then at Rick and then back at Alara, "Are my cousin now?"

"What?"

"Aren't you and my cousin together now?"

Rick tried to hold in his laughter and almost failed. Alara then told Maiyu, "No Maiyu. He's just taking me to my house."

"Oh okay...I still wanted you to be my new cousin though."

"Oh that's so sweet Maiyu...and kinda awkward but sweet nonetheless."

Maiyu's mother then appeared and took Maiyu from Rick's arms and then hugged Rick.

She then told Rick, "So how does it feel to be the new Warlord?"

"I actually feel the same. We'll see tomorrow. I'm actually headed home right now to prepare for tomorrow."

"Well let's hope everything goes alright tomorrow."

"Thanks Aunt Celenia."

"Goodbye Rick. Goodbye Alara."

Maiyu then popped her head up from her mother's arms and waved at Rick and Alara, "Bye cousin. Bye future cousin."

Rick and Alara then gave awkward smiles and waved back and then walked away to the car.

Rick then told Alara, "Well that was awkward. I'm not even going to say anything to Maiyu."

"Don't. Just take me home."

They then left the Chief's Court and prepared for the next day ahead of them. Rick was wondering how the army will react in his presence and Alara was wondering how Rick would react around the army. Only time will have to tell.

Rick and Alara soon arrived at her house and Rick did his usual thing of letting her out and walking her to her door.

Alara then turned and told Rick, "So when can I expect to see you tomorrow?"

"Huh?"

"You're my guardian, I can't go anywhere without you now."

Rick shrugged, "I'm leaving for the military barracks at eleven in the morning so I can be prepared there by noon. So I guess you can come to my house for breakfast or I should come here."

"Come here and have your breakfast here. I've been at your place too much already."

"Okay I'll come here in the morning."

"Good. Well good Warlord."

She then closed the door as Rick chuckled and said, "Goodnight."

He then jumped back into this car and drove home.

[At the Chief's Court]

Alara's parents were eating a meal and watching a dance performance with Rick's team sitting with them. They then noticed that Rick and Alara were gone and they couldn't see them anywhere in the crowd.

Alara's mother then told her mate, "I guess they went home already."

"Looks like it. So ready to start Step Two?"

"Whenever you're ready. We just have to find the right time for it to happen. Step One failed spectacularly, let's see if Step Two fairs any better."

Alara's father then lifted a glass, "Cheers to that."

X was standing near then, leaning on a wall with his arms crossed. He then began to laugh at the events before him and then faded away.

And this one is done. So tell me what you guys think and I'll see you guys next week. I'm still trying to have new chapters posted every Monday and Friday so look forward to seeing them, hopefully, twice a week. Keep sending me your reviews, suggestions, questions, and requests. Thanks for everything guys and space in my community is still open for those that asked to join it. I'll be more than happy to add your pokemon stories onto my community as long as it meets my criteria. Well bye guys!


	24. Chapter 24: Reunions

Chapter 24 is out! I actually got a request to add onto this chapter and it worked so greatly that I actually put it in the chapter. Well enjoy the chapter guys, I know I enjoyed writing it. Also, the poll is finally over and the winner of the movie parody is the Lord of the Rings. So expect a Blade and the Embrace Lord of the Rings parody in the future, maybe not immediate. View rankings: Same as last time. Well tell me what you guys think and keep sending me requests (because it helped me immensely), reviews, and questions."

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick woke up in the morning obviously eager to begin his day. He went to the bathroom and freshened up and then headed to his room's balcony. When he walked onto the balcony he could clearly see the garden and then saw an image of his parents in the garden.

The image was of his mother running and laughing while his father was running after her. Rick just laughed and identified that it was probably his mother that left that memory. He then sensed someone behind him and he drew his blades and brought one back and stopped his blades as one neared X's throat.

"X! What the hell!? Dude, announce yourself every now and then." Rick then gave a sigh of relief since he remembered that it could of been Alara since she had access to the house.

"Sorry but I just needed to talk."

"I've been meaning to ask you about something. Where do you come from? Where do you go when you vanish?"

"Oh that's easy. To your head."

Rick then arched an eyebrow, "Wait...what? How long have you been doing that?"

"Since our little fight. I need to keep an eye on you at all times."

"What do you do in there?"

"This is off topic. I came here to tell you that you better not go easy on the army today. You need them to fight at their fullest and you need to find out how powerful they are and how you can help them."

"So you're telling me to go all drill sergeant on them?"

"No but don't take any shit from them. They need more training and guidance. Just try to train them right. By that I mean that you should train them like you were trained, Gallades and Gardevoirs alike, hold no biases."

"No need to worry about that. I'll train them to the best of my abilities. Also, do you see everything through my eyes?"

"Yes and no. I can go back to into your head but I'm usually in the Hall of Origins. I show up when I know I'm needed or I just want to appear. Don't worry I don't dabble inside of your mind too much, I have a life...besides the fact that I'm nonexistent."

"I'm not even going to ask. Thanks for the talk."

"Anytime! Well see ya!" He then faded away.

Before Rick headed out he went to his dad's armory and looked around for a minute and then opened his armor vault. Rick looked at the Warlord armor and something in his head told him to take it and put it on. Rick then took the chestplate and put it on. He then took the cape and place it over his shoulder, followed by the shoulder plates. Rick then put the Warlord Amulet around his neck and walked out of the house. Rick walked outside and got into his car.

When Rick got into his car he received a call from Alara. "Hello?"

"Hi Rick! It's me."

"I kinda guessed. I'm actually headed over there right now."

"Good because breakfast is ready."

Rick then heard the door close in the background. "I'm guessing that Amber just left?"

"Yeah she's going to go out with some high school friends for today."

"Okay, well I'll be there in a little bit so see you there."

"Okay. Bye!"

"Goodbye!"

Rick then hung up and then turned on the car and took off and arrived at Alara's house. He then knocked on the door. Alara then opened the door and welcomed him inside.

"Welcome back to my house. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah in a way. I'm wondering how things are going to be now that I'm the Warlord."

"Well you're more of a celebrity now. I'm surprised the press hasn't been hunting you down so far."

Rick then sighed, "I didn't think about that. I forgot that you guys still have paparazzi and you guys have the media."

"Yep. You'll get used to it after a while and the media has left me alone in the last few years because the people in my community wanted them to leave me alone. So they did and now I'm living a normal life, even as the Chief's daughter."

Rick then sat down at the table and began to eat the breakfast that Alara had made.

"You know, you didn't have to make me breakfast."

Alara then smiled, "Oh I don't mind. I love providing for others. I usually cook for Amber and then you came by."

"Well I appreciate it. So you're going to come with me to see the army?"

"Of course! I have to stay near you now and you can't leave me alone for too long."

"Oh crap! I forgot about that so quickly."

Alara then giggled, "Yep we'll be spending more time together. Looks like we'll be best friends again. I actually found some pictures of us in some of my photo albums that I found upstairs in my attic."

"Really? I would love to see them."

Alara then sat down and teleported the photo album to her hands. She then opened it and began pointing to many photographs of them as Ralts playing or with their parents. One photo in particular made Alara say 'Aww'. The picture was of her hugging Rick and him hugging her back while eating a cookie. Rick shook his head while chuckling.

"You were very alert as a Ralts apparently. Looks like your parents had to bribe you to make you hug me." She then laughed.

"I actually would of done it for a cookie." He then laughed with her.

Alara then turned the page and found one of them at the beach and her burying Rick in the sand. The only parts of Rick that were visible were his hands flailing above ground.

Alara laughed again and Rick sweatdropped, "You psychopath! You're lucky I can't remember any of this."

"But I can. It was your idea and your dad dug you out. So who's the psychopath?"

"Still you."

"Oh shut up." She said dryly.

She then found another photo of them sleeping in the same crib as Ralts.

"Wow we slept together as Ralts the same way we sleep together now. You love sleeping on my chest a bit too much."

"Force of habit I guess. It's weird how we sleep the same way but I guess we never outgrew it."

Rick then flipped the page and saw one of them pulling their mothers' hair at the same time.

"And it looks like we were in sync as well...we were little demons to our moms."

"I don't remember doing that, but children usually do things like that."

"But at the same time?"

"Good point."

She then found one more photo of them eating an apple together. Alara then smiled wide and Rick chuckled at the picture.

"Well we love apples apparently. We were so small compared to that apple."

"Yeah..." She then stopped and laughed at the picture. "Oh Arceus! Rick look in the background." Rick then looked and saw in the background their parents fighting over an Oran Berry and their moms punching their dads.

"Well isn't that amusing. Now I know where you get you attitude from."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alara said while looking at him with an opposing look on her face.

"Oh nothing. Do we have time to go through all of these?"

"Of course but I want to show you something else I found in my attic."

"Oh Arceus! What did you find?"

She then teleported a video tape to her hands and walked to her living room and played the tape. Rick then went over and sat next to her and to watch the tape.

When the video tape started Rick and Alara could quickly see Alara's mom carrying Alara and talking to her mate, who was recording the tape.

"Hey dear come here and get a shot of this little beauty." He then zoomed in on Alara's mom. "Not me you idiot. I mean Alara." He then moved the camera onto Alara who reached for the camera.

The videotape then showed the camera being taken away from her dad's hands and Rick's dad then appeared on screen talking to them.

"Hi Alara! Hi Aeru! Just recording this for you kids to see how weird your parents are. Alara stay pretty, Rick don't get soft on me."

Alara then looked at Rick and laughed, "Well looks like we did as he asked."

"I guess but let's keep watching for now."

They then went back to seeing the tape. On screen they could see their moms talking and their dads fighting for the camera. Their moms' eyes then began to glow and both males went flying across the room and landed near the two females and the kids. Alara's dad landed in the worst position as Alara and Rick were jumping off the couch and landed on his crotch. Rick quickly cringed in pain while Alara laughed at the screen.

[At Alara's Parent's house]

Chief Saifer was drinking coffee while his mate was finishing making breakfast. He then froze with his eyes wide open and dropped the cup.

His mate then asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm sensing...bad and painful memories."

[Back at Alara's house]

On the screen Rick's dad was helping Alara's dad to walk and both their mothers were carrying Rick and Alara before putting them in a play pen together. The adults then sat down in the living room while the camera was pointed at the kids.

Baby Alara then went behind Rick and hugged him and then pointed at the camera on the table. Both of them then teleported and their parents noticed and went looking for them. The camera then seemed to have lifted itself up and a giggle was heard behind the camera, easily identified as Alara holding the camera. She then pointed the camera at Rick who cocked his head from the left to the right and then looked to his left at the incoming adults.

Before the adults could reach them they teleported away and appeared behind a wine rack. Rick then pulled a string that was on a bottle and the bottle went flying towards Alara dad.

"Oh no no no no no no no NO NO NO..." The bottle hit his crotch and both kids then laughed again before being picked up by their mothers.

[Back at Alara's Parent's house]

Alara's parents were eating breakfast. Just then Alara's dad then sliced the plate in half as he was cutting his eggs and then he cringed.

His mate then asked, "Seriously? Do I need to call the doctor?"

"No, just even worse, painful...projectile related memories."

[Back in Alara's house]

The video tape continued and both of them just laughed at what they saw.

"Wow we were demons to our parents, weren't we Alara?"

"No I think I know why my parents didn't have any more kids after me. They adopted Amber."

They then went back to the tape, which skipped to another time in the day. The scene began with Alara and Rick sleeping soundly in a crib and Alara's dad holding a bag of ice on his crotch. Rick's dad was rubbing his back trying to help him with the pain but he seemed to be holding in the urge to laugh at his best friend.

He then said, "It's okay bro, just keep the ice on it. Well they sure left their mark on you today and painfully."

"Shut up!"

Rick's mom then whispered, "Shut up! We finally got those two to go to sleep. Aww they're so cute like that."

Alara's mom then said, "They're going to make a cute couple one day."

Rick's dad then said, "Looks like it. They don't do anything without each other. Hell they brought the Chief to his knees already. New record in my book."

"They have way too much energy together. I wonder how it will be when they're separated."

"Umm I'm guessing the same way it was the first thirteen months before Alara was born. She's only four months old and those two are best friends and partners in crime. They don't speak to us but they sure can communicate with each other."

Alara's dad then said, "And come up with assault plans. Oh my balls!" He then sat down on the couch and the rest joined him.

Alara's mom then said, "So who's expecting those two to get together in the future?" Everyone then raised their hands.

Just then the door opened and Daedalus and Zant walked into the house.

Rick's mom and dad then said, "Hi bro!"

Both Zant and Daedalus then waved hello to all of them.

Alara's mom then asked them, "Say do you guys think that Aeru and Alara will get together in the future?"

Zant said, "There's a good possibility. Have you seen those two rugrats?"

Daedalus then said, "I don't know. That depends if those two stay as friends like that and then decide to move forward in their relationship or just stay as best friends. We can't tell but we can lead if you want."

Rick's dad then said, "I'd rather those two to get together on their own but realistically we don't know if they'll be this way forever. Their just babies, what do they know?"

Alara's dad then said, "Way too much. That boy of your's has aim with a wine bottle."

"Well what can I say? He's destined to be a fighter...and Alara as well."

"Well maybe."

Rick's mom then said, "Let's just hope they stay as friends for their entire lives. I think we prefer them like this."

Everyone then said, "Aye!"

Rick's mom then got up and turned the camera to the two sleeping Ralts. "Goodnight you two." The tape then ended.

As it ended Rick and Alara were looking at the screen and sweatdropped. They then looked at one another and then got up.

Rick then said, "Well that was funny and then turned awkward at the end."

"Oh well be happy that we're still friends."

Suddenly Rick's Poketch began to ring and he checked his Caller ID and noticed it was Dawn. He then answered the video call and a holographic video appeared and Dawn appeared on the video.

"Oh hi Rick! It's me! How have you been?"

Rick then responded but all that she could hear was him saying 'Gallade' and syllables of the word.

"Umm Rick, I don't speak pokemon."

Rick then remembered that she couldn't understand him and she was too far away to form a psychic link with her. He then remembered a feature in his Poketch V2 that translated his speech for humans to understand him.

"Okay can you understand me now?"

"Yes! How did you do that?"

"My Poketch has a featured that translates my speech for you humans to understand me."

"That's really cool. I should get one. I would love to know what my pokemon are saying."

Alara then asked, "Who's that Rick?"

"Oh it's a human that I met about two and a half weeks ago."

Dawn then asked, "Who's that Rick? It doesn't sound like Serenity."

"Oh it's not. Serenity is still with me but I'm not with her at the moment. It's my friend named Alara, she's a Gardevoir."

Alara then got in the view of the video. Dawn then said, "Oh my you're really pretty. So your Rick's friend?"

"Yep. We've known each other since we were babies and now we're inseparable again."

"Aww that's cute. I also have a friend with me at the moment."

Rick then said, "Oh really? Who?"

"Her name is May. She's from the Hoenn region like you Rick."

"Actually I found out I'm from here in the Sinnoh region."

"Oh really. Well that's nice. I'm actually in Pastoria City right now and I can see by my locator that you're not too far away. Should I go see you?"

"No, that's a bad idea. Maybe I'll go see you."

"Alright. Well I have to go. Me and May are going to go to the Safari Zone for the whole day today."

A girl then appeared on the screen next to Dawn and Dawn was taken by surprise.

"I'm guessing that's your friend May?"

May then said, "Is that Gallade talking?"

Dawn then told her, "Yeah that's my friend Rick. The one I told you about."

"Oh okay. Hi Rick! Sorry I don't have much time to talk but I take it we'll see you in the future."

"Yeah. You'll see me eventually. Well I have to go. Bye girls!"

"Bye Rick!"

Rick then hung up and turned to Alara. "So shall we go?"

"Who were those two?"

"Well the girl with the blue hair is named Dawn and I met her a few days after arriving in the Sinnoh region. We met through a battle...where I eliminated three of her pokemon to protect Serenity. She's a sweet girl nonetheless. The other girl is her friend May who I have never met. So once again, shall we go?"

"Yeah. We have nothing to do here...unless you want to go look at more baby pictures?"

"Maybe some other time. I need to go get the others before we head to see the army."

"So it's settled, let's get out of here before things get anymore weird or hilarious."

They then left the house and got into Rick's car. Before they took off Rick asked Alara a question.

"Say, why don't you ever take your car? We're always driving around in my Lambo. What happened to your Ferrari?"

"Oh it's in the back and you're always available to drive me around so I have no need to use it too often."

Rick just rolled his eyes and drove off to get the others and to check up on them. When they arrived they quickly took the elevator to the fifth floor to check up on Jean, Sera, Dartz, and Lucian. When they reached Jean's place they noticed that he wasn't home and then they checked Dartz but got the same result. They then walked up to Seras's door and heard all three of them inside. Rick then knocked on the door and Seras answered the door.

"Can I ask what you two are doing in Seras's place?"

Dartz then answered, "Oh we're just helping her pack for her trip back to Kanto."

Rick then said, "She's leaving already? It'll take days to get back to Kanto from here. The nearest ferry to Kanto is in Sunnyshore City and that's a few days journey...then again she has her car." He then looked at Seras. "Do you want me to order a jet to take you back home?"

She then turned to look at Rick, "No, that's okay. Thank you Rick! Don't worry, I'll be back soon. I'm actually not leaving until later on today. Around two o'clock."

"Alright, also too late I called for the jet anyways."

"How?"

"An app on my Poketch that lets me place a transportation order whenever and where ever I want. It'll pick you up at three o'clock at Pastoria City."

"Oh well thanks anyways. At least I'll get home sooner than expected."

"So when do you think you'll be back?"

"I say about a month or so. It depends on how much they need me in the Safari Zone. This is what happens when you get promoted too much."

"I guess your right. Well shall we go to meet the army?"

They then nodded and they split up to wake the others on the other floors. It took about twenty minutes for all the males to exit the building and another thirty for the females to finally get out. They all then took off for the den's transporter to take them to the Military District.

When Rick and the gang arrived at the Military District they were met with a sea of people who were trying to see Rick and by paparazzi who were trying to take pictures of the new Warlord. Rick and his friends just walked through the crowd with Serenity huddling close to Rick and Alara holding onto Rick's arm. They eventually made it to the Residential District where a military caravan was waiting for him with a cart pulled by Rapidashes.

One of the soldiers then walked up to them and saluted Rick, "Sir we were given orders to escort you and your team to the Military District. This carriage will take you there. You and lady Alara will ride in it while your team will go in separate carriages. Sorry but it's tradition to parade the new Warlord through the Residential District until we reach the Military district."

"Understood! Let's get on with it."

The soldier saluted and shouted a command to open the door to the carriage. The carriage was red and black. It was an open carriage and it made Rick wonder how this tradition came to be. He thought that maybe it was just to present the new Warlord to the masses, but then what was the point of the ceremony from last night. He decided not to think much or anymore on the matter and got onto the carriage. He then helped Alara on and Rick then gave the order to go once the rest of his team was ready to go. Four soldiers then jumped on the corners of the carriage and two more jumped in the driver seats. They soon took off through the main road of the Residential District.

Rick then looked around and saw many of the residents applauding and cheering as they drove by. Alara then began to wave at them and Rick did the same. He was surprised on how the people accepted him so quickly and how many of them actually took their time to watch then pass through.

Alara then told him, "You were accepted pretty quickly. I guess it's because your family's name proceeds you."

"Huh?"

"Your dad was the best Warlord we ever had and his brother was good as well. Your family was the only family to have three generation of Warlords in their line. Your grandfather, your dad, your uncle, and now you."

"I never thought about that...hell I didn't even know my grandfather was the Warlord before my dad."

"Yep. We weren't born during that time so we don't know much about his term but I know he led to the creation of the Sanctuary Guards. That was his biggest claim to fame...that and he ended our war with the Mightyenas."

"We had a war versus them?"

"Yeah. It was short, only about two years and it led to very few deaths. It was more of a diplomatic war then an actually combatant war. My grandfather took care of the diplomatic part of the war and your grandfather ended any and all opponents that attacked the Sanctuary."

"Can we talk about this another time?"

"Sure. You need to think, don't you?"

"Just a little."

"Then take your time. Oh! There's your family."

Rick looked and saw his family outside of his grandmother's house waving at him. Rick then waved both arms at them. The carriage then came to a stop as they reached the stairs that led to the Military District. It was quite the climb but Rick was determined to make the climb. He got out of the carriage and took Alara's hand to help her down. His gang then came out of their carriage and began to walk. Rick immediately began shaking the hands of many people that reached out to him but kept walking along.

Rick turned to Alara, "Why do I feel like a human president?"

"That's pretty much what you are while my dad is the king."

Rick then made it to the steps and began to climb them all the way to the Military District. It took him about ten minutes to climb it but to him it was an easy climb while Alara just levitated next to him to not get fatigued from climbing all those steps. Once they reached the top they were faced with two gigantic doors that led into the district. Two soldiers then appeared and opened the gates for them and they entered.

As soon as they stepped into the district they were met by a sea of soldiers in attention that left an aisle for them to walk on. As soon as Rick began walking on the aisle all the soldiers, Gallade and Gardevoir alike, saluted him until he arrived at the end of the aisle. At the end of the aisle there was a building with a few steps in front of it and two seats sitting at the top. Rick quickly took a seat and Alara sat next to him, he then looked at the soldiers and then back at his team.

Suddenly a Gallade with silver hair came up to Rick and told him, "We're waiting for you sir."

Rick looked at the Gallade for a second. He had silver hair but was still young, no older than him at least. His hair was also covering one of his eyes, so unlike average Gallades who had their hair in a centurion helmet shaped mohawk.

"Thank you soldier." Rick then cleared his throat and all the soldiers returned to attention. "So needless to say, I'm the new Warlord. So allow me to say that I hope I will get the approval of all of you if not not most of you. Let me tell you guys a little about my style of combat training and discipline. I'm not going to go easy on any of you. You're all my responsibility now and I'd rather have you all prepared for anything, if it happens. Now who are the superior officers right now, besides me?"

One soldier then said, "Colonel Simmons. He's right next to you sir."

Rick then looked at the Gallade with silver hair, "Simmons?"

The Gallade looked at him, "Yes sir. Simmons is my last name."

"Oh yeah I forgot we all have last names. I keep forgetting since I don't use mines. Very well then, anyone else?"

A Gardevoir then said, "Staff Sergeant Williams. She's in the watch tower right now sir." Rick looked up and noticed a Gardevoir sitting on the wall, looking down at the scene.

Another Gardevoir then said, "Lieutenant Colonel Ryu. He's next to Lady Alara."

That day Rick took the names of twelve lieutenants, five corporals, four colonels, nine staff sergeants, four gunnery chiefs, but he noticed that there were no Generals.

"So who are the Generals?"

Everyone then looked at one another and then a Gallade answered, "We have no Generals sir. We all work as a single unit led by the Warlord."

"Then looks like we're going to have to make some changes. I do like the idea of all of you working as a single unit. However, that can only work in a time of peace but not in war. We need to have squads, platoons, and infantry."

Everyone then looked at one another, unsure if it was a good idea but it had some logic behind it.

Rick then said, "Colonel Simmons and Staff Sergeant Williams are now Captains. Congratulations!"

Both Colonel Simmons and Staff Sergeant Williams looked at one another and then they bowed their heads and accepted their new positions. Out of nowhere a yell came from the company of soldiers, "Are you fucking kidding me!?"

Rick and Alara then facepalmed and sighed when they identified the voice, "Good Arceus! Sayer, what do you want?"

Sayer then walked onto the aisle and everyone looked at him. Jean then asked Rick, "Who?"

"Sayer, he's a Gallade who's infatuated with Alara and is pretty aggressive about it. I beat the hell out of him two days ago and he doesn't seem to know when to let up."

"Do you want me to beat the shit out of him?"

"Nah let him do what he wants for now. He won't harm me at all."

Sayer then walked up to them, "How the hell did a weakling like you manage to become the Warlord?"

"By defeating my uncle Daedalus. Also, who are you calling a weakling? I beat you and your little ladies in armor easily two days ago."

"That was a minor set back. I wasn't at 100% that day. But now I am."

"Then come at me."

Sayer then drew his blades and was about to charge until he was held back by other soldiers. Rick immediately waved his hands, telling them to let him try. They then let go of Sayer and he took his position again and charged at Rick. Rick then fired a **Signal Beam** from his spike and Sayer was sent flying until he hit a wall, taking him out immediately.

"And that's the way the cookie crumbles. I didn't even move and I beat him." Sayer then got up again and charged at Rick again. Rick glared at him this time. "You fool. You're not supposed to be moving."

The place immediately got darker and Sayer stopped and fell to his face, unable to move. He was feeling like something was suffocating him and all his limbs felt heavy. Alara quickly looked at Rick who had his eyes glowing she could feel his irritation. She then rubbed his arm and made him look at her, he then stopped his invisible assault and the atmosphere returned to normal. Sayer however still had a hard time moving.

Rick then got up from his seat and drew his sword from the sheath on his back. "Okay listen up all of you! We're doing things differently now. All who want no part in this can leave right now with no consequences but I must beckon you. I cannot win this incoming war alone and I need all of you to help me. It's going to be hard, I know. However, I won't force any of you to do anything I know you cannot do. So I ask you, will you fight on my side or would you rather not fight for the Sanctuary? The decision is yours. Look! The door is open, you can leave now if you want, I will not pursue you or punish you."

Rick waited a for a minute and noticed that no one left the courtyard he then smiled, "So does that mean that you're with me on this?"

Sayer then got up, "It's not for you that I'll fight for. I fight for my home and our way of life. Mainly because if we lose you we still have the hope of a home to return to."

"In that you've spoken truthfully Sayer."

Corporal Simmons, now Captain Simmons, then told Rick, "Well I'm fighting for both. I'm fighting for home and lord. You're our leader and we cannot go on without a leader, that's why they made the position of the Warlord absolute and without protest. There's a law for the Warlord and that is that he/she cannot do anything for their own gain, but they can do things for the benefit of the Sanctuary."

"No need to worry about that. I have no ambition for myself or any wanting to make a name for myself. That'll happen when it happens but my priority is to prepare the army. When will this war start? I do not know. But will we win this war? You can bet your ass on that." Rick then received a collective "hoo-ra!" He then laughed and then sat down again. "Well I can see you guys are eager to serve. I have nothing left to speak to any of you today. I'll be leaving for now but if anything you guys can summon me back here since I can now teleport here right away. Captains Simmons and Williams are to be in charge while I'm absent. Tomorrow we will all begin your new training. Be sure to be here at six in the morning. Take care."

Rick then got up from his seat and an alarm immediately sounded. A soldier then came out of a tower across from Rick and then ran towards Captain Simmons.

"Sir we have a hostile outside the gates of the Sanctuary!"

"Who!?"

"A shinny Lucario that's kicking all our guards' asses. How should be proceed?"

Rick then said, "I'll deal with the hostile. All of you prepare for the worse just in case."

Rick then teleported to the gates and the military then began to gather their forces just in case Rick failed. Lucian on the other hand turned on a screen that showed what a camera at the gate was seeing. He then saw a shinny Lucario beating all twelve guards with his attacks.

Lucian then yelled, "ALLEN!"

[At the Gate]

The shinny Lucatio, Allen, was obliterating the guards with his control of the elements around him with **Psychic**. Two of the guards then rushed him and he brought up to earth columns to block their attacks, he then punched one with **Fire Punch** and the other with **Ice Punch**. He then walked over to a downed guard and put fire onto his right fist and brought it down. Suddenly someone caught his fist and flipped him onto the ground.

Allen opened his eyes and saw Rick standing over him, looking at him and picking up the downed guard.

The guard then said, "Warlord Aeruthael? What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass. Now go get the others and head to the barracks. I'll handle this, don't worry about me."

"Yes sir." The guard then rounded up the others and went inside the Sanctuary.

Rick then began to speak to Allen, who got back onto his feet and prepared an **Ice Punch** and a **Fire Punch**. "So what's your problem? Is there a reason for attacking my men?"

"I don't need to explain to you anything."

"Then you leave me no choice."

(Battle Music: **Carry On by Avenged Sevenfold**)

Allen actually fired his **Fire Punch** at Rick, but Rick knocked the fireball away. Allen then tried to punch him with his **Ice Punch** but Rick caught it and threw him across the ground until he hit a tree.

Allen then said, "You're tougher than the others."

"Yeah that comes with being the Warlord. I'm the strongest."

"Then let's test this out. May I have your name?"

"I'm Warlord Aeruthael. And may I get a return?"

"Allen. The guy that's going to kick your ass."

"Oh yeah because you were doing a great job at it just now."

"Alright, that's it."

Allen then charged an **Aura Sphere** and fired it at Rick. Rick then caught the ball and threw it back at Allen who dodged it why leaning back (lol Matrix style). He then got back to his original position and was met by a **Night Slash** to the face. He then shook off the pain and attacked Rick with his martial arts skills. They traded blows for a while until Rick caught both his fists.

"You know this is pretty easy. How did you beat the others?"

"By doing this!"

Allen then backflipped and threw Rick into the lake adjacent to the Sanctuary. Before Rick hit the water Allen fired an **Aura Sphere** that hit Rick and forced him to the bottom of the lake where it blew up. Allen then turned and walked to the gates of the Sanctuary. He then stopped when he felt a pressure almost suffocating him. He then looked towards the lake and the water exploded into the air and Rick appeared in the center of lake. The water then rained back down into the gigantic crater and Rick walked out dry while the water filled the lake again. Allen just looked at him with awe and he then used **Psychic** to make a wave fall on Rick. He then ran up to the wave and hit it with **Ice Punch**, freezing it.

Allen looked at the frozen Rick, "Well that was less painful then I thought it would be. Good job though." He then turned to leave until he heard Rick in his head.

_"I'm not done yet kid."_

Allen looked back and Rick's eyes began to glow and the ice broke apart and Rick was free. He then smiled at Allen. Allen looked at him stunned and then got hit by a **Focus Punch** in his gut, so fast that he couldn't react. Allen went flying and hit a tree, breaking it in half.

"Told you I wasn't done yet." Allen then jumped onto his feet and cracked his neck. "You're actually stronger than you look. I expected that attack to take you out."

"I'm no ordinary Lucario."

"Oh I noticed. Give me all you got, kid."

Allen then nodded and jumped into the air and fired his **Fire Punches** at him rapidly, like Rick's gatling gun. Rick just knocked all the fireballs away until Allen brought them back at Rick with **Psychic**. The fireballs then surrounded Rick and exploded when they all lunged at Rick. Allen was still floating in the air by controlling it with **Psychic**. Rick was still in the gigantic fireball until he dispelled the flames by firing his **Psycho Cuts** at Allen. Allen dodged the blades and saw Rick standing on the charred ground with no burns or any sign of injury.

Rick then looked at Allen who was beginning to get irritated. Allen then charged a large **Aura Sphere** in his hands and he then aimed at Rick who held onto his locket. Allen then released the attack while yelling, "Aura Blast!" The attack didn't fire as a ball, rather it fired as a wave towards Rick. Rick then gave a large grin and reached the locket out and flipped the picture until the mirror was visible. The attack then hit the locket and got sucked into it.

"Oh so that's how it works. I think I can only do that once."

Allen then looked at him with his mouth wide open, "How?"

"You see this locket? It absorbs attacks and adds them to my moveset regardless of species or type. So now I can use that attack. However, I'm surprised you know it. I only know one Lucario that can use the Aura Blast."

"You do...well looks like I have to try something new on you." Allen then disappeared into thin air.

"Accelerated movement? Could it be?"

Allen then reappeared in front of Rick and tried to slash him with the spike on the back of his hand. Rick however dodged it and began to knock Allen back with his martial arts. Rick then got a good uppercut on him and he fell back.

"How did you do that?"

"Uppercut you? Oh that was simple, I brought my fist up onto his chin and hit you with force. That's called an uppercut."

"I know what that is, I meant the fact that you kept up with my accelerated movement."

"Oh that's simple." Rick then disappeared into thin air and reappeared behind him. "I was the first one to use it."

"Okay this just got harder. You can move faster than I can. Come on, stop playing the passive game and attack me directly now!"

"If you wish." Rick then drew his blades and charged them with **Psycho Cuts**.

Allen then got onto his feet and stood about a few yards from Rick and charged his fists with an **Ice Punch** and a **Fire Punch**.

They then yelled at the same time, "Let's go!" They then ran towards each other and clashed in the middle. Rick had the size and strength advantage but Allen had the immediate speed advantage. They both blocked and dodged each other's attacks and then they both punched each other in the face.

"You're really good, kid."

"You're not too bad yourself."

They then separated and Allen then used **Psychic** to bring two earth pillars to block two airborne **Psycho Cuts** from Rick. He then tried to slam both the pillars onto Rick but Rick vanished before he could do it. Allen however had an idea of what Rick was going to do and he used **Psychic** on the air around himself to create four twisters to spin around him, stopping Rick.

"What now? Can't get near me without getting blown away?"

"Wow kid you're a true improviser."

"Thanks. I got these skills from my parents. Now I'm going to use their training to take you out."

Rick then chuckled and fired two more **Psycho Cuts** at him. Allen then used the twisters to launch the attacks back at Rick. Rick then caught both blades and took a swordsmanship pose.

"How did you catch your own blades? Also, how can you use them as weapons?"

"Because they're still connected to my energy. Which gives me and idea."

Rick then ran towards Allen. Allen then prepared the twisters for the assault. Rick however, threw one of the blades onto the ground, making it spin and throw large pieces of earth towards the twisters. The twisters then made the rocks and pieces of earth travel around and nearly hit Allen. Allen then decided to move the twisters to a safe distance, he quickly regretted the decision as Rick slipped through the gap that was made from moving the twister. Allen then fired multiple **Aura Spheres** at Rick but Rick knocked them away with the blade. He hit him with the **Psycho Cut** blade and sent him into the air.

Allen then used **Psychic** to keep himself suspended in the air, visibly in pain. Allen then glared at Rick but his face also had astonishment on how easily he was being beaten.

"I don't know how you're beating me so easily but I'm about to change that."

"Oh good because I don't want you to disappoint me again. The twister idea was smart but I found a way to get through that."

"Very well then." Wind then began to encircle his hand. "Tell me, what do you get when air compresses onto itself? You get electricity." A blade of electricity then appeared in his hand and he then began to prepare a slash. "Try to catch this!" He then swung the blade down at Rick with enough force that a thunder clap could be heard.

Rick quickly drew his Shadowbane and slashed at the thin electric blade. The blade didn't hit Rick but kept going, forming a thin line in the earth and going through a lake, electrifying multiple Magikarps who floated up to the surface, yet still alive but dazed. It then hit the shore where an explosion happened.

"That was impressive. I never thought I could use Psychic like that. You're really something."

"I've had it with you already! Time for my trump card! You should feel honored, only my parents have seen me use this." He then took a deep breath and opened his eyes, which were glowing purple. "Earth! Water! Fire! Wind! Ice! Thunder! Grass!" As he called the elements out the water in the lake floated up to him, so did the fire from his fists and the ice, pieces of earth floated towards him as well, the thunder then returned above him, then leaves from the tree followed. "Destroy my enemy!" The elements then took the shapes of seven Chinese dragons that roared at Rick. "Elemental Dragon Supernova!" The dragons then lunged at Rick and Rick chuckled before turning his back to them.

The dragons then collided with Rick and then became a rainbow ball and exploded in a gigantic explosion. Allen then began to try to catch his breath after wasting the last of his energy in the attack. He then waited for the dust to settle so he can see the reward of his attack. When the dust did settle all he could see, to his amazement, was a red void where Rick was. The void then disappeared and Allen could see Rick chuckle and put his dad's sword back into the sheath on his back.

"There's no fucking way...that's my strongest attack."

"You have much to learn but let me end this now." Rick's blades then turned white, signaling he was going to use his gatling gun on him. He was then stopped when a voice emanated.

Lucian then appeared between Rick and Allen, "Rick stop! Don't do it, I'll deal with my son!"

"You're son? Oh! It's that Allen! Oh shit I almost sent him to the pearly gates. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Like I had the chance. You took off before I could identify him."

Allen then floated down to his dad, "Dad! It's so great to see you after three months."

Lucian then looked at him with a livid expression on his face, "Allen, what are you doing here? You could of been killed! I told you to stay with your mother! How did you even find me?"

"I sense your aura and came here. Then those guards tried to stop me so I fought them."

"Why didn't you call me!?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"You're such a child and yet you're 19. You should of known better!"

"I'm sorry dad."

Rick then put his hand on Lucian's shoulder to attempt to calm him down, "Lucian, let it go. I'm in charge now and he's in no trouble." He then looked at Allen. "So you're Allen? Wow last time I saw you you were a little Riolu. Also, where's your mother?"

They then heard someone walking onto the scene. A female Lucario then appeared carrying a load of bags.

"Allen! Don't go running off like that! I had to detect your aura to find you...wow what happened here?" She then looked at Lucian. "Oh hi dear! It's good to see you again."

Lucian then asked her, "Miranda, was this your idea?"

"Sure was. I didn't want to be alone all day with Allen and he wanted to take a trip. So we thought we might go check up on you."

The rest of the team then arrived at the gate and saw the three Lucarios and Rick holding in a laugh. Alara then walked up to Rick and put her hand on his shoulder and then began to lean on him.

"Hey Rick, care to explain what's going on?"

"Sure, that shinny Lucario is Lucian's son Allen. The female Lucario there is his mate Miranda." He then looked at Lucian and saw him scolding his son and mate.

Wayland then walked up to Lucian's family and hugged them before saying, "Hello Mrs. Cain! Let me help you with those bags." He then took the bags from Miranda and walked back to the group.

Alara then asked Rick, "Cain?"

"That's Lucian's last name."

"Oh alright. They seem like a nice little family."

"Oh they are." Rick then told Lucian and his family. "Alright, let's settle this in my house. The kid isn't in any trouble. You're lucky I'm the Warlord now. Let's just relax and head to my house."

Everyone then nodded and walked through the gates, all except for Lucian who was watching his family walk into the Sanctuary.

Rick walked up to him, "Are you alright Lucian?"

Lucian answered him in a melancholy tone, "I never wanted my son to be a warrior Rick. But children usually follow in their parent's foot steps. I just wish he didn't."

"I'm kinda of the living definition of that."

"That you are. I didn't want this for him. I tried to settle down and be the father he knows I am, but I need to protect my family from the dangers of this world."

"But no need to shield him forever from it. He's a powerful fighter, he just needs a little guidance."

"I trained him myself. His mother taught him how to use **Psychic** to manipulate things around him. He has a lot of potential but I didn't want to put him in danger."

"Hey you were there for him every step of the way. You were the only one of us that didn't live with our master. You're a good dad but you have to have some faith in your son."

"Let's hope you're right." He then walked away.

Rick then sighed and followed the rest of the team. *Influence wins...influence always wins.*

Man this was a work of imagination and improvisation. Well tell me what you guys think and I'll see to it that I can work on the next chapter whenever possible. Please keep giving me ideas for future chapters because it is really appreciated and it actually helps. Well thanks for everything guys. Peace out!


	25. Chapter 25: Step Two, Growing Feelings

**Chapter 25 is up and running. I am finally going to cut so much crap out of the story and head to the parts that I know you guys are waiting for, but I'm not going to rush it. This one isn't action packed like the last chapter but I really love how it came out. I let some of my friends help me in the writing and I trust their judgement on what I could of written. Anyways, please tell me what you guys think about this chapter. Please send me more reviews, requests, and questions. Also, I'm free for suggestions so please let me know anything you want to see in future chapters as well. You can let me know by sending me a PM or leave your suggestions in the reviews section. Anyways, enjoy guys! View Standings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) The Philippines, 4th) France, and 5th Sweden.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and his team were at his house socializing and accepting Allen and Miranda into their new home in the Sanctuary. Lucian was talking to his son and the girls were talking to Miranda about her life since the team split.

Rick then asked, "So are we all calm now?" Everyone then nodded. "Good. So Allen and Miranda what brings you guys here to my species's home land?"

Miranda then said. "Well at first we were just looking for my mate. We located his aura here in the Sinnoh region so we came all the way here from Hoenn. First we stopped at my parents' home to see them. We were there for about a week. We then left and headed over here where Allen sensed his aura and that of many other individuals. To protect me he ran ahead and went to check out the other readings and he got into a battle that we all know about now."

"Well put. So how long do you two intend on staying?"

"As long as Lucian is here. We don't want to stay away from him. He's my mate after all and my son looks up to him so much."

"That is understandable." Rick then turned to Lucian. "Would you let them stay with you?"

Lucian replied, "Of course! They're my family. I'd rather live with them and at least I have them by my side again. My wish was that after I helped Jean with his crazy plan to reunite all of us I would go back to them. But somehow everything seemed to have worked out for me in the end. I'm reunited with both my families, nuclear and extended."

"That's really good to hear."

Alara then tapped Rick on the shoulder, "Oh Rick, remember we have to see Seras out and go see my parents."

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot." Rick then turned to Seras. "So are you ready to leave Seras? You have one more hour until your flight leaves."

Seras nodded and got up. Rick then opened the door and everyone left the house and returned to the gates. At the gates Dartz put Seras's bags in his car so he could drive her to Pastoria City. Seras then hugged everyone goodbye and then got to Rick and hugged him.

"Rick, I'll be back as soon as I can. I just need to take care of my job and then return here. Just call a jet when I call you to bring me back."

"Alright. Bye sis!"

"Bye little bro."

Seras then went to Jean and kissed him before getting in the car and taking off with Dartz. Everyone waved goodbye and then began to walk back to the Sanctuary. Rick then called some of his soldier and gave the order to get Allen his own house in the condominiums and that he would pay for him. Everyone then returned to their homes and Rick and Alara headed towards the Chief's Court to see what Alara's parents wanted to tell them.

They were quickly let in by the guards when they arrived and they could see that Alara's parents seemed to have been expecting them.

Alara's dad then said to Rick, "So Aeru, did you handle the hostile outside the gates?"

"Yeah, he was Lucian's son. Needless to say he didn't attack on purpose, he felt threatened and was just trying to protect his mother. I pardoned him since he's just a kid."

"Very well. I will accept the pardon but now onto what I wanted you two to come here for."

"Just tell us what you have planned for us now."

"How did you figure out it was for both of you?"

"You called us both here to talk to us. I can only guess it will involve both of us."

"Alright that is pretty obvious but hear me out. I just wanted to give you guys a little gift. What do you say to a nice fancy dinner in the restaurant of one of my friends? A friendly little date for both of you."

"I saw this coming a mile away. What's the catch?"

"Oh nothing just a night for both of you to enjoy and become more 'well acquainted' again."

Rick and Alara just looked at each other and then back to her parents with emotionless faces.

Alara then said, "You know me and Rick already had dinner together before. This will most likely make no difference."

"Oh but I planned a night of food, music, and, since I know you love this very much, a dance while waiting and while eating your meals."

Alara then smiled wide, "Really?"

"Yes. I know how much you love to dance but you need to dance with someone other than me for once."

Alara then turned to Rick with a wide hopeful smile, "Please?"

Rick then chuckled, "Sure, why not?"

She then hugged Rick, "Thank you!"

"Can't you dance in your own time?"

"I just love to dance to a nice ballad or two. I only dance with my dad though."

"Why? Aren't there other males?"

"Yes but you know how I am around other males. I don't let them get close enough to me, you were an exception because I had no choice."

"Technically you did. You didn't have to join me but you did."

"And I haven't regretted it yet."

"Which surprises me."

Alara then arched an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Try to remember how we were during the first week we reunited. We fought all the time. Now we barely argue."

"We've grown comfortable around each other and we're still playing catch up."

Rick then chuckled again, "I guess." He then looked at her dad, "Alright I'll go on this little dinner with your daughter. What time?"

He then smiled and answered, "How does eight thirty tonight sound? I'll just call you a limo to pick you guys up here."

"Oh don't bother, I got this. Also, why a limo?"

"Because you're going there as VIPs. The restaurant owner is one of my friends and he thought it would of been an honor to have you dine there tonight."

"Very well but tell him that I expect to pay for everything myself. No need to pamper me too much."

"I'll tell him."

Alara's mom then said, "I'm guessing you two are going to go get ready for tonight then?"

Alara then answered her, "Yeah! I need to go get a good dress for tonight."

Rick rolled his eyes, "So why did I take you shopping in Hearthome if you weren't going to wear all those clothes?"

"I like having the option."

Rick then laughed and shook his head, "Well that's a nice $5,000 I'm never getting back."

"Oh I'll wear them eventually. Besides, have you seen my closet? It's as big as my room and then some."

"Just go doll yourself up for tonight. I'll go prepare myself."

Alara's mom then asked him, "Are you going to wear a nice suit?"

"Of course. I have many I can use but let's see which one suits me tonight."

"You're prepared for any occasion, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I even have a plan just in case this little plan of your's goes South."

Alara's parents then sweatdropped, "What plan?"

"Oh nothing. I said nothing of any significance."

"Well then just go and get ready, it's three in the afternoon. You have five and a half hours to get ready for tonight."

"More than enough time. I'll just take Alara home for now. Goodbye!"

Alara then waved goodbye to her parents, "Bye mom and dad!"

Her parents waved back at them as they left and got back into the car.

Alara then asked Rick, "What plan?"

"Seriously? Don't worry about it."

"Alright then take me to the other girls. I'm going to have quite the afternoon today."

"You do realize that we're just going to have dinner, right?"

"Yes. Dinner, a dance, and just a nice night."

"I'm thinking, is a limo really necessary? I can just drive us in this car. It's already high luxury."

"Yes but my parents just want you to feel like your part of the family. So that means being escorted and turning heads."

"Well I rather just go there and be as modest as I can."

"Do what you like. My dad expects you to arrange the transportation."

"Okay. I'm making a call once I get home."

"What do you have planned?"

Rick gave a grin and then said, "It's a surprise for all of us."

"I have the slightest feeling like you're going to waste a fortune. Are you sure you have no idea how much money you have?"

"I really don't know nor do I care. I was just told that I will never run out of money as long as all the companies that I part-own are still in operation."

"So you get money everyday?"

"Yeah, if I wasted about a few hundred million dollars then I will have double of what I wasted the next morning. Of course it has a limit but I really don't care about my money. I just use it when I need it."

"Lucky you. I wish I had that instead of having my parents handle all my expenses."

"Well they're looking out for you."

"I'm 21, I can be independent...maybe."

Rick then chuckled, "I'm not going to give you a rebuttal. Also, we're here!"

"Oh we're at my house already?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll see you tonight. Tell the girls to come over."

"Will do. Bye!"

Rick then drove off and Alara went inside of her house and found Amber watching tv on the couch.

"Hi sis!"

Amber looked at her, "Oh hi! How was your day? I heard there was a fight at the gates and that Rick took care of the aggressor. I wish I could of seen it."

Alara then told her about what happened and then dragged her to her room to help her pick out an outfit for the night. Not too long after the girls arrived and helped Alara with her decisions, which Alara still had a hard time choosing.

[Two Hours Later]

"I really don't know which one to wear and Rick bought me so many great dresses and that Fantina lady in Hearthome gave me many as well but I don't see any that seem good for tonight."

Amber then shook her head and told her, "You're only having dinner. Besides, it's Rick, you know that you'll be fine in whatever outfit you choose."

"That is true but mom and dad want me to look stunning tonight."

"Are you sure you're doing this to please mom and dad or are you trying to entrance Rick?"

Alara then sweatdropped, "Excuse me?"

"Mom and dad have always sent you to have dinner but this is the first time I see you stress out about looking amazing. Usually I'm the one that has that problem. Rick isn't here to give you the dress like last time so I'm wondering what your true goal is for tonight."

"Amber shut it!" All the girls then laughed and Alara just kept sifting through her closet. "If Seras were here she would be HELPING me, not making jokes."

"Calm down sis, we're just having a bit of fun."

"I know, I'm sorry."

Anna, the Flygon, then said, "You do seem to have taken a liking to Rick. More than I would call friendly. I'm not saying that you two are but I just want to know, are you two dating?"

"No. This date is just something my parents want me to go on with Rick. It's not the first time we went out to dinner. We did it in Hearthome as well and I enjoyed myself very much."

"So what are your feeling on this then?"

"I don't know. I just want to have some fun and enjoy dinner. Maybe have a nice dance or two."

"Aww I hope you two have fun. I haven't seen Rick dance in years. Since he was a Kirlia to be exact and that's because Seras asked him to so he could relax. He was a little ashamed to dance as a Kirlia and now he doesn't dance at all."

"Why?"

Miranda then said, "Well he's a male that looks like a female as a Kirlia. That's one."

Anna then continued, "Well he thought that his dances as a Kirlia were just too feminine and out of his character. I think he doesn't have the urge to dance anymore because he's probably not as happy as he used to be."

"Not as happy? How come?"

"He had to go through too many losses and a lot of horrible things. Now that I think about it he was always melancholy as a Kirlia. He would rarely smile unless Seras and Jean were around, mainly Seras."

"I thought Jean was his best friend. Why does he smile more with Seras?"

"Because he used her as a surrogate mother at first and she always took care of him when he was a kid. I think he loves Seras more than most of us at times."

"He was little and was getting used to the family life again. He was around her more so I think he imprinted on her and depended on her for everything."

Aleerah, the Altaria, then said, "You may have a point there Alara. It was because of him that she evolved into a Espeon. After that she really took the motherly role. She would talk for him since he didn't want to talk to us out of fear."

"Fear?"

"He was our enemy at one point and most of us didn't receive him all to well. We've been fighting the Rockets for a while and then we found him. We knew who he was an many of us wanted to take him out but then one day he gave up his powers to attempt to be normal. Seras and Gloria were the only ones that were okay with him being with us and they took care of him. Gloria would teach him many things and Seras would care for him until he was comfortable speaking with the others...which took months. He would never leave his room without Seras and Seras wouldn't leave him unless if it was really important."

"Seras sounds like quite the big sister. No wonder he's never said anything ill about her."

"He has nothing bad to say about her. She trained him, fed him, and would play with him. I'm surprised he considers Jean as his best friend. Jean was a jerk to him at first and then he softened up when Seras scolded him. But still Seras was a great sister and a fun person to have in your family."

[12 Years Prior, Hoenn Region]

Seras was waking up in the morning and tried to shake her sleep off before turning and looking at a sleeping Rick. She then smiled and went over nuzzled him to wake him up.

"Wake up little one. It's morning."

Rick then grumbled and turned over. Seras then nudged him again and got the same response. She then picked him up with **Psychic** and placed him on her back and headed outside. She then put him down on the banks of a pond that was outside the house and tried to wake him up again. "Rick, wake up please."

Rick then cracked his eyes open and waited until his vision cleared and then looked at Seras. "What's up? Where are the others?"

"Still asleep. It seems like we're the first ones up."

"Oh so I could of stayed asleep."

"You've acted so childish since you gave up your powers. Come on stay awake for me."

"Fine! What do you want to do now Seras?"

"Well first we're going to clean you up. You fell asleep immediately after training."

Rick then groaned and stood up while rubbing his eyes. Seras then controlled some water with **Psychic** and made it go throughout Rick's body to clean him up quickly. The cold water quickly woke him up and as soon as Seras finished he walked up to her and threw his tiny arms around her neck in a hug.

"Thanks Seras!"

"No problem dear. So what do you want to do? Do you want to play?"

"Don't treat me like a child now Seras. I'm smarter and more mature than I look." He said with a smile.

"Oh of course, look how big and grown up you are now." She said sarcastically and with a giggle.

Rick then laughed and jumped onto her back and Seras began walking down a path that led into the forest. When they reached a clearing Rick teleported to the other end and Seras went to chase him. The grass was really tall and she used the cover to attempt to sneak up on him. Rick just walked through the grass and laughed as he felt Seras get closer. Seras then pounced on him but he teleported out of the way and she landed on her face. Rick then laughed and then went to check if she was okay.

"Are you okay Seras?"

Seras then quickly pounced on him before he could teleport again.

"Gotcha!"

"No fair! I thought you were hurt."

"If you can't win then cheat and you fell for it." She then began to tickle Rick with her tail and started to lick him.

Rick then said in between laughs, "Stop...that tickles..." He then teleported from under her and reappeared on her back where he hugged her again.

"I love you little one."

"Love you to big sis."

"Aww you finally called me your big sister."

"Yep. Now back to the house we go!"

Seras then giggled, "Okay. Off we go!"

They then took off to the house where they saw a Combusken, Jean, and Dartz talking and Jean was carving on a piece of wood. They then looked at Rick and Seras and Jean threw the piece of wood away and stood up.

"Well look who decided to show up!"

Rick hid behind Seras's and Seras glared at Jean sternly. "Shut up Jean!"

"I'm guessing you were with that little monster."

"He's not a monster! He just needs a lot of care."

"Yeah right!" Jean then grabbed Rick and lifted him to his eye level. "So what's the deal? You can't do anything for yourself? Huh?" Rick pulled his face away. "What are you going to do you little monster? Where's that power you had before? Oh yeah that's right, you rid of it. Pathetic!"

Dartz then intervened, "Enough Jean! Put him down!"

"And if I don't."

Immediately a barrage of stars hit Jean and he let go of Rick, who floated onto the back of an angry Seras. Rick then cowered on top of Seras and she wrapped her tail around him like a hug.

"Could you be any more of an ass Jean!?"

"What the hell Seras!?"

"That's what you get for doing that to Rick."

"Oh like that thing is even a true living being. He's a Team Rocket Frankenstein project."

Seras then fired a **Psybeam** at him and knocked him out of the way and next to a pond. Seras then used **Psychic** to drop a wave of water on him from the pond. Suddenly an elderly man then came out of the house.

"Both of you enough! There's no need to be fighting among one another, we're all allies here."

Seras then looked at him, "Master? How long have you been awake?"

"Quite some time now." He then looked at Jean. "Jean, leave Rick alone! He is part of this family too and should be treated as such. Seras, I appreciate and love the fact that you're caring for Rick but don't get into needless fights because of him."

"Yes master."

"Now all of you come inside! Breakfast is almost ready and then we're all headed into town to get some supplies."

They all the said, "Yes sir!"

Rick then laid back down on Seras's back as they entered the house. "Seras?"

"Yeah Rick."

"Is everyone going to hate me forever because of what I am?"

"Of course not. Just give them some time. I don't hate you."

"I know you don't, I know Gloria doesn't but the others don't seem to like me very much."

"Oh just wait a bit. No one here ever questions master's judgement. If he says you're part of out family, then you are part of our family with no exception. Besides, you'll always have me here with you."

Rick then hugged her again and closed his eyes to make up for being woken up so early by Seras. She then set him on the couch curled herself around him so he could rest.

[Present Day]

"Rick has always been attached to Seras, so it caught all of us by surprise when he chose to leave on his own. We all thought he was going to stay with Seras but it seemed like when he evolved he no longer needed Seras to care for him. His attitude changed and I never saw him smile as a Gallade and he kept to himself from that time on. The fact that he's smiling again and socializing again is an amazing achievement."

Alara then asked, "So you think that me being around Rick caused him to return to his old self?"

Amari, the Scizor, then said, "If anything else who else could of done that."

Serenity then said, "He didn't smile too much around me either, he also kept to himself as much as he could. You're the first person he's opened up to."

"So do you see why we have suspicions now?"

Alara then began to think. It was true that Rick has been happier than the day she met him and he was telling her a lot of things about himself, even painful things. She didn't know what to make of it so she just want back to choosing her outfit but the thought stayed in the back of her mind.

Gloria then got up and opened a window and jumped outside and began to fly. "I'll be back in a minute. I just need to go see Rick for a second. Don't do anything without me now loves." She then flew off towards Rick's house.

[In Rick's house]

Rick was trying on many of his suits in front of a mirror. He felt awkward wearing a suit in his pokemon form but he knew that he just couldn't turn human there, it would be an even more awkward scenario. He was trying on many combinations but didn't like the outcome of any of them. Suddenly he felt that someone was on his porch and he went to investigate. When he opened the doors to the porch he was suddenly pulled into a tight hug from Gloria.

"Hi Rick!"

Rick was struggling to breathe, "Glo...ria...I can't...breathe."

She then let him go, "Sorry about that."

He then started gasping for air and then said, "It's okay. What are you doing here?"

Gloria then went into her human form and sat down on the bed. "I just came to check up on you. How's the clothes option treating you?"

"I can't find a good suit to wear and I'm running out of time and I don't want to waste time ordering a new suit."

"You Alara have the same problem. She can't pick a dress and you can't pick a suit."

She then walked over to his closet and looked at the suits he had.

"I can't choose any that fit the occasion."

She then picked one for him. "This one looks good. Why not wear it?"

Rick looked at the suit and he didn't remember seeing it before. "Where did that one come from? I don't remember having that one at all."

"How long ago did you put your clothes in here?"

"Just the other day...wait a minute." Rick then closed his eyes, put his hands on the door frame and the opened his eyes. When he opened his eyes he saw an image of his dad putting his hands on a section of the wall. Rick then put his hands on the same place and pushed forward. Once he did an entire gigantic closet appeared full of clothes that were still fresh and clean. The other side of the wall also opened to reveal his mom's wardrobe. "How did I know that there's still some secrets in this damn mystery house?"

Gloria then moved to his mom's wardrobe and found a dress that she knew that Alara would love. She then rolled it up and hid it from Rick's sight. Rick then looked around and found a suit in there that he felt he could enjoy wearing for the dinner. He then looked back and saw Gloria open a window and turning back into a pokemon.

"Leaving already?"

"Yeah, I need to get back to Alara. Let's just hope she hasn't chosen a dress for the night already without letting me know."

"Alright, I'll see you later. Bye."

"Bye Rick!"

She then flew off with the dress resting on one of her talons. Rick then went to try on the suit and actually came out liking how it looked on him as a pokemon.

[At Alara's House]

Gloria had finally arrived at her house and was surprised to see that Alara had not picked out a single dress for the evening. She then hid the dress behind her back.

"So I'm guessing you guys couldn't find a single dress that suited her?"

All the girls then gave a collective "No."

Gloria then walked up to Alara and told her, "Well I don't know if I should show you this since I have no idea if you'll like it."

"Show me what?"

Gloria then showed her the dress that she got from Rick's house and Alara's face lit up. The dress was red and had a black rose vine graphic on the side. She immediately fell in love with the dress. "This dress that I found in Rick's house. I believe it belonged to his mother."

"It's beautiful! This was Rick's mother's dress? How is it in such great shape and clean?"

"Rick was doing what some of the images he was were doing and he found a sealed closet where his parents kept their old clothes. They all seemed clean and well preserved. I think your parents got in there and had them restored. I love the dress too. Rick hasn't seen it yet so that's a plus."

"This is great. Now I can prepare for the dinner."

"We'll help you with your hair and make up. I just wonder what the males are doing right now."

"Probably doing something pointless."

[At Rick's house]

The males were, all except for Dartz, were in the house talking and some were reading. Rick then came downstairs and passed all the guys and put on his sunglasses. "Hey guys! Can't talk now, got to go!"

Jean then stopped him, "Wait one second Jason Statham. What's with the suit?"

"Nothing. I just like looking classy and well dressed."

"No you don't. So what time is your date?"

"What date?"

"You're a horrible liar."

"You honestly believe that we don't know already? Alara's parents already filled us in on the details."

Rick then sweatdropped, "Oh...well this is awkward."

"So at what time is the dinner date?"

"Me and Alara have to be over at the Chief's Court by eight thirty tonight. It's eight in the afternoon so I was going to go to the Chief's Court now and wait for Dartz to arrive with my order."

Jean then looked at him with a confused look, "Wait, you ordered something? That explains why he hasn't come back. What did you order?"

"You'll see. Let's go boys!"

The males then left the house and hurried to the Chief's Court where they were surprised to see the girls there before them. They all then turned and saw the males walk in with shocked expressions.

Richter, the Nidoking, then asked, "How did you girls beat us here?"

Miranda then said, "Teamwork."

Rick then walked into view and the girls gave collective whistles and then pushed Alara into view. Rick then dropped his sunglasses and just stared at her with his mouth open. She then walked up to him.

"So how do I look?" She asked nervously.

"...umm...you look great...What the fuck am I saying? You look amazing."

She then giggle and a beep was then heard coming from Rick's Poketch. He checked it and saw that it was a message from Dartz. Suddenly Alara's parents appeared on the balcony above them.

Her father then said, "Well looks like you two intended on dropping each other dead tonight. Very interesting."

Her mother then said, "I hope you two have fun. Also, did you order your transportation Rick?"

Rick replied, "Sure did. In fact it's arriving in a few seconds. Everyone outside please."

Everyone in the building then exited and waited for the surprise that Rick promised. After a few moments they didn't hear or see anything so they just looked at Rick. Once they did that they could hear an engine roaring. Suddenly a car came out of nowhere are drifted to a stop. The driver's door opened to reveal Dartz in his human form coming out and throwing the keys to Rick.

"Here you go Rick. Straight from Europe."

Rick then turned to everyone and Alara took his arm, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4. The most expensive car in the world and the fastest car in the world. Ranging at a staggering $3 million and reaching a top speed of 253.81 mph or 408.47 kph...not to mention it's upgraded with all the latest parts and nitrous. Increasing the top speed to 408 mph of 656.61 kph. It cost me $3 million to buy it, $10 million in upgrades, another $2 million to customize it, and then $25 million to get it here in a few hours with military time precision, get the customization done in a few hours, and upgrade time...and $15 million in hush money to keep this between me and Silph Co. I had a custom red and black paintjob which coincidentally matches my suit and Alara's dress. The interior is of the same color."

Alara's parents then asked him while everyone else, including guards, stared with their mouths to the floor, "How much money do you have?"

"I have no idea. I just know that I have enough money to feed every family in this city for the next century...and then some."

"How?"

"I own parts of almost every major business in our world. I thought it would of been fun but I have no use for the money."

"Just get to your date. We'll worry about this later."

"Alright. Time to go Alara."

He then escorted Alara to her side and opened her door for her and then went to his side. He entered the car and turned it on. Once it was on he took off and left everyone in the dust cloud that remained. Alara's parents then smiled and everyone then brought out Poketches and they all then said in unison, "Step Two initiating!"

It took Rick and Alara about ten minutes to get to the appointed restaurant and once they arrived they were met by valets that opened Rick's door and Rick opened Alara's door and helped her out of the car. Rick then gave the valet the keys to his car and they were then approached by paparazzi. Two guards then escorted them inside where a Gallade in a white suit was waiting for them.

"Ah lady Alara, Warlord Aeruthael. I am so honored that you two accepted the invitation to dine here tonight." He then took Alara's hand and kissed it.

"It's good to see you again Mr. Lorenzo."

Rick then said, "It was our pleasure to accept the invitation."

Mr. Lorenzo then said, "I'm very happy about that. Also, I would love to apologize for my son's behavior lately."

"Your son?"

"Yes, Sayer is my son. My second oldest at that."

"Oh so you're Sayer's father. No need to worry, everything is forgiven."

"I just wish I had more control of that boy but he has a womanizing problem."

"He'll learn soon enough. Don't worry about what he did. If anything I'll take care of it diplomatically and leave you to choose a punishment if it goes too far."

"I will like that but enough talk let me show you two to your table."

He then took Rick and Alara to a nicely prepared table on the third floor, the VIP area, gave them menus, and told them that a waiter will arrive really soon. Rick and Alara then looked at the menus and quickly chose their appetizers. The waiter then asked, "So can I get you two anything to start? Any appetizers?"

Rick then said, "Yes. Looks like I'm going to take the Double-Cheese Focaccia Bread with Tomato Sauce. And you Alara?"

"Umm...I'll take the spaghetti with turkey sausage."

The waiter then said, "Excellent choices. May I get you two anything to drink? Water? Wine?"

Rick then said, "We don't drink but I'll take some Sparkling Cider."

Alara said "I'll have some too."

The waiter jotted down the orders on a notepad, "Alright. One last question: Will you be dancing tonight?"

Alara quickly looked at Rick who smiled wide and chuckled, "Why yes we will."

"Alright. Before or after the appetizer or main course?"

"Right after the main course. I don't want anything spoiling the evening."

"Very well. I will be back with your appetizers and let me know when you have made your decisions on your main course. Have a great night Lady Alara and Warlord Aeruthael."

"You too, take care." Rick then looked at Alara who was still shuffling through the menu. "I'd hate to jinx it but the date is going well so far."

Alara then smiled and giggled at him, "I'll say!"

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Oh I have nothing planned...except for being with you all day. Remember, I have to stay with you at all times. I don't know if I'll be awake at six in morning to help train the military."

"Actually you do. I promised to train you and what better way than with the military?"

"I forgot about that. Do I really have to?"

"Do you want to get stronger?"

"You made your point."

Soon Sayer's father walked up to the table, "So how are we doing so far?"

Rick replied, "Oh we're having a great time. I can't complain."

"I love hearing it. I'm glad your night has been good but it has only begun."

"Please take a seat an talk with us for a minute until the food arrives."

"Oh no no. I mustn't, I have business to attend to and I want you two to have a night together. Why have me interfere?"

"If that is what you wish then I will respect it."

"Thank you." He then turned to Alara. "So my lady can I get you anything else to make you more comfortable?"

She then smiled and replied, "Oh no I'm good for now. Thank you for offering Mr. Lorenzo."

"Very well, avere una buona giornata (Have a good day)!"

Rick looked at him as he walked away, "Well he sure is the opposite of his son."

"Indeed. I've always wondered what happened to him. He used to be such a nice boy."

[In Mr. Lorenzo's Office]

Lorenzo received a phone call and picked it up to reveal Alara's dad on the other had.

"Oh hello Chief Saifer."

"Is my daughter and Aeruthael seated at their table already?"

"Yes. They are seated." He then opened his door to check on them. "They just received their appetizers. What do I do now?"

"Well you make sure they have a good night."

"Where are you at right now?"

"In three security vans outside. I'm glad that you installed the cameras I asked you to install."

"Yes...is all this really necessarily Signore (Sir)?"

"It probably isn't but I am not going to let this plan fail because they sniff me out. For that reason I'm staying in the vans with Aeruthael's team."

"Very well I'll do all in my power to keep them as happy together as possible. However I think we should just leave them alone. They seem to be enjoying each other's company." He said as he saw Alara laugh at something Rick said.

"Oh I know. I just want to see if any of our tactics work...and because Aeruthael's friends wanted to do this. Especially his friend Jean."

"Well that's...hilarious actually. Okay I'll keep my eye on them."

"Thank you old friend. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye Signore (Sir)!"

He then hung up and gave orders to his employees to make sure Rick and Alara were comfortable.

[At Rick and Alara's Table]

Alara was really enjoying her time with Rick, more than she usually did.

"I can't wait to dance."

Rick chuckled, "Oh the time will come. Let's just enjoy our dinner and then we'll worry about dancing the night away."

She then giggled, "Oh okay. If you say so Mr. Warlord. That's never getting old."

"I'm still getting used to the title."

"Well that's who you're going to be for a while and I'm suppose to be right next to you for the whole time. That's your job, to be near my at all times."

"Well looks like our old friendship is back...well except for the fact that we're not hurting our parents."

"Yet."

"Yet? You want to hurt them?"

"Of course not. I'm just trying to have fun."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it."

"So do you want to do anything like this on another day?"

"Of course. Looks like we'll be having more dates."

Rick then laughed and went back to eating his appetizers and Alara did the same.

Alara then asked Rick, "Can I taste a bit of that? It looks delicious."

"Sure, if I can taste your spaghetti."

"Deal!"

They then switched plates and began to taste each other's meals. Not too long after they abruptly stopped and looked at each other before breaking down in laughter.

"Oh Arceus what are we doing?"

"Being kids again, I guess."

"Except we're not sharing an apple that's the size of our heads."

Rick then laughed again, "There's no apple big enough to make us relive that moment."

"You have the contacts. Try to see if you can order a huge apple. Then we can make before and after pictures."

"Oh no! Don't tell me you want to do that. Besides, my parents aren't here anymore to remake some of the pictures."

Alara then giggled, "I know that. I meant just the pictures of you and me."

"You have way too much free time don't you?"

"Yeah. Also, you have too much free time as well."

"Well not anymore. I'm working 24/7 now with the Warlord job."

"Yeah but only if you get a call."

"Point taken. Let's just finish eating."

After a little while Rick and Alara finished their appetizers and were now waiting for their main course to arrive. Rick was talking to Alara and he then took his glass and drank a bit of the cider.

Alara then asked him, "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah..."He then looked outside for a second and shook his head. "You do know that we're being watched by the team and your parents?"

"Yeah I guessed after a little while. Want to mess with them again?"

"Sounds like fun."

Rick's eyes then began to glow and then Alara's began to glow.

[In the security vans]

Everyone was watching the screens for something to happen. The screens then lost connection and showed only static. The vans then began to rock vigorously and the radios were going crazy.

Bolt, the Raichu, yelled while the van began to shake, "Mayday! Mayday! We've been detected!"

Alara's dad then asked, "How?"

Rick and Alara's faces the appeared on the screens.

Rick then said, "You guys have to stop doing this."

"How did you guys find us out?"

"Three black vans parked outside of the restaurant is kinda suspicious and it doesn't help that Wayland peaked outside of his van to get a good angle. Nice job dipshit!"

Everyone in Wayland's van then glared at him and he just shrugged. They then looked back at the screens.

Alara's mom then asked, "So what now?"

"That's simple, just leave and trust that we'll have a great time."

"Very well. We'll leave."

"Alright guys bye! Also, all your cameras are out of commission now so don't try to peep in. Ciao!"

The screens then went blank and had the 'no signal' sign on all of them. They then started to pack up and prepared to leave until Jean noticed someone familiar walking into the restaurant.

"Uh oh...Sayer Alert!"

Everyone heard him and then facepalmed. Alara's dad then called Sayer's father.

"Hello?"

"Lorenzo, your son is in the building."

"Oh shit! I'll stop him before he does anything stupid."

They then hung up and everyone in the vans then looked at each other, preparing for a tense situation.

[In the restaurant]

Lorenzo quickly dashed to the area where his son was at and stopped him from reaching the next floor.

"Sayer, what are you doing here?"

"I'm just here to visit you and have a nice meal. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing but we don't have any tables open up in the VIP area anymore."

Sayer raised an eyebrow, "How many special guests do you have here today?"

"Quite a party of them. Now please go downstairs I don't want their night to have any interference."

"Fine but may I have the names of the guests?"

"Sure. It's Alara and Warlord Aeruthael."

"What!? What are they doing?"

"They're having a date and I will not have you interfering."

"And why not?"

"Because apparently Alara prefers being with the Warlord and it's time for you to move on. There's plenty more Gardevoirs in the city."

"Out of the way old man."

A hand then grabbed Sayer's shoulder. Sayer looked back at who grabbed him and he was then staring at his older brother's face.

"Sayer enough! You are not to go in there!"

"Dante, let go of me."

Rick could hear the confrontation at the table and Alara noticed it as well.

"Rick, what is that?"

"Someone arguing. One second..." Rick then closed his eyes and scanner nearby energies. "Crap! It's Sayer."

"And I was having an amazing night too. Well looks like this night is over and I didn't even get a dance."

Rick then got up and walked to the closed door and opened it to see Sayer yelling at his older brother. Sayer then looked at him and Rick sighed before walking back into the room. Sayer then walked into the room and confronted Rick.

"You! Are you trying to insult me?"

"Umm...no, you're doing that yourself. I fail to see why you keep pursuing Alara. Look at your father you're embarrassing him and there's no one up here but me and Alara."

"Oh shut up!"

The room then went dark and Rick glared at him, "Okay listen. I tried to support your little annoying crusade, I beat the living hell out of you twice, and now you interfere with my dinner date. I'm not too happy about that. I'm your boss now, which means that you better be careful about what you do or say to me. It's one thing to have a crush but it's another thing to be obsessive."

Sayer didn't respond to him he just stared at him after being reminded that he is now Rick's subordinate and Rick could punish him with no repercussions.

Alara then said, "Listen Sayer. You and me are a no go. Please understand that and get it through your think skull. You had your chance and you were an asshole."

"Oh you two dated?"

"No, I gave him a shot and he blew it spectacularly. No one, and I mean no one, insults my sister."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"No, I don't even want to talk about it. He just can't let go."

Rick then gave a sly smile and stopped to think for a second, "Hmm...I think I have an idea. Sayer, what say you and I go through town tomorrow. I'm going going to put you on the scene in a den where the residents don't know you. So I want to see you after training tomorrow in the sixth den around, let's say, five in the afternoon. What do you say?"

Sayer then thought about the offer for a second and then sat down on a chair and then spoke to Rick.

"I think...I'll actually like that. Go hunting in a place where no one knows about me...that actually sounds like a good idea. What do I have to do?"

"Oh that's the easy part. Just watch your attitude, watch your tongue, and open your mind. We're going to have some fun."

"Alright. I'll try."

"Also, you need to leave Alara alone. You can socialize but you cannot pursue her."

"Alright. I promise."

"Good...that was easier than I thought. What's the catch Sayer?"

"I want to battle you one on one. Not today but in the future. In private just you and I for fun."

Rick then chuckled, "Done! I thought you were going to ask for something that involved Alara?"

"No, I need to start to leave her alone. Apparently she wants to be with you. At least that's what I'm picking up in her emotions."

Alara quickly paled and tried to defend herself, "Then there is something out of whack with your spike's ability!"

"Umm...no I'm really picking up..."

"Shut up!" She interrupted.

Everyone then began to laugh and they then heard people running up the stairs. Suddenly Rick's team barged in the room and then noticed them all getting along.

Jean then asked, "Wait, nothing's happening? You don't need us?"

Rick and Alara then shook their heads.

Alara then tugged at Rick's arm, "We're not dancing?"

Rick then thought for a second. He then sighed and did something he thought he would never do in his life. He tossed the ticket to get the Bugatti at Jean.

"Here Jean. Drive my Bugatti to my house and then leave immediately."

"Hell yeah!"

Rick then grabbed him, "It better be in one piece when I get home."

"Don't worry bro. I'll be fine."

Rick then said to Alara, "I don't think I'm ever seeing that car again."

She then giggled. Rick then grabbed her and teleported away from the restaurant. Everyone then saw $2,000 on their table and then wondered to one another where they went.

[At Rick's Gardens]

Rick and Alara reappeared in the gardens behind his house. Alara was confused why he brought her there.

"What are we doing here?"

"You'll see. Come with me."

Alara then took his arm and walked with him through the arched in the garden. Rick then closed his eyes and walked through the garden without seeing. They then walked onto the area where the fountain was at.

"What are we going to do?"

"You wanted to dance, so let's dance."

She then looked at Rick with a wide smile, "Really?"

"Yeah."

"But we don't have music."

"Hang on for a second. I'm going to take a song from my own music collection in my head and share it with you."

Alara then raised an eyebrow, "We can do that?"

"Yeah, I found out about this a while ago. Also, I found out that our minds store every song we ever hear and make a library of it."

"That's also really cool! Well choose a song."

"My head is randomizing it and...there we go."

(Music: **Faithfully by Journey**)

Rick then said to Alara, "May I have this dance?" He then stuck his hand out for her.

She quickly took his hand and pulled him into a dance position while giggling. "You may." Rick put his hand behind her back but Alara quickly moved it down to her waist with **Psychic**. Rick was confused on why she did that. Alara then told her, "We're dancing, not hugging."

Rick chuckled and they then began to move. Rick kept moving to match Alara's movements and tried to get used to dancing again. It was his first dance as a Gallade and his first dance with a Gardevoir. Alara helped guide his movements until they were both dancing in sync and then they began to get closer as the song progressed.

"Well this is weird for me."

"I know. I can sense your emotions. There's no need to feel awkward, it's all good." She said with a slight giggle.

"I just don't dance as much as when I was a little kid. Much less with a female of my own species."

"I know. The girls told me earlier today and I wanted to see if you still knew how to dance."

"It took me a little while to catch on to the steps again but I'm doing good."

"You're doing great."

Rick smiled and then kept on dancing with Alara, who was just staring at him while he kept his eyes closed. She then looked to her side and her eyes shot open when she saw an image of Rick's parents dancing in the same are, wearing the same clothes."

"Rick, look to your left."

Rick then opened his eyes and looked and saw the images dancing, "You can see them?"

"Yeah. It's your parents."

"That's the least of my concerns. I see them all the time. My main concern is the fact that you see them...Also, how are we still dancing?"

"Don't worry about it. That image just made me happy. I haven't seen your parents with my own eyes since I was a baby. It surprises me that we're doing the same thing they did before we were even born."

"I don't know what to tell you about that. It looks more like a memory my mom left behind, she left behind the rational memories. I dad said 'fuck it' and randomized all his memories in the house. I thought the memories would only last about a few days but they just keep coming at random times."

"It should be a good thing. You get to see your parents all the time. I would be happy about that luxury."

"They're starting to appear when I need something. So I usually question if some of these are actually memories or them just appearing for the hell of it."

"Oh just keep dancing and leave the memory alone." The music then ended when she said that. "You're kidding."

"I guess that's it."

"No, choose another song. I was enjoying myself."

"What song do I choose? My brain apparently only wants to listen to Journey today."

"Then find a good song for us to dance to. Actually let me choose the song." She then put her forehead to Rick's and sifted through his head. "This one sounds good." She then sent the music through both their heads and she then took Rick for another dance.

(Music: **Open Arms by Journey**)

Alara quickly got Rick to dance with her again and she got closer to him in the dance. After a few moments she put her head on his chest so she could get closer to him. Rick just smiled and held her there for the moment. He then looked at his parents and saw then sitting down at a bench, at this point realized that it was actually them and not a memory. Rick glared at them but them immediately went back to his dance with Alara.

Alara for some reason didn't want to let go of Rick and just wrapped her arms around his neck as they danced. Rick was even more confused but decided not to ask her anything and to let her enjoy her dance. Somehow Rick started to pick up some of her emotions but as soon as they came they disappeared, but he was still able to tell that she was very happy at the moment. Rick then chuckled a little which got Alara's attention but they didn't say anything and kept dancing until the song ended.

After the song ended Rick let go of Alara, who forgot to let go of him for a quick second.

"Umm..Alara you can let go of me now."

"Huh?...Oh yeah! Sorry!"

"It's okay. It was a pleasure dancing with you."

"Likewise. Want to do it again some time?"

"Sure. Anytime you want, but I have to find more songs in my head that we can dance to that has nothing to do with Journey."

"I don't mind it. I loved both the songs we danced to. So I'm guessing you're going to take me home now?"

Rick chuckled quietly, "Yep." Rick then looked at the images of his parents and his dad then pointed at a rose bush that was near the fountain. Rick looked at the bush and then back at his dad. Alara couldn't see them this time and just looked at Rick as he stared in both directions.

After a few moments of not understanding, his mom got up from the bench and grabbed his arm, which surprised Rick. She then guided his hand to the bush and made him reach inside through all the thorny flowers to something that was hidden within. Amazingly none of the thorns cut Rick and he plucked a flower that was buried deep within the bush. When he pulled it out he saw a silver and gold rose with no thorns.

His mom then told him, "Give it to her. It took me years to cultivate those roses and I hid them well. They never die and their color is unique. Just give it to her."

Rick made it look like he was seeing nothing and walked up to Alara and handed her the rose, which she took with a look of amazement on her face.

"This rose is beautiful. How did you find it in that bush?"

"Let's just say that some secrets are just shown to me in this house...way too much."

"Thank you. I love it. It'll be a shame when it dies."

"That's the thing. It never dies. My mom worked hard to breed these roses."

"Then I'm guessing she must of really loved these roses if she never wanted them to die."

Rick chuckled, "Yeah. Let's take you home now."

Alara then held onto to him as he teleported to her house. Once they arrived Alara walked up to her door and opened it.

"So, I'll see you at six in the morning?"

"That's the plan. Have a goodnight Alara."

"You too...well come here and give me a hug already."

"Wait...what?"

Alara then rolled her eyes and began to pull him to her with **Psychic**. He was feeling even more awkward now then before but he eventually dispelled her **Psychic** and walked towards her on his own. He then hugged her and she then gave him a kiss on his cheek before giggling and waving goodbye. Rick then waved back and turned around to leave.

Suddenly he said, "Wait...are her parents winning?" He then shook off the thought and teleported away.

Alara went into the house and immediately looked at the rose in her hands and smiled. She then walked upstairs, where Amber was waiting in her room.

Amber saw her walking by her room, "Hi sis! How was your date?"

"It was amazing." She then showed her the rose. "Rick gave me this and he treated me to a nice dance."

Amber then smiled, "Looks like you two really hit it off this time."

"You think?"

"Look at yourself. You guys have been gone for a while, you're smiling like you won the freakin' lottery, you came back with a rose in your hands."

"Here's the catch, it never dies."

"That never dies. So tell me, what are you feeling?"

"Just a lot of happiness. Not much else."

Amber just looked at her, "...right." She then laughed and walked back to her room.

Alara then laid down on her bed and gathered her thoughts about the day. She then thought to herself. *Well played mom and dad. Well played Xeron and Aldira*

[At Rick's House]

Rick was staring at his garage and then wondered, "Where the hell is that bird with my Bugatti?"

[About a hundred miles away]

Jean was driving the Bugatti at full speed down a road, "BEST...CAR...EVER!" He then hit the nitrous and cheered to the top of his lungs.

**And there's chapter 25. I hope it went well for you guys and please leave me your opinions and your reviews. I have to give thanks to all my readers for their support, it means a lot to me because it lets me know that I actually write something that is worth my reader's time. Thank you guys and I want to do something for you guys. So if you have any ideas of what I could do please let me know. Well take care. Ciao!**


	26. Chapter 26: First Day of Work

**Chapter 26 is out and I'm glad I was able to finish this today. I'm one day behind my usual schedule but I blame my parents for that one. Anyways, enjoy this story guys. This one took a lot of thought into and I like how it is. Special thanks to Emerald Dynamo for many great ideas that I used in earlier chapters. I'm still taking requests, questions, and suggestions. I might even be able to add viewer characters into the fray but I need suggestions and character info...also the character must be a pokemon or from the pokemon world. So please enjoy the chapter. It was out of my usual style but I like it regardless. View Rankings: Same as last time.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

The sun was barely appearing over the horizon when Rick got up in the morning. He quickly went to his bathroom and got prepared for the day. He then walked into his dad's armory and put his dad's armor before making a call to Alara on his Poketch.

"Hello?"

"Hi Alara. It's me."

Alara smiled, "I kinda guessed. Are you coming? I've been up for a little while and got breakfast ready."

"Yeah, I'll be there in a second. I just need to get something first."

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

He then hung up the call and walked to his living room where he then saw X laying down on his couch waiting for him.

"X? Did you want to talk to me?"

"No, I wanted you to paint me like one of them French girls, what do you think? Yes, I need to talk to you about the military."

"Well go ahead. I need to meet up with them."

"Today the first day you're going to be analyzing their skills and training them. Just do what I told you before. The sooner you finish their training the better. We'll eliminate Team Rocket once you get your army ready and round up the other pokemon Warlords, Chieftains, and Kings."

"This is a long term process, isn't it?"

"Yes, it can take years for you to do this or months. I'd rather it be at least a year so that the soldiers can be prepared."

Rick then sighed, "So I'm stuck here for at least a year? I expected that. It's not like I can leave now."

"No, this is your home. I think you should settle down here. Besides, you seem to be almost at the settling down part."

Rick then arched an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"I wasn't in your head last night but your parents told me everything that happened. Looks like you and Alara have been getting closer than I anticipated."

"We were just enjoying our time as friends."

"Oh I saw that. But that was way too friendly."

"Oh shut up and get back in my head."

"As you wish but that was still a fun thing to watch. Watch your emotions and if you are going to mate with her, please warn me first." X said with a laugh as he faded away.

"Like that'll ever happen.

X then reappeared, "So you'll like to think."

"Leave!" X then disappeared. "Stupid time being...wait...what? If he's a time being doesn't that mean...nah!"

He then went back to his dad's armory and took a pile of papers from his dad's desk and put them in his bag. He then concentrated on Alara's house and teleported toward it. He then knocked on the door and Alara quickly opened it and hugged Rick before welcoming him inside.

"It's good to see you again Rick."

"Likewise. So what have you cooked up?"

"Well I have pancakes, sausage, and for a kick, coffee."

"Thank you! I needed a better pick-me-up this morning."

"Well enjoy your meal. Looks like we'll be training all day."

"Yeah. You know I nearly killed Jean last night?"

"Really? What did he do to the car?"

"He took it for a joy ride outside the Sanctuary and got it back to me at one in the freakin' morning."

"Well he got it back to you."

"True but I didn't tell him to do that."

"Oh just let it go. It's not like you can't just buy hordes of those cars."

Rick then chuckled and went on eating his breakfast. "You know, I should cook for you once."

Alara then smiled, "You cook?"

"Yeah. Seras taught me how when I was a Kirlia."

"She taught you a lot."

"Naturally she would."

They then finished their breakfast and Rick then teleported with Alara to the Military District. Once they arrived they saw all the soldiers already in attention, seats already prepared for them, Rick's team standing with the army, and Alara's parents sitting in seats next to them. Alara then waved at her parents and Rick called his team to him.

Rick then said to the army, "I see that you guys are quick to please. I like that but don't treat me like I'm your king though. I'm a soldier like you and today I'm going to assess all of your skills. So tell me, do any of you have any special skills in the army."

A Gallade then said, "There are five sections sir. We have recon, medic, spec ops, intel, and marines."

"You guys have marines?"

"Yes sir! Basic foot soldiers."

"Well this is interesting. Let's see if I can make use of this. So I know I appointed two Captains but let me introduce to you a few new Captains and I'm going to explain my reasons for doing this. The new Captains are some of the guys behind me."

Rick's team quickly stared at him. Shadow, the Gengar, then said, "Run that by me again?"

"Let me explain. The Captains are as follows: Dartz, Jean, Celand, Winston, Wayland, Gloria, Seras, who is not here at the moment, Lucian, and Amari." With that the rest of his team sighed a sigh of relief. "And here are my reasons why. One, these guys have been trained in various military occupations. Two, these guys can kick all your asses but they will train you in their own skills. Now to be fair I will appoint more Captains considering who I see fit to have the jobs. Lieutenants will also be chosen in three months by whoever reaches the qualifications. But that will be up for me, the Chief, and the Captains to decide. So...any objections?"

A soldier then said, "We're actually okay with anything you tell us. We were kinda waiting to get new leaders and training protocols already."

"Why is it that everyone here is so open to everything?"

"We haven't had much action since your father was the Warlord. So you can only guess sir."

"Sure it makes my job easier but it also makes it dull. No one has anything that they would rather see change or something you expect of me...you know what, fuck it! We'll just see how your current training sessions go. Now we're all going to split into two divisions, everyone choose a side immediately."

As soon as Rick gave the order everyone split but they split according to gender. Gallades on the right and Gardevoirs to the left. Rick looked at this with confusion and then Jean spoke to him.

"Are they always separated like that? I guess it's a modesty thing."

Rick then sighed, "Everyone back to your original positions!" They soon returned to where they were standing prior and Rick walked in between them. "Someone please explain to me why you are all separated gender-wise."

Captain Williams then said, "We separate like this because we try to keep both genders apart to limit obstacles."

"You're here to be fighters not to keep yourselves apart. I don't care what you guys say about this. I will not have my soldiers separated!"

"Sir we all have different skills that also makes us separate. Females are the special attackers and males are the physical attackers."

"Should I remind you guys of my special attack strength despite the fact that I'm a male? Should I remind all you guys how Alara over there can knock out many of these males with her killer right hook? Don't bring this bullshit to me. You will all learn to work together as a team by the time I'm done with you all. Males, you will learn how to use your special attack to your advantage and females will learn to fight hand to hand. Now this is what we're going to do. Each soldier will take a partner from someone of the opposite gender."

"But sir..."

Rick interrupted her, "I don't care. We're going to work as a team whether you like it or not! Now everyone move! You have five minutes and counting!"

All the soldiers then scrambled to pick a partner and picked a side of the wall to stand at. Rick then chuckled at the sight of them being uneasy with one another.

Gloria then said, "Isn't it nice. Males and females working together for a change."

One of the soldiers then said, "It's different but acceptable."

Rick then looked at both sides in the gigantic courtyard, "So how many soldiers do we have present?"

Captain Simmons then said, "At roll count we have six thousand soldiers here in this shift in the fortress while the other eighteen thousand are on patrol or off duty at the moment. They switch shifts every four hours."

"Good so I'm going to be here all day. This is going to be quite the day."

"Actually sir you can leave whenever you want and the other leaders can continue your training."

"I'd rather see how this goes but I'll leave when I'm good and ready." He then turned to the team, "You guys will be placed into partners. Jean and Dartz, Wayland and Gloria, Celand and Winston, Serenity and Sage, Anna and Bolt, Aleerah and Shadow, me and Alara, Lucian and Amari, and...wow Seras isn't here so who am I going to put Allen with?" Rick then looked at Alara's parents and saw Amber playing with her ears. "Amber you're with Allen."

Amber then jumped up, "Are you crazy!? I'm not a soldier!"

"Neither is Alara. You need to learn how to fight yourself and what better way to train than with someone who as old as you and still learning. You're in it no questions asked." Amber then screamed in her mouth and walked next to Allen. "Alright! Everyone on the left, go inside the fortress. Everyone on the right, to the training grounds. Wayland and Gloria, Anna and Bolt, Lucian and Amari, Allen and Amber you will go with them to the training grounds to begin. The rest inside the Fortress and I will see you all in the amphitheater in 700 hours military time or 7am. I need to bring in a few packages into a certain area that I found out about last night. It's a surprise for you guys."

[30 minutes later]

Alara was looking at Rick read a piece of paper that he got from his dad's study.

"What is that?"

"It's a memo that my dad wrote while he was the Warlord. It gave me an idea last night. You're probably wondering what's in all those boxes I put here in the amphitheater, aren't you?"

"Yes. What did you order? You have over a thousand boxes of those things in here."

Jean then said, "I think I have an idea. If I'm right then this is going to be fun for all of us."

After he said that the group of soldiers entered the amphitheater. Rick then jumped off of the box he was sitting on.

"Welcome to the amphitheater and the first training session you guys will have. This is assessment and for me to see how well you guys can follow orders and work as a team. You all know this places as the amphitheater but in my father's time this place had another function." Rick then took his amulet and put it in a indentation on the wall. The amphitheater then began to go down like an elevator until it stopped and the wall behind the amphitheater went up and revealed an armory of hundreds of thousands of blades, firearms, and the like. It also revealed a gigantic room covered in blue tile. "Welcome to the Simulation Room. This room is used to simulate fights between teams or scenarios where you all will have to work together to accomplish objectives and finish the simulation."

Alara then asked, "And your dad had this built?"

"Looks like I'm a chip off the old block but point is that Team Rocket fights with guns now since their pokemon are now going to disobey their orders because of Arceus's command. With that being said, they're going to begin using guns more often than usual. This is why you will see guns here. We're going to fight fire with fire and I'll teach you guys how to use guns."

Captain Williams then said, "We're already trained in that."

"Wait...what?"

"Yeah. Just in case it ever came to that we were trained to use guns and how to disarm opponents."

"This is surprising but it also makes this process a lot faster. So here's the deal, I'm going to pick a scenario from the computer program and you guys will come in here and pick your primary, secondary, and melee weapons. Use your pokemon powers when you need them. In here there is no rules but you must follow your leaders' orders. Now this brings me to what is inside of these boxes. Jean if you will?"

Jean quickly took the lid off of one of the boxes and looked inside before telling Rick, "I'm so going to love these exercises so much."

Rick then went to the opened box and took out a gun's clip and took a round out. The bullet was purple in color and had what appeared to be a gel in it. "This is a debilitator bullet. It was created by Silph Co. for world militaries to train with. When you get hit by these bullets they will burst and cover the place you were hit with a gel that hardens and leaves you immobilized if you got in a vital area. You can still move if you get hit in a limb but the limb will be debilitated until you are taken out. When you are taken out you will be automatically teleported back out of the room." He then took out a purple knife. "This is a debilitator combat knife. Keep one on you at all times for close quarter combat. It works the same way as with the bullets. Once you stab someone with it, it will smear the gel on the hit location and harden until the victim is immobilized. Finally we have debilitator grenades and flashbang grenades. I don't think I need to explain what they win versus battles by eliminating a chosen soldier or finishing the objectives. So is everyone game for a match?"

Everyone then said, "Yes sir!"

"Alright but remember, we're still pokemon. We will use our powers more than firearms or any form of weapon. It's just that if the situation calls for it we will have to fight like they fight and we will be ready to win. Everyone grab four magazines or a number of shells and your weapons of choice, three grenades and three flashbangs. Move on out!"

Each soldier then went into the gigantic armory and set their weapon classes before stepping into the simulator. Rick took two M1911s, an ACR, and a debilitator combat knife. Alara took a FAMAS, a Desert Eagle, and a debilitator combat knife.

Rick and Jean were immediately concerned for Alara when she picked the Desert Eagle. Jean the told her, "Umm...Alara don't you think you might want a smaller pistol?"

"You don't think I know how to use it?"

"It's not that. It's just that...well that thing is bigger than you."

"Oh please! I can handle it."

"Alright fire it at that target."

Rick then said, "Jean no! Don't make her do that."

Alara then told him, "Rick I can handle it."

"I'm just looking out for you. That thing has a lot of recoil."

"I appreciate that you're trying to protect me but I want to do this."

Alara then aimed her sights on the target and Rick braced himself to see her in pain really soon. Jean just smiled and had his hand on his chin. Alara then pulled the trigger and fired a shot but the Desert Eagle recoiled back and hit her in the face. She quickly dropped the gun and grabbed her face in pain before walking to Rick and sinking her head in his chest. Rick just held her and rubbed her back to comfort her until the pain subsided. She then lifted her face and had a bruise on her face. Rick quickly healed it with **Healing Pulse** and smiled at her before taking one of his M1911 and giving it to Alara. Rick then noticed a little drop of blood on her face and he then wiped it off and she sank her face in his chest again.

"Here Alara. You can have on of my pistols. It's a M1911, it's smaller but more reliable than a Desert Eagle. It doesn't matter if your gun is more powerful, it only matters if it gets the job done." He then felt that she was still in a little pain from the recoil hit and he then held her again as she took the pistol from his hands. "I'm here don't worry. The pain will leave soon."

Jean was watching the entire thing unfold and chuckled, "Aww get a room you two. So cute together."

Rick then glared at him and then announced, "Hey guys! Demonstration time!" He then pulled out the other pistol and shot Jean in between the eyes. Jean fell back and a purple gel covered his face and then hardened, leaving his body immobile and muffling his words. "That's what happens when you get shot. It doesn't hurt nor does it harm you." Rick then let go of Alara and walked up to Jean's immobile body and pistol whipped the gel off of Jean's face, releasing him and letting him move again.

"Alright I'll stop with the comments."

Rick then walked back to Alara and saw her laugh quietly. Rick then pulled out a screen on his Poketch and activated the room. "Alright, let's set the scenario. You know what let's randomize it for now." Rick then pressed the randomize button and then saw the settings that came up. "So here's the match: Two teams: Red and Blue, Team Red is commanded by Jean, Dartz, Celand, and Wayland. Team Blue is commanded by Me, Alara, Serenity, and Sage. The location is a military lab and the match is...oh great I love this kind of fight. The match is a Search and Destroy match, which means that one commander from each team will be the target. Blue Team's target is Jean and Red Team's target is...Alara...oh crap. Well let's start. The computer is going choose the team members by changing their colors."

As soon as he finished, Rick and Alara turned blue, as so did many of the soldiers in the room. The same happened to the other team by turning them red. Captain Williams joined the blue team and Captain Simmons joined the red team. Everyone's vision then went white and Red Team then found themselves inside the facility and Blue Team woke up seated in helicopters headed to the facility.

Alara then looked at Rick who was sitting next to her, checking his guns. "Rick, do you think that we'll ever need helicopters as pokemon?"

"Maybe not but just play along with the simulator."

"Alright. So we'll get out when the choppers land then."

Rick then activated an earpiece in his ear and then a broadcast opened on the earpieces in the Blue Team's ear. "Captain Williams, this is Warlord Aeruthael. What's your status. Over!"

A voice then came over the broadcast, "This is Captain Williams. I can hear you loud and clear. We're alright here. I'm in chopper 5."

Another voice came up, "This is Private First Class Allo, we're a-ok here in the second chopper."

Rick then said, "Pleased to meet you Private First Class Allo. Alright guys here's the 411: We need to barge into the facility and take out Captain Jean. Knowing how they are, they've already taken precautions to protect him. Alright we'll need to break into six teams with at least one commander and we have enough commanders and Allo will take care of the recovery team. Your job is to help whatever teams is in trouble and to protect them.

"Yes sir!"

"Williams, you'll be assault team two. You provide a diversion for us to go in. Be very careful Williams. These guys aren't pushovers."

"Yes sir!"

"Serenity and Sage, you guys will be the next assault team. While the first team attacks you guys go in through a different route. My team will protect Alara and try to take out Jean. So time to get out of the hueys."

"Hueys?"

"It military slang for helicopters."

"Oh okay. So I'm guessing we're landing then. See you guys on the ground."

They then landed and quickly swarmed out of the many helicopters and grouped around to figure out when to attack. Rick then came out of the helicopter with Alara holding onto his arm and covered away from the facility, to shield her from an attack.

Rick then said, "Okay so time to strike. I'll go in first and take out the sentries. When you hear return fire then start the attack."

Alara then grabbed his arm, "Isn't that a bit too risky?"

"I've done it before. I find it fun taking out the first wave of enemies. I'm surprised on how quickly they already set up their defenses. Knowing Jean, he won't like the defensive approach and go on the offensive. I'm waiting for him to mess up. However, I need to protect you so I'm going to clear the courtyard to let you guys in."

A sniper shot then cut through the air and missed everyone before hitting the ground near Rick.

Captain Williams then yelled, "Sniper! Get down!"

Everyone then hid behind the choppers and different structures that could offer cover. Serenity took Alara and hid her while Rick stood in the open where he was before. He then turned and looked at a sniper on the wall.

The sniper then said, "Alright! That was your one warning shot! Leave now or give up!"

Rick then said, "That's not going to happen!"

"Alright I warned ya'. Sayonara beatch!" He then fired at Rick and Rick took his combat knife and knocked the shot back at the sniper. "Oh come on!"

"And that's the first down. Now I'm heading out. Watch and learn and pay attention to your monitors. That's the things that are over your eyes. They will tell you the location of enemies and how many are left. Well I'm out!" Rick then disappeared and everyone turned on their monitors and saw that they had radar capabilities. Rick's voice then came through the broadcast. "I forgot to mention, the radars don't work on the inside unless hotspots are placed but that only works on one floor. Also, I didn't order hotspots so we're out of luck. Okay killing time."

Rick somehow managed to pass the guards on the wall and got behind them. He quickly got rid of four guards with his combat knife. He then grabbed a pistol and drew his other pistol and began to follow a patrolling soldier. He then hit the soldier in the back of the head with one of his pistols and then grabbed the soldier's gun holster and knife sheath and fired through them to muffle the sound of the pistol. Rick then found more soldiers and took them out silently until a gate opened in the facility. Rick quickly activated the front gate doors to let the others in.

(Battle Music: **Anumati by E.S Posthumus**)

Rick's team then got into their positions and then a squad of Red Team members came out of the facility. Everyone then scrambled for cover and began to fire at the opposing team that also returned fire. Rick immediately grabbed Alara and pulled her away from the fire. He then took out his ACR and prepped it before firing back and taking out a number of soldiers. Alara then took out her FAMAS and fired along with Rick. Rick then stopped her and took her by the arm to an awaiting team.

Rick then broadcasted, "Williams, do your thing."

Williams then responded, "You got it sir!"

A flashbang then went off and Rick ran through the gate with Alara, while shooting multiple soldiers on his way there. The team then joined him and Alara held on to him while paying attention to her surroundings and sensing for anything nearby.

[In the Courtyard]

Williams was holding back the attacking squad and then felt a familiar energy nearby. She then took out her AK-47 and aimed at the squad. She looked though her sighs and then saw a bullet heading towards her, forcing her to dodge and making it hit one of her soldiers. She then saw that the bullet came from Captain Simmons.

"Simmons! You'll pay for that!"

She then fired at Simmons and he dodged it and lost a few of his men. He then rushed towards her while firing and she returned fire. She then jumped out of cover and ran towards him with her combat knife drawn, blocking bullets with it and with **Psychic**. Simmons then drew his combat knife and met her in the center.

"So Williams, when was the last time we had a one on one match?"

"It's been a while. Not since we mated. That seemed to stop us fighting one another." All the soldiers then stopped after they heard that and then Williams said, "Yes, we mated months ago. Go back to killing one another because in battle there won't be time to stop." They then began to fight again.

"Well I didn't want to announce it yet."

"Yeah but they had to find out eventually. So are we going to duel or not?"

"As you wish. You know, I haven't decided whether I'll take your name yet."

"For military purposes keep your name, but for family sake you should take my name."

"We'll see. Prep yourself!"

She then lunged at him with the combat knife and he blocked it. She then fired a **Thunderbolt** at him which he dodged and pulled her close and kissed her. She then kicked him off of her and hit him with a **Shadow Ball**. Simmons quickly got up and tried to stab her but she grabbed his hand and twisted it and then tried to stab him but he caught her arm. Both of them were fighting for the advantage and the knives were inches from their faces.

Williams then spun around and managed to stab Simmons in the shoulder, faintly hindering it. Williams then smiled and giggled at him and Simmons just smiled and lunged at her. He then managed to slash her face but she wiped the gel off since it was not threatening in any way. He then fire a **Signal Beam** at her and it managed to knock to the knife from her hand. He then backed her into a corner and knocked her guns away from her and then held the knife to her throat.

"You know. It's amusing how you managed to hold me off and even hit me. So any last requests before your game ends?"

"Just the one. Come here." Simmons then kissed her and Williams then returned the kiss. She then shot her eyes open and kneed him in the groin, took his pistol, and shot him in the head. "Sorry dear but never let your defenses fall for anything. I'll see you later after the simulation."

"You...bitch." He then stopped moving and was teleported out of the simulation.

Williams then smiled and then turned but only to be sniped down by Celand.

She then looked at the vantage point that Celand was at and then said, "Well fuck. Karma's a bitch." She was then teleported out of the zone.

[In the facility]

Rick received an update from his Poketch. "Well we lost Williams and they lost Simmons. Be careful Celand, Jean, Winston, and Dartz are in here somewhere. Also, Williams left her communicator on. She's Simmon's mate, but I guess that's not important right now. Let's go!"

Everyone then nodded and took their positions around Alara. Rick then sent two soldiers to scout ahead and check for hostiles. The scouts went and then gave the a-ok sign but then they were shot by what appeared to be shotgun blasts. Rick quickly got Alara behind him and aimed at the corridor, waiting for someone to come out. Jean and Dartz then walked down the hall, surprising Rick and his team. Rick kept his sights on them as did all the other soldiers and Alara.

Jean then said, "Kind of you to bring Alara to us. Hand her over!"

Rick then replied, "Go fuck yourself!"

"A fighter as usual. Look at what's in my hand. That's right, it's a SPAS-12, I can take all of you in one blast."

"You always take the shotguns. Cheap bastard!"

"I just prefer them to most conventional weapons since I can take out multiple targets without aiming. Also, this thing has an extended clip. I can fire up to 16 shots without reloading and that means I can fight against your assault rifles without fear of losing."

"Are you done with your lecture? Gloating won't win the fight, actually doing something will. Also, I would of thought you would of played the defensive game but I guess your pride got the better of you."

"I don't need to run and hide behind my partners like Alara over there cowering behind you."

"Well make your move then."

Jean then fired a round off in Rick's direction and Rick dodged the buckshot as did most of his soldiers, he also pulled Alara away from the shot. He then fired at Jean who used his accelerated movement to get out of the way. Dartz then began firing at Rick with his TMP, which Rick dodged and rushed Dartz and headbutted him before knocking the TMP away and fighting him hand-to-hand.

Alara was left with the soldiers fighting Jean, who kept moving from place to place and slowly taking out the soldiers. Alara then threw a flashbang and made Jean stand in place and tried to shoot him but Jean blocked the shots with his shotgun. Jean then threw his combat knife at one of the soldiers and took their M-14. He then aimed for Alara but the his gun was knocked to the side by a soldier who tried to attack him with a **Psycho Cut**. Jean quickly dodged and punched the soldier in the stomach and then shot him. Jean then heard a shot ringing from the end of the hall and saw Rick defeating Dartz with his handgun. Rick then fired at Jean and forced him to get away from Alara.

Jean then charged Rick and blocked Rick's bullets with his own. They then clashed with each other and exchanged bullets in close range and dodging them. Rick then grabbed Jean's arm and flipped him and fired down on him but Jean dodged the bullets and pistol-whipped Rick with his handgun. Jean then jumped up and tried to shoot Rick with his M-14 but Rick knocked the gun up and then kicked Jean to the other end of the room.

Alara then ran up to Rick and huddled near him. Jean then got up and then snapped his finger and a door opened with Celand and Winston appearing with a squad. Rick's remaining squad then huddled around Alara and Rick snapped his finger. Once he did that Serenity and Sage appeared after throwing in a flashbang and their squad was with them.

Jean then laughed, "Looks like we're even." He then coughed a little. "You really did a number on me that quickly. I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

Rick then said, "Let's end it!"

Celand then fired a shot from his scoped M-14 at Alara and Rick knocked it back with his combat knife, taking out the scope but missing Celand. Both squads then fired at each other and tried to find cover. Serenity and Sage then attacked Celand and Winston and tried to beat them back. Rick exchanged fire with Jean and Alara took out many of the soldiers. After a few moments Alara ran into a problem, she ran out of ammo and switched to the handgun that Rick gave her. She then fired at Jean and managed to jam his gun. Jean then fired a **Fire Blast** at Rick and Alara. Rick fired a **Dark Pulse** at the fire and caused an explosion, Jean used the smoke to charge at Rick and managed to knock his ACR away and drove Rick's head into the steel wall. Alara then hit him with a **Thunderbolt** to drive him back and knelt down to try to wake Rick up.

Jean then sprang to his feet and grabbed Alara and threw her to Celand. Alara looked next to her and saw Serenity and Sage unconscious on the ground. Celand then pulled out a handgun and aimed it at Alara. Sage and Serenity then woke up. Serenity then slashed the back of Celand's knee with her combat knife and Sage knocked the gun away. Serenity then slashed Celand's neck with the knife and took him out of the match. They were then shot down by Winston. While Serenity was being shot down she threw a grenade at him and he looked at it.

Winston then said, "Deadman's hand...well played."

The grenade then went off and took Winston out of the match. Jean then noticed his allies were gone and it gave Rick the opportunity to beat him back. Jean then blocked Rick's incoming **Focus Punch** and hit him with a **Sky Uppercut**. He then grabbed a handgun and lifted the disoriented Rick by the neck.

Jean then told Rick, "Man you're hard to take out. Well looks like you're seeing stars now. I must of hit you in the perfect place at the perfect time."

Jean then fired at Rick but the gun jammed. He then threw the gun away and drew his combat knife. Alara was watching him do this and then took out her own knife and put it in a throwing position, like her father taught her. She then threw it a Jean and hit him on his side.

Jean quickly looked at the place where the knife hit him. It didn't hinder him but he let go of Rick who regained his composure. Rick then tackled Jean through a window and they went free-falling down until they hit a steel pole. Rick then fell onto a steel platform and Jean stayed on the pole overlooking the downed Rick.

Alara went to the huge hole that they made and saw Jean climbing through poles, pipes, and girders. He was hunting Rick and Alara had to take him out if Rick couldn't. She then slowly levitated and began to float down as slowly as she could without catching Jean's attention.

(Battle Music: **Krosah by E.S Posthumus**)

Down on the platform Rick got up and moved his sore body. He then used **Recover** and stood up and looked around and tried to sense for Jean's presence. He quickly drew his combat knife and then heard metal moving behind him. He quickly turned to block a knife attack from Jean. Jean then kicked him and brought down the knife on Rick. Rick rolled out of the way and punched Jean in the face and tried to stab him, only to have his attack blocked.

Alara finally made it to a nearby platform and silently made her way to a vantage point to see the fight and to help Rick. When she got to the point she saw both Rick and Jean exchanging slashes and dodging their attacks. Rick then managed to slash Jean's arm but only as a flesh wound that can't debilitate him. Jean then gave a battlecry and charged at Rick and viciously attacked Rick. Rick caught the incoming attack and flipped Jean but then got a **Blaze Kick** to the face. Rick fell onto his back and dropped his knife, Jean quickly kicked the knife away

"Well looks like you're done. Die already!"

Jean then brought the knife down and Rick caught his arm and got into a power struggle to keep the knife away from his throat. Alara then came out of nowhere and punched Jean off of Rick.

Jean quickly grabbed his jaw and said, "Why did that hurt?"

Alara then helped Rick get up and then checked his face for any injuries. She then hugged him when she saw he was okay.

Rick quickly turned Alara around, "Pay attention to the fight! He's still kicking...literally. My face still hurts."

Jean then said, "Okay you all will die now."

Rick quickly took Alara and put her behind him. He then took Alara's combat knife and got into position. Jean then charged a **Blast Burn** in his mouth and aimed at Alara who stepped away from Rick to retrieve his knife. Rick immediately ran to her and Jean fired the attack, which rushed towards Alara. Rick quickly pushed her out of the way and got hit by the attack. He was then sent flying and hit a pole. Rick quickly got up and ran to Jean. Jean quickly grabbed a steel pole and hit Rick before kicking him back. Rick was once again disorientated and Alara was by herself with Jean on hunter mode.

Alara was on the ground and saw what Jean did. She then quickly took out her handgun and fired at the approaching Blaziken but Jean disappeared from sight and reappeared in front of Alara. He then kicked the gun in the air and then caught it. Alara then scurried back and then watched as Jean changed the clip and put in a new one.

"You know. I thought you would of put up a fight but looks like Rick is your only lifeline. Well good game."

He then held the gun up and aimed at her. Alara closed her eyes but then she heard Jean grunt. She opened her eyes and saw a combat knife on Jean's arm, where the gun was at. Jean dropped then gun and turned to be met by another knife in the chest from Rick, paralyzing him. Alara then grabbed the gun and shot Jean in the head, defeating him and winning the simulation. She then panted from the adrenaline and then got up and walked to Rick who was still down but conscious.

She then asked him, "Are you okay?"

Rick said in between grunts, "Yeah...that was tough. My head still hurts."

"I would of been done if you didn't save me."

"I know. I couldn't let you get hurt by him. Even if it was only a simulation match and you wouldn't feel pain...unless he uses the environment to kick your ass."

"You took a beating and Jean was playing dirty."

"If you can't win then cheat. All is fair in love and war. I'm just mad I couldn't use my sword to turn the tide a bit faster. I'm just glad your okay."

Alara then sat next to him and then used **Healing Pulse** on him. She then hugged him and he slouched back and took a sigh of relief. He then turned his Poketch on and then ended the simulation, transporting them out of the simulation room.

Once they were back in the room they saw Jean taking the gel off and Winston getting help taking off the large amounts of gel from the grenade. They then saw Simmons and Williams talking and Rick then walked up to them with Alara on his arm.

"So I see you guys left out a little detail when I first met you...then again I never got to know the soldiers personally. How long have you two been mates?

Williams then responded, "About three months now. At first it was innocent flirting and then things go serious between us. We try to be professional in our job and then go back to normal when we go home at night."

"Well that's actually good to hear. My two Captains are mates."

"And apparently you and Lady Alara are as well."

"What?"

Alara just facepalmed and sweatdropped at the remark.

"Oh you two aren't mates? You guys act like it."

"We're just close. Nothing more."

"Well my mistake."

Rick then felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Sayer standing while still taking gel off his face.

"Sayer? I didn't even know you were in this exercise today. You didn't make a noise...what team were you on?"

Sayer then responded, "I was on Blue Team. I got taken out early after getting hit from a sniper shot from Celand."

"Who was your commander?"

"Captain Williams."

"Well that explains a lot." Rick then said to everyone. "Good work today everyone! Nice effort! Jean you're a psychopathic ass! Expect this exercise twice a week but if you have a group you can come here and practice anytime. Alright you're all dismissed to enjoy your day!" He then turned to Sayer. "Let's go! I promised to take you to the sixth den today."

Sayer then nodded and followed Rick and Alara out of the room. They soon arrived at the transporter and went down to the six den. Rick didn't waste any time to get to a place where he knew they will find more of their species, the market. Once there Rick and Alara helped Sayer look for a good female.

Alara then pointed out a female that was just browsing outside the stores, "How about that one over there?"

Sayer looked, "Wow...she's very beautiful."

Rick then told him, "Well get off your ass and go talk to her."

Sayer was shocked by what Rick said, "Excuse me! Um...what do I tell her?"

Rick then put his hand around Sayer's neck, "Listen here noob! It doesn't matter what you want to say. Little fact, we males are so scared to talking to females that we neglect to realize that if we do talk to them we have an advantage over other suitors. Now go and talk to her. Whether she rejects you or not is just a consequence. You can try again another time."

Sayer took a deep breath and walked towards the Gardevoir.

Alara the asked Rick, "Do you think he stands a chance?"

"I doubt it but I'm hoping and praying I'm wrong."

Rick then got a message from X in his head, _"Sorry to interrupt whatever it is that you're doing."_

_"I'm in the middle of something X."_

_"Yeah I realize that but you have like no apps in here. I've been playing Temple Run for the past six hours."_

_"And who told you to be sifting through my...wait...I have apps? I have Temple Run?"_

_"Yeah you can use your spike to connect to the internet and get mental apps. Apparently you never dwell into the cool stuff in your head."_

_"I mean I meditate but...this is so off topic. I'll talk to you later X."_

_"Fine! Bye!"_

Rick then went back to see how Sayer was doing.

Sayer was approaching the Gardevoir and then he got her attention, "Hello there!"

The Gardevoir then turned around and saw Sayer, "Hello there. Can I help you?"

"Umm...I just...umm...wanted to ask you something."

"I'm listening."

"Um...what's your name?"

"My name is Leta."

"My name is Sayer. I'm a soldier in the army."

"I'm a baker's daughter. Cooking is really all I know. I wish I could fight like a soldier."

Sayer then chuckled, "Well being a soldier is not all it's cracked up to be. I have to wake up early and do random tasks and exercises. I'm surprised I even get out to socialize much with the new Warlord in town."

"Have you met him?"

"Yes. In fact he's right there with Lady Alara. We were having a small conversation earlier."

Leta looked and saw Rick and Alara watching and blushed in embarrassment. "Oh dear! If I knew they were here I would of brought them a gift."

"Don't bother! Warlord Aeruthael is actually quite tired of receiving gifts. He's just happy to be back here in the Sanctuary."

The then shared a small laugh and then a clock bell rang in the den.

"Oh I have to go back to my father's bakery. It was nice meeting you Sayer."

"Well I see you again?"

"Maybe. If you're around. We'll have to wait and see." She then smiled at him and walked away.

Sayer then turned to Rick and Alara and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well, I tried."

Rick then pat him on the shoulder, "Hey I count that as a success. These things take time and yet you already managed to engage in a conversation with her. Also, you made her smile. There's no doubt in my mind that she'll remember you. You'll just have to be patient."

Sayer nodded and then looked in the direction that Leta took off. He then saw the street and got worried.

"That street has quite the reputation for violence. Should I go after her to make sure she's alright?"

Alara then said, "That would be the chivalrous thing to do. Go!"

Sayer then left and went down the same street Leta walked down on earlier.

Alara then asked Rick, "We're following him, aren't we?"

"You know it. If something goes down, I will have to help him." Rick then brought two patrolling soldiers with him and Alara.

Sayer was running down the street trying to locate Leta and then he caught a bit of her presence nearby and looked over a corner and found her walking peacefully. He then breathed a sigh of relief and then followed at a safe distance. Not too long after she turned into an ally and Sayer followed. It didn't take long for trouble to present itself to Leta and Sayer. As she was walking down the street she was blocked off by a Gallade with red hair.

Leta then said, "Oh no not again. I already told you that I'm not interested in you."

The Gallade then said, "You just need to warm up a bit to me."

"Like that will ever happen." She said as she tried to move around him.

He then grabbed her and put her to the wall, "Listen here! Who are you to say 'no' to me?"

"I'm not your mate and I never will be. So let me go."

"That might change very soon."

"Go fuck yourself!" She then spat at him.

The Gallade then rose his hand to slap her but Sayer made it in time to catch his hand. Sayer then pushed him out of the way and pulled Leta away from the Gallade.

Sayer then said, "Now is that any way to treat a lady? Apparently you lack some class and or morality."

The Gallade then said, "Who are you to interrupt two courting adults?"

"Courting? That's not what I've been seeing. Leave now and leave her alone."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I might have to place you under military arrest or just beat you senseless. Maybe that will teach you a thing or two about treating a female."

"So it's a fight you want? Fine! I'll take on your challenge."

Sayer then turned to Leta, "Stay somewhere safe."

Leta nodded and took cover behind a crevice in the nearby wall. Sayer then drew his blades and cracked his neck. "So are you ready to get this over with?"

"Whenever you are soldier boy!"

The thug then charged at Sayer and Sayer quickly dodged a **Focus Punch** and punched the guy back. He then hit him with a **Night Slash**. The thug then attacked him again but Sayer flipped him and proceeded to be punch him repeatedly. It didn't take to long to see that Sayer had the thug beat easily.

Sayer then got off of him and said, "You attack that girl again I will break you on the spot. You got that!" The thug was too hurt to answer and Sayer then walked towards Leta. "Are you alright?"

Leta responded, "Yes. Thank you for being so brave and saving me. He's been a bother to me since I rejected him."

"I wasn't brave I was just doing my job. I know what that guy felt but I'm not like him."

Rick's voice then sounded behind them, "And you did your job well too. Good work." He then gave the soldiers and order. "Take the thug away men!"

Both soldiers then gave a salute and arrested the thug and took him away.

Rick then walked up to Sayer and Leta with Alara clinging to his arm, "You did good. I knew getting you out here was a good idea. You made a friend and saved her life. I guess I'll be seeing a more...chivalrous Sayer from now on. Good work...Private First Class Sayer."

Sayer was surprised at what he just said, "You're giving me a promotion?"

"You proved something to me and it didn't disappoint in the results. Enjoy!"

Leta just looked at Rick and then said, "It's a pleasure to meet you and Lady Alara sir."

"The pleasure is all ours."

Alara then said, "You're very lucky Sayer came when he did."

Leta then replied, "I really am."

Rick then said, "Well looks like I'll have guards and soldiers patrol this area from now on. I don't want this to repeat itself anymore. Sayer, take her home and then you're finished for today. Do whatever it is that you want."

Sayer then saluted Rick, "Yes sir and thank you sir."

Rick nodded and both groups turned and walked in opposite directions.

It took Sayer about another ten minutes to reach Leta's house, it was still a bit of a walk from where they originally were.

Leta then told Sayer, "Thank you so much for saving me. I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. To be quite truthful I kinda forgot of my soldier duty and went there to save you. I saw you turned onto a notorious street and I got worried."

"Well I'm glad you chose to make sure I was safe."

"Any time. Well I have to go. I hope to see you again."

She then grabbed Sayer's arm and typed on his Poketch, "Here's my number. Call me for anything."

"Will do! Good day!"

"Goodbye."

She then went inside and closed the door while Sayer thought about his luck for the day and how Rick actually managed to help him.

[Rick and Alara]

Rick and Alara arrived at her house after the day and Rick did his usual thing of taking her home.

Alara then told him, "I'm really happy about what you did for Sayer. Most people wouldn't of been so generous."

"Well I'm not most people. I wanted him to leave you alone and I succeeded."

Alara then smiled, "Thank you!"

"So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah or later. It's still light out so I might head over there later to hang out."

"Alright, I'll keep my schedule clean. Bye.

Alara then hugged him goodbye and walked inside her house to rest a bit while Rick took off for his house.

**Man I this one took longer than it should of but I had to change so much on it. Well tell me what you guys think and I will have the next chapter up by probably Friday. Leave me your reviews, questions, requests, and suggestions and I will do the best I can from them. I do check my messages and I do reply to them so please feel free to drop me a message whenever you guys want. Well bye guys!**


	27. Chapter 27: Hearthome Contest

**Sorry for the delay on this one guys. As some of you know, the Atlantic Coast of the United States got hit by Hurricane Sandy this weekend and I was in the middle of the storm myself. I tried to get this chapter done as fast as I could for you guys. I tried to stay loyal to my word and upload a chapter once a week, if possible, so I wrote a majority of this in the middle of the hurricane for you guys. Also, I would love to thank all those that send me "I hope you are safe" messages. I read them and I thank you for them. I am alive and well and so is my family, we were not hit too seriously by the hurricane but my tree did not survive and is now blocking my street. Thank you guys for worrying about me and I'm here to give you guys your weekly dose of entertainment. So review it please and keep sending me your suggestions, questions, and requests. October Viewing Winners: 1st) U.K, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) The Philippines, 4th) France, and 5th) Mexico.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

A month after the simulator scenario, Rick was in the Military sparring grounds with Alara. They were sparring and Alara was easily being pushed back by his attacks.

"Come on Alara. Use what I taught you."

Alara then nodded and disappeared into this air and reappeared behind Rick and fired a **Shadow Ball** at him. Rick quickly turned around and sliced the ball in two before laughing.

"You learn as quickly as Serenity learns. You already have the accelerated movement down yet you should work on it. Let's see you mix your attacks to make a new one."

"You told me to practice that and I think I have a good one for you."

"Let's see it."

Alara then took a deep breath and charged black ball in between both hands. The ball then got mixed with a yellow aura and Alara then threw it into the air before stopping it twenty feet above Rick. She then threw her arms down and yelled, "Mystic Rain!" The ball then exploded and rays of energy launched down towards Rick. Rick quickly dodged the rain and then lunged at Alara and picked her up.

"How did you dodge all of them?"

"Experience my dear. I'm a well trained soldier and you're a soldier in training. It's a nice attack though. You learned to control you're moves' energy and mix them around and form something new. We should compete in a contest someday."

Alara then held onto his shoulders to support herself while he carried her. She then said, "I'd really love to do that. I would love to compete in each category in my best dress."

"You can't pick a dress to go on a dinner date. How am I going to believe you're going to find a dress for a contest?"

Alara then slapped his forehead and then giggled, "Don't be a smartass now." She then thought for a second. "I have an idea. Why don't we talk to that human friend of yours. Dawn was it? She's a coordinator, right? So she might be able to enter us in a contest."

"Us? Last I checked I never said I was going to compete."

"Oh come on! With your skills and my attention to detail we'll dominate the contest. Also, your fighting skill will definitely give us the victory in the battle portion of the contest. The training you're giving me is really helping me improvise my moves to create stunning sights to behold. Together we can pull off an amazing performance."

"I don't know. Dawn most likely already has her pokemon ready to compete in the contest. So I don't know if she'll actually let us."

"Call her."

"Alright." Rick then put her down and dialed Dawn's number on his Poketch. It didn't take long until Dawn picked up the video call.

"Hello? Oh hi Rick!"

Rick quickly turned on the translator, "Hi Dawn! I'm calling because Alara was curious about something."

"What is it?"

Alara then appeared on the screen to talk to Dawn. "Hi Dawn. It's good to see you again."

"Likewise! What can I do for you?"

"I want to compete in a contest with Rick and I was wondering if you could be our coordinator for the competition. What do you think?"

"Interesting. I never saw Rick as the contest type but I guess it's a nice request."

"Oh he's not too thrilled about it but I wanted to compete and he usually does what I say."

"Why?"

"He's my guardian and technically works for me."

Rick then said, "You wish!"

Alara and Dawn then laughed at one another and then Dawn said, "Sure! I'll coordinate you guys for a contest. The next event is four days from now and my pokemon are too tired. So this is a stroke of luck on my part. It depends on how far you two are from Hearthome City."

Alara then said, "We're quite some distance from the city but we can actually get there in a few hours." She then looked at Rick.

Rick then looked at her, "No way! You want me to use my resources to take us there? I may be busy."

"No you're not. My dad gave you the week off so that the Captains can get used to organizing the troops."

"Why do you even want to do this?"

"Because it sounds fun and creative. Don't tell me you don't want to compete because of your fear of crowds."

"No...it's just not my thing. I'm a fighter not a performer."

"Not really. You're quite the artist."

"Oh come on, give me a break for once."

The girls then laughed again. Dawn then said, "Okay so I'll be waiting for you guys here. Call me when you arrive so I can go get you guys. I'll have to tell May this"

"Alright it's settled then! Bye Dawn!"

"Bye Alara! Bye Rick!"

Rick and Alara then waved goodbye and Rick then hung up the call. Rick quickly glared at Alara, who just looked at him with a smile.

"What?"

"Why do you keep dragging me into things I do not want to do?"

She then smiled again, "Oh come on! It know it'll be fun. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Besides Team Rocket being able to find me if something goes wrong? I'm only safe in here because of the psychic barrier."

"Well just make sure you don't release your aura or use your Project powers. That's how you've been doing it since your trainer died."

"This is true but I have to continue to use my energy in a contest."

"Just limit it like you usually do. Please?"

"I don't know. What the hell am I supposed to tell my friends and your parents? That's we're just going to leave for almost a week? I'm sorry but they tend to have a loose tongue when it comes to you and I together for long periods of time."

"Well they talk among one another but not to anyone outside of our little group. Come on! You have nothing to do and it's not like they're going to watch us compete."

"You do realize that contests are televised, right?"

"That's awesome!"

Rick then glared at her, "Not helping!"

"Sorry I'm just so excited. Please? Pretty please?"

Rick then sighed, "Fine! But if anything happens, it's your fault."

"If Team Rocket attacks us then you can deal with them. They will most likely not attack in public since the Projects are a secret thing. So we're safe for the time being. Besides, we're going to be with Dawn and May so they might think that we're their pokemon."

"True. But Beta and Epsilon know what I look like now...then again, Epsilon wouldn't tell Giovanni on me because she wants to deal with me personally. Beta won't do it because he wants me to live apart from Team Rocket and I thank him for that. So I guess we'll be safe as long as we don't run into Epsilon. She's the real threat."

"So call up your people and get a jet for us."

"Will do but you'll see how my life is outside of here. I'm still a celebrity to the humans and it will be disastrous if they find out that I'm a pokemon. So we'll have to be very careful about using our powers in public."

"Alright. I'm going to go pack my things. I'll see you at your house when you call me."

"Alright!"

"Bye!"

Alara then teleported back to her house while Rick teleported to his own house and made a call.

"Yes this is Mr. Rick. I would like my jet to pick me and a guest up in Pastoria City and take us to Hearthome City...Take your time. I'm in no hurry...Alright. I'll see you at four this afternoon. Goodbye!" Rick then hung up the call and got in his shower to wait the three hours that were left for the jet to arrive at Pastoria.

Rick was taking a nap on his bed until he felt someone in his house. He looked at his clock and saw that he has been asleep for an hour and a half. He then walked downstairs and saw Alara in the living room watching tv. She then looked at him and waved at him.

"Alara, do you ever call to tell me you're coming?"

"I pretty much live here now. I thought you would of expected me to come here by now."

"You do know that if I don't recognize you you would be dead right now. Besides, I thought you were going to come when I call you."

"Oh well everyone is in the Military District pitching in for you for the rest of the week."

Rick then sighed, "I see your point. We still have an hour and a half to go to Pastoria City to get on my jet. I'll teleport us there to make it easier. We have to be in our human forms though and pinpointing a location where people can't see us teleport at will take some time."

"Teleport inside of the jet. People won't be seeing us appear there."

"That is true but I don't have the jet in my location bank to teleport. If I had a picture I could do it. I'll figure it out, let's just do something until the time comes."

"Come here! Watch some tv with me."

Rick then smiled and chuckled, "Sure. What's on?"

"I've been here watching Jeopardy for the past ten minutes."

"And how have you been doing with the questions?"

"Some humans are stupid but some of the questions are actually hard."

"Well we're psychic types, we're just naturally smart but let's see how we do."

Alara then smiled, "Let's see if you can answer the next question. I can't do questions about human culture, human sciences, or human anatomy."

"Let's see what category this guy chooses."

Rick then sat down next to Alara and she laid down and leaned on him. The man on the show then picked the category "20th Century Entertainment" Rick then said, "Well fuck."

The host then read the question, "What 1939 movie contains the quote 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn'?"

Rick then answered without hesitation, "What is 'Gone With the Wind'."

The contestant then said the same answer as Rick and the host ruled it as the correct answer. Alara just looked at Rick.

She then asked him, "How did you know that one?"

"I've been around humans for too long. Also, I've seen that movie before."

"Let's watch a movie. We have enough time for that."

Rick then chuckled, "It's your call. You have the remote."

Alara then began to surf the channels until she found a movie that she felt was nice. Rick just looked at her curiously when he saw what movie she picked.

"Um Alara you do know what you picked, right?"

"Yeah a horror movie."

"Yes, you picked the movie Aliens. You can't handle horror movies."

She then looked at him with an irritated look, "Yes I can."

"Should I remind you what happened last time you saw a horror movie? You clung to my arm for dear life while I watched the movie unfazed."

"Well I can handle them now."

"I doubt it but let's see."

"I've been around you for this entire time. The shit that happens around you is scary enough.

Rick then chuckled and sat back into the couch and Alara rested on his shoulder and watched the movie calmly for a few minutes. About and hour and twenty minutes into the movie Alara was holding onto Rick's arm and adverting her gaze from the events in to movie. Rick then turned the tv off and Alara released her hold of his arm, which let the blood return to his arm.

"Well looks like I was right. Don't worry I'm not going to heckle you about it. Get your bags we're heading out."

"My bags are already here." She then pointed towards the dining room where Rick saw a large number of bags and suitcases.

Rick then walked into the dining room and told Alara, "We're not moving. Why do you have so much luggage?"

"It's mainly clothes."

"Then pick a few bags. Two or three should be enough. Besides, if you need anything I'll just buy it for you."

"Can you stop buying me everything I ask you for? I'm starting to feel like I'm using you as my own personal bank account."

"I really don't mind it. I'm set for life, so getting rid some cash isn't a problem for me. Now choose because we have a few minutes."

Alara then got up and picked out two bags from the pile of luggage and then held onto Rick. Suddenly a knock was heard at the door. Rick went to open it and saw his aunt Celenia and little Maiyu standing at the door.

"Oh hi guys! Can I help you with something?"

His aunt Celenia then said, "Yes, I heard you were going to Hearthome to compete in a contest."

Rick then looked at Alara, "To how many people did you tell?"

Alara then said, "All out friends and my parents. You're family must of heard through Daedalus."

Rick then sighed and looked back at his aunt, "Yes we are."

Celenia then said, "Well I wanted to ask you if you can take Maiyu with you."

"Oh why?"

"Because she doesn't go out of the Sanctuary often and I want her to go on a little trip. Also, it'll give her a chance to bond with you. Also, she can see a contest in action."

"I don't know. Alara, should we take Maiyu with us?"

Alara then said with a smile, "Yes, I love spending time with her. It'll be fun and it sounds like a good idea to me."

"Oh so you actually spent some time with her?"

"Yes. I used to babysit her. I love that little girl."

"Very well. We'll take Maiyu with us."

Celenia then smiled, "Good. Thank you very much!" She then looked at Maiyu who was in her arms. "Okay Maiyu. You're going to be with your big cousin for a few days. Please behave for him and I'll be here to meet you when you return. Love you dear."

Maiyu then smiled at her mom, "Love you too mama! I'll be good." She then jumped into Rick's arms and hugged him before crawling on his shoulders. "We're going to have a lot of fun cousin Aeru! You, me, and Alara!"

"Alright Maiyu. Have fun! Bye sweetie!" She then blew a kiss at her. Maiyu then returned the blown kiss and waved goodbye at her mom. Celenia then looked at Rick, "Take good care of her and make sure she has fun."

Rick nodded, "Will do! Bye aunt Celenia."

She then waved goodbye at everyone and teleported away.

Rick then looked at Maiyu, who was on his shoulder, "So looks like you're joining us."

Maiyu then smiled at him, "Yep. I get to see you two in a contest. But won't humans be concerned about us walking on the street. Won't they want to catch us?"

Rick then smiled at her, "Not a problem." He then went into his human form, surprising Maiyu.

"You're human!?"

"No, it's a skill I know how to do. I taught Alara how to do it."

Alara then went into her human form and then back to her original form. Rick then turned back to normal.

"Cool! Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Do you want to know how to turn human?" Maiyu then nodded quickly. "Very well then. Jump into my arms."

Maiyu then did as he told her and he put his forehead onto her's and she then began to glow. When the light disappeared Maiyu was seen in her human form. Her hair was straight and reached to her shoulders, she had a green shirt and white skirt.

She then asked, "How do I look?" Alara then teleported a mirror to her hands and handed it to Maiyu. "This is so cool!" She then turned back into a pokemon, surprising Rick.

"How did you learn how to do that so quickly?"

"Oh I learn by watching. I kinda figured it was an energy thing so I just used the same energy I use when I use **Confusion**."

"You're pretty smart for a little Kirlia. Oh well let's go!"

Alara then held onto Rick and he then teleported them to Pastoria City where they hid so that they could go into their human forms. They then arrived at the landing area in the city.

Alara then asked Rick, "Where's the jet?"

"Look up."

They then looked up and saw a jet coming down and landing on the landing pad. Alara looked at the jet in awe and then saw the cabin door opening and an older man in a suit exiting.

The man then greeted them, "It's a pleasure to see you again Master Rick."

rick then responded, "It's good to see you too Arthur." He then looked at Alara, "Alara this is Arthur. My personal butler. PS: He's a pokemon as well. He's an Alakhazam...actually he's Winston's cousin."

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last Lady Alara. My cousin has told me much about you and Rick."

Alara then bowed her head at him and he bowed himself. Maiyu then popped her head from behind Rick's shoulder and waved at Arthur.

"My! I didn't notice her. I didn't even feel her energy. Hello there little one."

Maiyu then said, "Hello!"

Rick then said, "This is Maiyu. She's my baby cousin."

"I'm not a baby anymore."

"But you're still small."

Arthur then gave a chuckled, "It's pleasure to meet you Maiyu. I do believe we have some sweets for you in here."

Maiyu then gave him a wide smile.

Rick then said, "Shall we go now?"

"Oh yes, please watch your step sir."

Rick, Maiyu, and Alara then boarded the jet and Arthur took Alara's bags inside. Once Alara entered the jet she was amazed on how it looked. It looked like a lounge for a celebrity and Rick then sat down on a seat the had a table in front of it. Alara then sat down next to him and looked outside as the jet lifted itself off the ground and then took off. Maiyu then jumped onto her lap and got comfortable. Alara was immediately nervous and held onto Rick. This immediately got his attention.

"What's wrong Alara?"

"I've never been on a plane before but I've seen them before. How did the plane take off like that without a runway?"

"Oh this jet has a hover system that is powered by rockets. It takes off and lands like a helicopter but enough of talking about that. Calm down, this thing is perfectly safe."

Alara then smiled and took a deep breath and calmed down.

A voice then came over the intercom, "Mr. Rick we'll be arriving at Hearthome in ten minutes."

Rick then pressed a button that was next to him, "Thank you."

Alara then asked him, "So what are we going to do once we get there?"

"Well first I'm going to get a hotel room for us and then I'll call Dawn and May to go visit. Until then we'll just hang out in the room."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Are we getting the same hotel room we were in last time?"

"Do you want it?"

"Yes, I would."

"Very well then. I'll get it for us."

Maiyu was immediately confused, "Wait, you two sleep in the same bed and aren't considered mates?"

Rick then sweatdropped, "The hotel room only has one bed. Also, don't think like that. You're too young Maiyu."

Maiyu then smiled and gave him a thumbs up and Rick and Alara sighed.

Arthur then walked up to them with a bottle of sparkling cider, "Would you care for a glass sir?"

"Sure!" He then turned to Alara, "Alara do you want some?"

She nodded and took a wine glass with cider inside of it. They then enjoyed the ten minutes until they could see Hearthome beneath them. Alara and Maiyu looked out of the window and were amazed by the sight. The jet then stopped and landed on a landing pad in the middle of the city. The cabin door then opened and Arthur picked up Alara's bags and walked outside. Rick and Alara then followed, with Alara carrying Maiyu, and were immediately met by paparazzi and reporters.

Alara then asked Rick, "How do these humans assemble so quickly?"

"I have no idea. Just smile, wave, and then ignore them. Just keep walking...oh here comes my security."

Four men in black suits then cut through the crowd and huddled around Rick, Alara, and Maiyu. They then began to walk towards an awaiting limousine where Arthur was waiting with the door open. The group then got into the limo, followed by Arthur and the guards.

Inside the limo Alara asked Rick, "How do you deal with those people?"

"I've been dealing with them for three years. Ever since I became rich they've been hounding me, so I've tried to stay out of sight. So I would stay as a pokemon to stay under their radars."

Alara's eyes then shot open and looked around shocked. She then told Rick, "Why did you say that out loud? Now they know that you're a pokemon."

"My dear, Silph Co. already know that. They've always known that I was a pokemon and these guards are part of Silph Co."

"And Silph Co. was alright with a pokemon partly owning them?"

"The owner is an interesting fellow. He thought it would be exciting and he saw my potential. I invented the pokemon translator by myself by using basic translation tools and using our language as a base. I started it and the scientists finished my work. Though the translator is not accessible to the public yet. That's why they gave us the Poketch V2's, so that we can test the new technology and the translation programs. This is one good reason why they're okay with me and the fact that the owner loves me like I was his own pokemon."

"Will we be meeting him anytime soon?"

"He's really reclusive and rarely appears in public. I'm one of the only people that knows what he looks like, other than Mr. Stone and his son. We met him last time we were here, his name is Steven, the League Champion of the Hoenn Region."

"Oh yeah! So where is this limo taking us to?"

"The hotel...now that I think about it." He then looked at Arthur. "I don't recall ever ordering a limo and guards."

Arthur then smiled, "Mr. Silph gave us an order to take your trip as comfortable as possible."

"Well isn't that nice of the old timer. I should pay him a visit one of these days...as a matter of fact, I'll do that right now."

Alara then arched an eyebrow, "How are you going to do that right now?"

"These limos have a hidden program."

Rick then pressed a button that was hidden in the armrest next to him. The inside of the limo then had glowing lines inside and then everything went dark and the guards disappeared. The only visible individuals were Rick, Alara, and Maiyu.

Alara looked around the dark room and then saw something materializing. The image looked like the inside of an office and there was a chair that was facing away from her and she could see that someone was sitting on the chair, smoking a pipe, with their legs crossed. The individual then turned the chair around to reveal an old man in a fancy suit and a merry face, smiling at them as they appeared. Alara then noted how the man looked holographic.

She then heard Rick say, "Mr. Silph, it's good to see your face again sir."

The man then took the pipe out of his mouth and gave a wide smile, "Ah Rick! How are you my boy? It's good to see you as well." He then looked at Alara. "And this must be Alara. The girl you tell me so much about. She's just as beautiful as you described her."

"Sir, I don't think we should get into that but yes, this is her."

Alara then looked at him with a curious smile and she then heard Mr. Silph give a hearty laugh.

"I guess you're right. You do speak highly of her every time we speak."

Alara then looked at Rick with a wider smile and then asked him, "So you DO talk about me? Also, how often do you guys talk to one another?"

"Well Rick and I talk about once a day or once every two days. We're really good friends. He calls me to place all his orders and he helps promote Silph Co. I also provide him with supplies and weaponry to fight against Team Rocket."

"Wait...you know about that?"

"Yes. Silph Co. is an enemy organization to Team Rocket. They have attacked us many times and Rick has rescued us everytime...along with a kid from Kanto. What was his name again Rick?"

"I don't remember but he had a Pikachu with him. He was a big help though."

"That's not important right now, what is important is the matter of this holographic visit."

"Oh there was no true reason for this visit. I just wanted Alara to meet you."

"Oh that's good too." He then looked at Alara. "Please to meet you my dear. I think I forgot to say that earlier in the conversation."

Alara then bowed her head, "The pleasure is all mine. It's an honor meeting one of the richest and powerful men in the world."

"Well I don't let my money describe me but yes you are correct. May I ask you a bit about yourself?"

"Okay. My name is Alara Saifer, I'm 21 years old, my birthday is on June 7th, I was born in the Sinnoh Region, and I have a degree in Biology and Bio-Chemistry."

Rick looked at her with a curious stare, "You're last name is Saifer? I thought that was your dad's name."

"Nope. Our parents just call him by his last name because that's how they grew up."

"What is his first name?"

"Auron."

"This is surprising...is your mom's first name really Keera or is that her maiden name?"

"That's her first name. Her maiden name is Jade. What about your parents?"

"Don't you know this already? I mean, didn't your parents tell you about this already?"

"Yes...I just want to make sure they were telling me the truth."

"My dad's first name is Xeron, his last name is Fenrir. My mom's first name is Aldira and her last name is Mendoza."

"So they were telling me the truth. Wait, do you know how to speak Spanish? Your mom's family speaks it fluently."

"Yes. I do and so does Jean."

"Can I hear you speak Spanish?"

"Only when I'm dead or dying will you hear me speak Spanish. I never needed to use it after my parents died...and even then I rarely said anything is Spanish. My mom taught me for the hell of it but she never really used it unless she didn't want my dad to know what she was saying."

Alara then laughed and then spoke to Mr. Silph, "Yep that's pretty much it."

Mr. Silph then said, "So I'm guessing your families know one another. This is interesting."

"Oh Rick never told you?"

"No. He told me that he had family there be he never told me that you two already knew each other."

She then smiled and shook her head, "Well yes. Rick and I have actually known one another since I was born. He left a few months later but in that time we were inseparable and then twenty years later he returned and we met each other again in Mt. Coronet. He saved me there...we didn't recognize one another until he took me back home and my parents recognized him. It was a weird experience but I accepted it. We're now rebuilding our old friendship and we're inseparable again." She said with a small giggle.

"Well that's an interesting story." He then looked at Rick. He then looked at Maiyu in Alara's arms. "So who might you be little one?" Maiyu then climbed onto Alara's shoulders and hid behind her. "Aww don't worry. I would never dare to hurt you, besides this is only a hologram. I just want to get to know you."

Rick then answered for Maiyu, "Her name is Maiyu and she's my little cousin from my dad's side. Her full name is Maiyu Mitsu."

"Hmm...she doesn't have your last name so I'm guessing she's your aunt's daughter."

"That's a good observation. Yes, she's the daughter of my aunt Celenia. I think she's my youngest of all my first cousins."

"Good to hear on my part. I just wish she would talk to me so I can learn a bit more."

Rick then took Maiyu from Alara and carried her, "Go ahead Maiyu. I'm here, you're safe."

Maiyu then swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke, "My name is Maiyu, I'm five years old, and I'm Aeru's cousin."

Mr. Silph then looked at Rick, "Aeru?"

Rick then responded, "Yes, my real name is Aeruthael. My trainer just changed my name when I joined his team. I never took my real name ever again until I went back to the Sanctuary but I still call myself Rick while everyone else, except for my friends, call me Aeruthael."

"Well that makes sense. It's been nice speaking to you all but it looks like your limo has arrived at your destination and I have some business to attend to. Goodbye and it was a pleasure meeting you all."

Everyone then waved goodbye and the holographic meeting ended. Afterwards, the group saw that they had arrived at the hotel and saw more paparazzi. The guards then went outside and cleared a way for the group and escorted them inside. Rick immediately went to the counter and ordered the room that he and Alara were in the last time they visited and quickly went upstairs.

In the room Rick laid down on the bed, Maiyu and Alara sat on the couch, and Arthur placed Alara's bags in the room.

He then told Rick, "Well we're here. Anything else you need me to take care of?"

"No Arthur, You can take the day off and return home if you want."

Arthur then bowed, "Will do sir. Take care, all of you. Also, tell my brother that I am waiting for a call from him."

"Will do! Goodbye old friend."

"Farewell."

He then walked out of the room, leaving the three alone for a while. Rick then activated his Poketch and sent Dawn a text message to go to the hotel and to the room. Rick then turned back into his normal form, followed by Alara and Maiyu.

Maiyu then teleported from the couch and reappeared on Rick's chest. "So cousin Aeru, what are we going to do now?"

"Oh we're going to wait for some friends of mine to arrive and then we'll see what we'll do from there. You can go watch tv if you want."

She then pointed at the piano, "I think I'll go practice."

"You know how to play?"

"I'm learning. Do you know how?"

"Yep."

She then had an excited smile on her face, "Can you play something for me?"

"Alright." He then picked her up and carried her towards the piano and sat her down next to him. He then though, "Well let's see...what to play?...Oh!" Rick cracked his knuckles and began to play. (Play: **Tifa's Theme by Nobuo Uetmatsu**)

After he finished Maiyu gave him an applause and began to practice herself while Rick walked towards Alara, who was watching tv.

"So how do you feel being back here again?"

"It feels...different. Mainly because Maiyu is here and because me and you aren't fighting this time."

"This is very true."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Rick looked through the eye hole and saw Dawn and May. He quickly opened the door for them and they walked in.

Dawn immediately gave Rick a hug and said, "It's good to see you again Rick. I see that you didn't bring Serenity with you..." She then stopped when she saw Maiyu at the piano and Alara at the couch. "I'm guessing she's Alara and...who might the little one be? Your daughter with Alara?"

Rick immediately facepalmed and Alara began to blush while Maiyu began to laugh.

Rick immediately turned his Poketch on and activated the translator app, "No! That's my baby cousin. Her mom wanted me to bring her along with me.

"Oh okay...my bad."

"So I'm guessing this is May?"

May then said, "Yes, I am. It's good to meet you."

"Likewise. You have any idea how many times I've heard that today? It's been a long day for me."

"I know how you feel. I travel everywhere and meet a lot of people and that's always the one thing they say. It's not a bad thing but it's getting pretty stale."

"Oh I like her already. Anyways, make yourselves comfortable. We still need to talk about the contest."

Dawn then said, "Oh yeah!" They then sat down next to Alara and Maiyu teleported to Rick's lap. "What do you guys have planned for that?"

"You tell me. You're the coordinator."

Dawn and May then spoke to each other for a while and then Dawn said, "Well you two know how contests go. First we should get you two groomed and prepared for the appearance contest. Then we need to work on your moves to make them look spectacular. Then it's the battle contest, which I know you have down but you have to make it interesting."

Alara then said, "Oh no problem there. Almost all his attacks are flashy and overkill. He knows how to improvise really well."

Rick then said, "Guilty as charged."

May then said, "Then you two will do great. We have a few days to work on it so let's get ready immediately. The judges will be impressed by the end of this."

Dawn then said, "Speaking of judges, I know all the judges in the competition this week. First is my own mother, Nurse Joy, Fantina the Hearthome Gym Leader, and some woman named Esper Emerald."

Once Rick heard the last name his eyes shot open and he was immediately curious but hid it from the two girls. Alara picked up his emotions and immediately figured out who the woman was. Maiyu then teleported to Rick's shoulder and looked at the two girls intently. May immediately stuck her hand out and pet her head, which made Maiyu scramble in fear. Rick immediately held her and told her that she was safe.

"Don't worry Maiyu, these are my friends. They're kind people, you can trust them."

May then stuck her hand out and Maiyu poked her hand with her finger and quickly drew it back but then poked it again and let May pet her. Rick chuckled and May took Maiyu and carried her while Maiyu analyzed her face.

Dawn then said, "Well she's a shy one."

"Yes, she is but she had no problem meeting me. I think she just doesn't trust humans all too well. Anyways, we should start practicing immediately. So let's head to the Super Contest Hall and rent out a practice room."

"I'll take care of that my dear. Let's just go practice."

"Agreed."

They all soon left to go practice.

Rick was still thinking about the fact that he might be able to see Esper again. He thought to himself, *I wonder how she looks like now. It's been too long. Will she even recognize me?*

[Four Hours Later]

Rick and Alara arrived back at the room exhausted and Maiyu sleeping in Alara's arms. Alara the placed Maiyu in the bed and went to the bathroom to get ready to go to sleep. Rick, on the other hand, was texting Seras and telling her what happened during the day. Soon Alara came out of the bathroom in her nightgown and got in the bed, stoking Maiyu's hair.

She then said, "Well this was quite the day. That was a lot of tiring practice."

"Well that's how you get prepared. A contest is different from a fight. You're trying to dazzle people, not win by brute strength."

"That's true and it looks like Maiyu was more exhausted than we were."

Rick then teleported into the bed and looked down at Maiyu with a smile, "Well she's little. She needs all the rest she can get. Speaking of which, we need to get some sleep. We have to continue this cycle all over again tomorrow. We won't have a break until this weekend."

"True. I guess we're keeping Maiyu there in the center?"

"Yeah, she's not bothering us in anyway. Besides, I guess it'll make her feel better when she wakes up to know that she was well protected in between us."

"You're right. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

They then retired for the night and quickly went to sleep to go back and train the next day.

[The following morning]

The light from the sun began to shine into the room, waking Rick and Alara up slowly. When their eyesight adjusted they were met with a shocking view. They were both embracing each other closely and Maiyu sleeping soundly in the between them. They were wrapped in each other's arms and their faces were only inches from one another. They quickly let go and gave short screams, which woke up Maiyu who also began to scream and involuntarily punched both of them in their face.

Rick held his nose, "Ow! That actually hurt for a little kid."

Alara then held her nose and said, "That's what's bothering you!? How about the fact that we were holding each other closer than spikes on a cactus?"

Maiyu then began to giggle and Rick looked at her with an irritated smile.

"Maiyu, did you have something to do with that?"

Maiyu then giggled again and nodded, "Yes."

"What did you do?"

"I woke up last night to get a glass of water, I then teleported back into the bed and saw you two sleeping. So I used **Confusion** to move you two into the same position my parents get in when I sleep in their bed. I didn't mean to annoy you. I just feel safer when sleeping that way."

Rick then smiled and sighed, "All is forgiven, little one. But next time warn us."

She then gave him a thumbs up and then teleported into the bathroom.

Alara then giggled and told Rick, "Well she sure is dependent on you for safety."

"She dependent on you too."

"This is true. So do you want me to order breakfast for us? Sure...and a newspaper."

"Why?"

"I need to see something."

"Alright."

About fifteen minutes later their room service arrived and Rick gave Maiyu her pancakes and had her sit at the table with him. He then began to eat his breakfast while opening up the newspaper and then chuckled.

Alara then asked him, "What's so funny?"

He then handed her the newspaper and she looked at the article and then pictures. The article had the title "Silph Co.'s Rick: Wife and Child?"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope, apparently now humans are speculating and they don't even know you."

"Well this is going to be interesting for a while. I think I'm going to stay in my pokemon form for now own."

"It's not like we're going to go out much while we're here. Just to the contest hall and back. We leave the morning after the contest."

"Very well. Let's just get ready to head out."

"Right, Dawn and May will be waiting for us at the contest hall at noon."

[Day of the Contest]

Rick and Alara were waiting at in a dressing room for their turn to arrive. They were going to be coordinated by Dawn and Maiyu was in the audience with May. Rick was going over the strategy with Alara and Dawn and then looked at the tv that was in the room. He then caught a sight of Esper, his first in over sixteen years. Alara looked at her as well and then looked at Rick.

She then asked him, "So that's Esper?"

"Yeah. I'm actually really surprised to see her. I didn't to ever see her again and it looks like she doesn't work for Team Rocket anymore."

"How old is she?"

"Well the last time I saw her she was twenty years old. So she's about thirty six now. She looks so different but I can still tell that it's her."

"You're eager to talk to her again, aren't you?"

"Yes."

A message then came on the intercom, "Ms. Dawn, please report to the contest grounds with your pokemon. Your turn is up."

Dawn then said, "Up and at 'em people! We're up!"

Rick then took a deep breath and then looked at Alara. She was wearing a beautiful white and green gown, her hair was well prepared and flowing over her right shoulder. Rick was wearing a green sports jacket, bands on his arms, his bang spiked up over his left eye and the Chaos Scarf. Alara's visual category was beauty while Rick was taking the cool visual category.

Before they entered the arena Rick told Alara, "We have to put you in a pokeball for this."

"What!? Why!?"

"Because pokeballs can be covered in seals that makes your appearance from the ball more spectacular."

"Will I be considered as owned by Dawn?"

"No. The pokeball we're using is one of my own personal balls that is synced with my own pokedex. So you'll be owned by me."

Alara then sweatdropped, "Wait...by you? I don't know if I want to be an owned pokemon."

"I was an owned pokemon for many years and I was okay."

"But your trainer was awesome!"

"But technically, I'm already your trainer...also, you would be my first pokemon that I register in my own pokedex."

"This is unfortunately true...also, I'll be your first pokemon?"

"Yeah. I never bothered to own pokemon but that's okay with me. Anyways, here's your pokeball and Dawn, May, and Maiyu chose the ball for the contest." He then took out a pink ball with a heart on it. "It's called a Love Ball. It's used to catch pokemon of the opposite gender of any of your current pokemon."

Alara then looked at the ball and saw a pink flower petal seal on it. "So this is the seal? I wonder how I'll come out with it."

"You'll see when we get a copy of the recording. Also, it's being televised right now."

[In the Sanctuary]

All of Rick and Alara's friends and family were huddled together in the Chief's Court with a giant tv broadcasting the contest.

Jean then said, "Place your bets boys! $200 on Rick and Alara.

Everyone then placed their own bets and they then turned off the lights and locked their eyes onto the screen.

(Author breaking the 4th Wall: "Hey can I get in on this?")

"Don't you already know the outcome of the contest?"

(Umm...nooooooooooooooooooo)

Alara's parents were watching with wide smiles and looked at each other and back at the screen.

Alara's dad then looked at Celenia and asked her, "You sent your little girl on purpose, didn't you?"

She then giggled and said, "Yep. She needs them to be extremely close so that she can feel safe. So I did you and my brother a favor."

"And we thank you for that. She's unknowingly a tool in this now."

[Back at the Super Contest Hall]

Alara was still looking at the ball and then took a deep breath and tapped the button in the center and was sucked in. Rick then held the ball in his hand as it shook three times and then stopped, a blue light then appeared that signaled that she was caught. Rick then handed the pokeball to Dawn and he then gave her his pokeball and tapped the button in the center and went inside. Dawn then entered the incredibly populated arena.

Once she entered the arena she walked onto a stage and turned to the judges before taking out Alara's pokeball and threw it to a pedestal in the center, where it opened. When the ball opened a vortex of flower petals spun around Alara as she materialized in her gown and stuck a pose. Her appearance won the judges favor and they all gave her four hearts on their rating machines. This made Alara smile wide and giggle to herself. She then stepped down from the pedestal.

Dawn then took out Rick's pokeball and threw it at the pedestal, where it opened. When the pokeball opened black smoke came out and black lines appeared from the smoke as Rick appeared, kneeling and then he threw his hands to his side and the smoke disappeared. He then jumped up to his feet and the smoke and lines cycled him and he threw his hands again, making his jacket take the black coloration, which it then faded back to its original color. The judges began to clap at his performance and gave him four hearts on their machines.

Rick and Alara easily dominated the visual competition and got prepared for the part that they practiced most, the performance competition. It took another thirty minutes but Rick and Alara got prepared for the competition backstage and then entered the arena again. Before Rick and Alara had to give their performance, Rick took a deep breath and then looked at the audience where he spotted Maiyu waving at him. He then smiled and got prepared. He then felt Alara holding onto his arm to try to calm him down.

They then began their performance, which Rick did not like but he wanted to please Dawn and Alara. As planned the lights were turned off Rick began the performance by using the power from his **Ice Punch** to create a giant ball in between his hand. He then threw the ball into the air and fired a **Psycho Cut** at it, shattering it into pieces. He then held the shards in place with **Psychic** as Alara fired a **Signal Beam** at them, spreading the light around it. Rick and Alara then put their hands together and used **Flash** and fired the light at the shards, imitating a star-filled night. Rick then made another giant shard and put it beneath their feet and they took a dance pose and began to dance while they both lifted the flat shard beneath their feet into the air. Rick then sent a few of the shard to imitate shooting stars around them. Light rays of many different colors, thanks to the **Signal Beam**, were also shining down on them as their dance ended. They then landed back onto the ground where Rick brought the shards around them and made them form into the shape of angel wings on their backs and halos on their heads, which then flapped and touched one another before disintegrating, while Rick bowed and Alara curtsied . After the wings disappeared Rick and Alara were seen hugging as the lights returned to the arena.

Rick immediately whispered to Alara, "Never again."

She then giggled and said, "We'll see."

They then received an enormous applause from the audience and then turned to look at the judges, who were giving them a standing ovation.

Dawn's mother was the first to speak, "Beautiful! Simply beautiful! I love the concept of two angels dancing during a star shower. Very creative and very magnificent! You've out done yourself my dear and you two Dawn. I am proud to call you my daughter tonight." She then gave them four stars on her machine.

Nurse Joy then gave her judgement, "I'd like to say the same as Johanna. It was an incredible view to behold. A very good use of your powers collectively. Also it was very cute." She then gave them four stars on her machine and Rick did an arm pump because of their success.

Then Fantina gave her judgement...which turned out to just be her all excited and speaking in French. Rick, Alara, and Dawn just looked at each other. All of them, except for Rick, did not a clue what she was saying but they could tell it was complementing.

Nurse Joy then told Fantina, "Fantina just put your score on the machine, please?"

Fantina then stopped and gave them four hearts on the machine.

Then Esper gave her judgement and Rick smiled at her, "Well I guess we all said the truth about the performance. It was extremely creative and a great couple effort. It was pure eye candy and a marvel of an effort." She then looked at Rick, "You remind me of a Kirlia I used to take care of. Had so much potential and knew how to use it. It makes me happy to see you two work together in such a great way." She then gave them four hearts on her machine, giving them a perfect score.

Rick then gave Esper a wide grin and Alara saw it and gave him a smile. She was happy that he found some joy out of this competition. She then gave the judges a curtsy and Rick bowed at the judges and they then returned to their pokeballs and Dawn left the arena.

Dawn let them out backstage and Rick received a call from Jean and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"You should of went for the kiss right there dude!"

"What the fuck are you talking about!?

"You guys were SO close to each other. You had the shot. If you were looking for the opportune moment...that was it!"

"You guys are watching this?"

"Umm hell to the fuck yes! We all are in the Chief's Court and we all have the same opinion."

"Good Arceus in heaven Jean! Look, I have to go to the fighting round. I'll deal with you later."

He then hung up the call and walked with Alara and Dawn into the arena for the final round. Rick quickly took his jacket off and cracked his knuckles and neck.

The announcer then said, "We are ready to begin the final round of the competition! The two finalist are now prepared to duke it out for the grand prize! In the finals it will be Dawn vs the former gym leader of Viridian City, Giovanni!"

Rick quickly said, "What!?" He then looked across the arena and saw a man with brown hair, a fiendish look on his face, and an orange suit walking onto the battlefield. Rick couldn't believe what he was seeing and was trying to resist the urge to charge at him and beat him to a bloody pulp.

Alara felt Rick's emotions and realized that this was the Giovanni that made Rick's life a living hell. She then held on to him to attempt to calm him down.

[In Sera's House]

Seras was eating popcorn and then dropped it when she saw Giovanni on the screen. "Oh shit!"

[In the Sanctuary]

All of Rick's friends gave a collective, "Oh shit!"

[In Hearthome City]

Rick's eye was twitching and he was still fighting the urge to kill Giovanni there and now. He then took a deep breath and walked forward with Dawn. Rick and Alara then walked onto their end of the battlefield.

Giovanni then told Dawn, "So I'm guessing that you're my opponent? Let's hope you give me a good fight."

Dawn then said, "Likewise!" She then told Rick and Alara, "Have fun and good luck guys. Do your own thing in this fight. You don't need me telling you what to do."

Rick nodded and snorted, with what appeared as steam coming out of his nostrils as he did that.

Alara then told Rick, "Rick, calm down please. We don't want to cause a scene or let him know that it's you."

Rick then sighed and said, "I know. I need to stay hidden from his knowledge. Let's just end this fight quickly so we can get out of here as soon as possible."

Alara nodded and got into position for the fight.

Giovanni then said, "Alright! So these two can fight by themselves? That's interesting. Let's hope they're powerful." He then took out two pokeballs and threw them at the battlefield, where they opened. A Nidoking and a Nidoqueen then appeared. "Couples against couples. Also, they can fight without me either."

Rick cracked his knuckles and neck again and gave a slight growl. He then drew his blades to get ready for the fight. He then said, "You take on the Nidoqueen. The Nidoking is mine!"

Alara nodded again and looked at him with a worried look on her face. She then put her hands together and took a deep breath.

The announcer then said, "Trainers you may begin!"

(Battle Music: **Conquerors by Two Steps From Hell**)

Immediately the Nidoking began to glow yellow and he slammed his fist into the ground, **Earth Power**. Rick and Alara quickly jumped out of the way and fired **Shadow Balls** at the two drill pokemon. The Nidoqueen then used **Protect** to block the **Shadow Balls** from hitting them. Rick then ran towards them and he then kicked fired a **Psycho Cut** at the Nidoking, making him get away from the Nidoqueen.

Rick quickly sent Alara a mental note, _"Make sure you don't touch them. They have Poison Point and it will poison you. Use ranged attacks."_ He then felt Alara sending back a mental nod.

Rick then fired a **Signal Beam** at the Nidoking while Alara fired a **Shadow Ball** at the Nidoqueen. She then dodged a **Megahorn** from the Nidoqueen. She then use **Psychic** to threw the Nidoqueen back to the end of the battleground.

Rick was battling the Nidoking and was exchanging blows, while being careful of the toxic spikes on its body. He then dodged a **Poison Jab** from the Nidoking and grabbed his arm and flipped him on to the floor. Rick then punched the ground and made two rock columns slam into the Nidoking, **Rock Tomb**. The Nidoking then used **Earth Power** to get out of the **Rock Tomb**. The Nidoking then brought a foot up and Rick knew it was going to use **Earthquake**. Rick then brought his own foot into the air and matched the Nidoking's **Earthquake**. Both waves crashed into each other and soon it made Alara and the Nidoqueen stop their struggle. While Alara was distracted by the **Earthquake** the Nidoqueen hit her with a **Bulldose**, which threw her back to her side.

Rick then jumped next to Alara to check up on her and saw that she was alright. Rick then got up and saw the drill pokemon roaring at him. He then got a red aura and flexed his muscles, impressing Alara, he used **Bulk Up**. Rick then drew his blades and charged the two drill pokemon and soon met them in the middle. The fight was on at that point and Rick was mad at them. Rick jumped into the fray and dodged two **Poison Jabs** and then pummeled the two accordingly as they missed each attack. The Nidoking then tried to hit him with a **Megahorn** and Rick dodged it, making him hit the Nidoqueen. Rick then grabbed the horn and pulled the Nidoking's head back and punched it with an **Ice Punch**. The Nidoking then tried to grab him but Rick lifted him up and slammed him into the ground where he hit him with another **Ice Punch**. He then punched the Nidoqueen with an **Ice Punch** and then grabbed her tail and slammed her onto the Nidoking, launching them back onto their side.

Rick then returned to Alara while the two drill pokemon got up. He saw that she was back on her feet and holding her gut. Rick then used a **Healing Pulse** on her and then told her, "Don't look directly on me. I don't want you getting disorientated." She nodded and looked away.

Rick then drew his blades again his forearms then turned purple. He then moved his blades around in a mesmerizing manner and the his blades grew longer, he used **Swords Dance**. Rick then looked at the Nidoking and saw it holding its head, it was obviously disorientated from matching his **Swords Dance**. Rick then got next to Alara and whispered something into her ear. He then took his combat pose and then saw the two drill pokemon glaring at them. They then nodded and their horns then began to glow and spin around, which Rick recognized as a **Horn Drill**.

Rick then told Alara, _"Alara! Stay behind me!"_ He then used **Bulk Up** again while the two drill pokemon lunged at him. He then threw his blades forward and blocked the **Horn Drills**. He was struggling to hold the knockout attacks back and his **Bulk Up** and the strain was making his muscles explode is size.

He then told Alara, _"Alara NOW!"_

Alara's eyes then began to glow with **Psychic** and both the Nidoking and Nidoqueen then went flying. Rick fell to his knees and then fired **Psycho Cuts** at the two drill pokemon. The blades then hit them and launched them towards the floor. When then dust settled, the two drill pokemon were unconscious on the ground.

Rick then rose his head and gave a yell while blood came out of his nostrils. Alara quickly went to him and knelt down to check on him.

"Rick, you didn't have to do that. That was a bad idea and you didn't tell me you were going to do that."

"Stick around...I'm full of bad ideas. When they saw that they were going to use **Horn Drill**, I had to do something to protect you. That attack would of destroyed you, so I decided to do something I should never do, get into a power struggle with a one hit K.O attack." He then coughed up blood.

Alara saw the blood and quickly used a **Healing Pulse** on him and then hugged him when he rose his chest.

"I'm happy you're alright Rick."

He then said with a smile, "Thanks, but I have to protect you. Not myself" and returned the hug. He then struggled onto his feet and then used **Recover** and stood up with Alara supporting him.

The announcer then said, "The Gallade is okay! Nidoking and Nidoqueen are unable to battle. So the winners are Gallade and Gardevoir. Which means that the winner of the contest is Dawn!"

The hall was then filled with applause and cheers. Rick looked at Maiyu and May and saw then celebrating by dancing around. He then chuckled and walked back to Dawn.

Dawn then hugged him and Alara, "You guys did great! I'm glad you're okay Rick."

They then turned around and saw Giovanni returning Nidoking and Nidoqueen and walking towards them. Rick was glaring at him but was able to control himself. Alara then wrapped her arms around Rick's arms and huddled close to him as Giovanni stopped in front of them. Rick stared at Giovanni and Giovanni stared back at him with his creepy smile.

Giovanni then told Dawn, "Congratulations on your victory. That was interesting battle."

Dawn then said, "Thank you! I owe the victory to these two."

Giovanni then looked at Alara and Rick, "Yes. They are very strong, considering how they managed to defeat my pokemon." He then pet Alara's head and Alara looked at him with fear. Rick then quickly smacked his hand off of her. "What's wrong Gallade? You don't like me touching your mate? Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her." He then put his hand on Rick's shoulder and Rick smacked his hand off of him. "Oh you don't like that either?" Giovanni then pet Alara's head slowly to test Rick and Rick quickly punched him.

Dawn then quickly grabbed Rick and apologized for him, "I'm so sorry! He's a little sour from the fight and he doesn't like others touching Gardevoir at all. I'm so sorry!"

Giovanni then got up from the ground and held his bleeding nose, "It's okay. I'm alright. I admit, I crossed the line there. I noticed that he didn't like that and I kept going. It's instinct for males to protect their mates."

Rick then told Alara, _"Damn that felt amazing!"_

_"You've gotta stop doing that."_

_"Sorry, I had to let one loose and...when he touched you...I just lost it."_

Alara didn't respond but smiled at him and then looked back at Giovanni.

Giovanni then asked Dawn, while being cautious of Rick, "Here's a stupid question but...are these pokemon your's?"

Dawn looked at Rick, who nodded, "No, these are my friend's pokemon. He wanted me to use them in this contest."

"Oh! Who's your friend? He has to be a powerful trainer considering these two."

"His name is Mr. Rick. From Silph Co."

Giovanni then stared at her, "Oh so these are his pokemon. No wonder! Is he here in the city?"

Dawn looked at Rick and he nodded again, "Yes, he's actually in a hotel. He'll be leaving tomorrow morning. Anyways, it's been nice talking to you but I have to accept the award and the ribbons. I also have to return these two. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye dear!"

They then began to walk away and Giovanni rose his hand to wave goodbye and Rick turned and growled at him. Alara then grabbed his arm and dragged him along.

Giovanni then said to himself, "That is one angry Gallade."

Dawn, Rick, and Alara then stood on a stage where Dawn accepted two ribbons and a trophy. Rick and Alara then waved as cameras aimed at them.

[In Seras's House]

Seras was breathing a sigh of relief and then began to clap to herself.

[In the Sactuary]

Everyone cheered as they saw Rick and Alara win the contest and gave the bet money to the winners. (Breaking 4th Wall: And I made off with a good 3,000 grand)

Jean's reply, "You cheating asshole!"

(Do you want me to write you out of the story?)

"I'll stop."

(I thought so)

[Back in the Contest Hall]

Dawn was shacking hands with the judges while the crowd began to walk out of the contest hall. Rick then quickly walked over to Esper. Esper then noticed him in front of her and got up from her chair to look at him eye to eye.

"Hello there. Congratulations on your win Gallade."

Rick then spoke to her telepathically, _"Thank you Esper and it's so good to see you again."_

"Oh you can speak telepathically? Also, have we met?"

_"It's been fifteen years. You probably don't remember me or recognize me."_

Esper's eyes then grew wide as she realized who she was speaking to, "Alpha?"

_"It's Rick now but I'm glad you remember me."_

"I thought you were dead. I mean, I left Team Rocket a few months after you were taken away from me, but I heard that you were no longer a part of them."

_"I escaped from them when I was ten. I then went to live with my old trainer. Now I'm here and I don't have the same problems I used to have. I'm not a Project anymore. I found a way to get rid of...most of my powers."_

"That's great to hear! I'm actually working for Silph Co. now."

_"That awesome news...I have to go Esper. It's great talking to you again."_

"Likewise, goodbye Al...Rick."

_"Goodbye Esper. I'll be seeing you again and I promise you that. Also, how's your dad?"_

"Working with me in Silph Co."

_"Great to hear. Goodbye!"_

[An hour later in the hotel room]

Dawn and May had left for the night and Rick and Alara were laying on the bed while Maiyu was acting out everything that happened, Alara was looking at her ribbon and Rick then received a call from Jean and answered it.

"What's up Jean?"

"First of all, congrats bro! Secondly, you really wailed him. I think you knocked his nose out of place."

"Well I don't like him and nor did I like him touching Alara or me. I had what was coming to him. I was surprised that he actually competed in this competition."

"That surprised me to. I guess he wanted to show off but it backfired spectacularly."

"Jean, I'm about to go to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow when I get back to the Sanctuary."

"Alright, sleep tight bro."

Suddenly a knock came at the door and everyone turned into their human forms and Alara hid the ribbons from sight. Rick went to the door and opened it, revealing Giovanni with a bandage over his nose.

"Oh hello Mr. Rick."

"Giovanni? To whom do I own this visit?"

"Your friend Dawn told me that you were in the city and then I heard that you were staying in this hotel. So came here to have a chat with you. Did I come at a bad time?"

"Well I was going to go to bed but I have time to chat. Come right in."

"Why thank you."

Giovanni then walked into the room and Rick was resisting the urge to kill him right there and now. Giovanni then looked around and saw Alara sitting on the couch and Maiyu laying down on the bed. Giovanni then walked up to Alara.

"Why hello there my lady. I wasn't aware Mr. Rick came with his family. I am Giovanni. May I have your name?" Giovanni said while reaching his hand out for her.

Alara then reluctantly took it, "I'm Alara."

"Pleased to meet you Alara." He then kissed her hand and she just looked at him with an uncomfortable expression on her face.

Rick then grabbed Giovanni's shoulder, "Take a seat please. What did you want to talk about?"

Giovanni then sat down on one of the couches, "Well as you are probably aware of your Gallade and Gardevoir defeated my pokemon today. I came here to congratulate you on your amazing training and the fact that your pokemon were very powerful."

"Thank you."

"Also, where are those two?"

"They are on their way back to Kanto. They should be arriving any minute now."

"Oh so you don't keep your pokemon with you?"

"I don't see the reason to keep them with me at the moment since I'm going back there tomorrow morning."

"So you are leaving?"

"Yes...Giovanni is this the only reason why you wanted to talk? You think I don't know what you're up to?"

"And what might that be."

Rick then glared at him, "You should tell your men outside the door to back down. My pokemon aren't here. They can't take them. I'd be more worried about staying safe. Just because you lost Project Alpha doesn't mean that you should try to create another."

Giovanni then shot himself up off the seat, "How do you know about him!?"

"Idiot! Who do you think that Gallade was? I say he had every reason to give you that punch."

"That Gallade was Project Alpha!? You must return him to me at once!"

Rick then shot himself off his seat and glared at Giovanni dead in the eye, "He never belonged to you! He belongs to me now! Besides, he's my friends and you were his oppressor."

"I had him created! He belongs to me!"

"Wrong again! He was born of Gallade and Gardevoir. You killed his parents and turned him into a monster. After his trainer died I took him in as my own and he has been faithful to me since. Now look at the time, it's time for you to leave!"

"I will not!"

Rick then sighed, "MEN!"

Suddenly a struggle was heard outside and two of Rick's body guards appeared into the room. Outside in the hallway were two unconscious Rocket grunts. The guards then pointed two guns at Giovanni.

Rick then smiled and told Giovanni, "You better leave. These men do not play around and do whatever I tell them to."

Giovanni then glared at Rick and walked out of the room.

Rick then gave an order to the his guards, "Stay outside the door for tonight. I don't want anything else to happen today. I want this hotel to be fully protected, inside and out."

Both men then saluted him and sent a message to the other team of guards that were hidden outside. Rick then quickly closed the door and got into bed.

Alara then told him, "Did you really have to tell him that?"

"I did it to throw him off. He thinks I'm in Kanto, so he will send the Rockets there to check it out. It will get him off my tail for a little while longer."

They then heard X's voice in the room, "Brilliant plan. Buy yourself some breathing room and send the enemy far away. Great plan, if I don't say so myself."

His voice then disappeared and Alara then nodded in approval, "Fine. At least they're off your tail for a while."

"Yeah. Come on! Come to bed."

Maiyu then said, "Yep. We're waiting!"

Alara then giggled and teleported into the bed. They all then got in their usual position for Maiyu and drifted off into a much needed sleep.

**Wow longest chapter to date! Well thanks for caring about me guys and thank you for reading. The story is really going to pick up after this point so be prepared for the next chapter. Thank you all for all your support. Goodbye!**


	28. Chapter 28: Limit of Feelings

**Hey guys, I'm finally back on track and was able to write this one right on time to post it today. I don't have a lot to say this time so just tell me what you guys think. Review, give me suggestions, questions, and requests. Bye guys. Viewing rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Australia, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Philippines, 5th) Mexico. **

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Alara was slowly waking up in the morning after feeling someone tapping her forearm. She opened her eyes and looked at Maiyu, who had a wide smile on her face and pointed at Rick's neck. When she looked she saw that she was kissing Rick's neck and there was a mark left behind. Alara quickly tried to get rid of the mark and she noticed that it was more of a bruise than a kiss mark.

Maiyu then said, "You've been kissing his neck for an hour now. I'm amazed that he's quite the heavy sleeper."

Alara was shocked at what Maiyu was saying. She then used **Healing Pulse** to heal the bruise and then sighed a sigh of relief when it disappeared.

"You like Aeru, don't you Ally?"

"What makes you think that I do little one?"

"Because you talk in your sleep. I woke up an hour and a half ago because I heard you talk in your sleep. You let go of a lot of secrets in your sleep."

X then appeared on the couch across from the bed, "She's telling the truth. You tend to talk in your sleep and you release a lot of intimate information."

Maiyu looked towards the couch and waved at X, "Hi Mr. X!"

Alara then asked, "Maiyu, you can hear him and see him?"

"Yeah, I saw him this morning on the couch. We then started talking."

"You're usually shy around new people."

"I don't know why but there's something about him that tells me that I can trust him and he turned out to be really nice."

"Well that's interesting but how can you see him?"

"I don't know."

X then said, "I can appear before anyone I wish. Anyways, you said a lot of weird stuff last night and I had the displeasure of listening to all of it."

Alara just blushed and stared at X as one of his eyes began to glow through the darkness of the cloak and Alara could tell that he was smiling...or silently laughing.

Maiyu then said, "X told me that you've been kissing his neck for a few hours, on and off. He's lucky he turned his head in time at night. Then it would of been really hard to explain."

Alara blushed a brighter shade of red and X began to laugh out loud. X then got up from the couch and walked over to the bed.

"You better get up and get ready. Maiyu don't bother them with this for today and don't speak of it...for now."

Maiyu then gave him a thumbs up and X then vanished. All that was left was an awkward silence between Alara and Maiyu.

Maiyu then said with a laugh, "You like Aeru!"

"Shut up Maiyu!"

"Okay, but you'll have to explain to Aeru what just happened when X tells him."

"What!?"

She then put her hand on her mouth to stop herself from yelling. She then looked at Rick and caught her breath when he began to wake up.

Rick then looked at Alara and Maiyu and said, "What's with the yelling and laughing? I was actually having a nice sleep...wait...why is my neck so numb?"

Alara then yelled, "I HAVE NO IDEA!"

Rick looked at her with a confused look, "Umm okay...Maiyu what happened?"

Maiyu then responded, "Well Alara..." Alara closed her mouth with Psychic and made her float into the bathroom and closed the door.

Alara then said, "Take a bath Maiyu!"

Rick then said, "What was that for?"

"She just needs to get ready for today."

"But you cut her off and virtually threw her in the bathroom."

"Shut up and get up!"

"Well you woke up in quite the mood today."

She then sighed and calmed down, "I just had...quite the night."

"Well you look well rested."

"Oh trust me it wasn't because of insomnia."

"Nightmare?"

"No, I had an...interesting dream."

"Okay? I'm just going to let it go. But seriously, why is my neck numb?"

"...I have no idea."

Rick then rolled his eyes and got up to order breakfast for all of them. Alara just laid back down on the bed and thought about what she just did and what she did last night. She was trying to recall the dream she had last night and then it returned to her memory.

[Alara's Dream]

Alara was at the beach with Rick and no one else seemed to be around them or with them. Alara was holding onto his arm and then suddenly he took off running. Alara quickly took off after him and after a few moments of running she remembered that she was much slower than he was.

"Rick...wait...I can't run...as fast as you can." She said while panting.

Rick then stopped and chuckled before looking back. "Sorry, I just wanted some fun."

"It's okay. Should of given me a heads up though." She then sat down on the beach. "I always loved coming here. Ever since I was a baby my parents would always bring me here. It's always been a yearly tradition to come here and take a day off. I wonder if I'll come with them here again this year."

"Maybe but that's between you and them." He then sat down next to her. "I rarely go to beaches but I always found them to be calming."

Alara then smiled, "Well I hope you enjoy it. Odd for someone who constantly travels."

"Well everything I do is odd. I expected you to realize this by now."

"Oh nothing surprises me anymore." Alara then looked at Rick's hands. "How are your hands since the fight with Giovanni's pokemon? You grabbed their **Horn Drills** with your bare hands...to protect me."

Rick then showed her his palms and Alara saw huge bruises on his palms. They were healing but they still looked very painful.

"Do they hurt?"

"A little. It stings a little when I hold things but it's nothing serious. I can still function and fight. My arms are still sore from the fight though, but once again it doesn't hinder me. It's been two days since the contest so still being sore doesn't surprise me."

Alara then grabbed his right hand and looked at the bruise, "I put you through so much pain in the short few months we've been together."

"I'm used to pain, besides I protect you because I want to."

"Thanks but you're becoming a shield for me. I don't like seeing you like that."

"Oh well. It's my job and you're my best friend."

Alara then giggled, "What about Seras and Jean?"

"They're my best brother and sister. They're best friends in the sense that we're extremely close. You're someone who isn't related to me or sworn into a pact sibling-hood. So you technically count as my best friend."

"That's actually sorta sweet."

"And I wasn't trying."

They both then laughed and Rick looked at his Poketch, "It's late already. Sunset or, more specifically, 6:30."

"Already?"

"Yeah." Rick then looked at the horizon. "Look."

Alara then looked and saw the sun disappearing into the horizon. "Wow. Everytime I see that...it makes me happy. It's always so beautiful."

Rick then said, "But we're facing south. How is sun setting here?"

"It's not. The Sanctuary's invisible psychic barrier actually reflects the sun's rays. Making it look like it's here."

"I still have a lot to learn."

Alara then smiled at him, "Well you'll be with me for that time. I'll teach you everything I know."

Rick then chuckled, "I'll like that. I get to enjoy my time with you and learn. Not like I don't learn something about you everyday."

"And I learned a lot about you. We're back in each other's lives and it's been great."

Rick then chuckled louder, "You can say that again." He then turned his head back towards the horizon and Alara looked at him and bit her lower lip.

She then got his attention, "Rick?"

Rick then turned his head, "Yeah...?" He was then cut off by Alara pressing her lips onto his in a passionate kiss. Rick didn't fight the kiss. Instead, he returned the kiss and held her in place.

Alara then involuntarily pushed him on his back and kept kissing him, only stopping to breathe every so often. The moment was then interrupted by someone tapping her arm and forcing her out of her sleep.

[In reality]

Alara was laying down on the bed with her eyes wide open after realizing what she was dreaming about. She was a little shaken and very embarrassed since X and Maiyu were watching all of it unfold in reality. Alara then looked around the room and saw Rick in the porch playing his violin.

She then placed her hands over her eyes, "Oh Arceus! I can't believe this! Mom and dad are winning...I'm in love with Rick!"

Maiyu then popped her head over the bed, "I knew it!"

Alara then pulled her close with Psychic and then put her hand to her mouth, "Listen here Maiyu, you better not tell him. Also, what's the deal with eavesdropping on me?" She then let go of Maiyu.

"I was just coloring on the floor and then I heard you talk. So I wasn't eavesdropping on you, I was just in the room when you said that. Also, why don't you want Aeru to know? You two would be an awesome couple."

"You'll learn when you're an adult. Until then, don't say anything about what you just heard."

"Okay I won't I promise...Pinkie Promise."

"Okay I trust you but you better not let your tongue loose. Go to your cousin. I have to make a call real quick and then I'll join both of you on the porch."

Maiyu then gave her a thumbs up and ran into the porch where she sat down in the chair next to Rick. Alara then grabbed her Poketch from her bag and dialed Amber's number.

Amber then picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi sis!"

"Hi Ally! How are you?"

"Conflicted."

"How?...Oh Arceus what did you and Rick do?"

"We didn't do anything."

"So why are you feeling conflicted?...Oh Arceus it happened, didn't it?"

"What?"

"You fell in love with him."

Alara's voice then grew serious, "Are the other girls with you right now?"

"No, I just woke up. I haven't even gotten off my bed yet."

"Good!" Alara then sighed, "Yeah. I realized that I fell in love with him."

"How did you find out? Butterflies in stomach, loose feeling, urge to suck face?"

"I woke up this morning and I realized that I gave him a hickey as we slept."

"That...is...gold! Wait until mom and dad here this one."

Alara's voice then grew harsh, "If you even mention this to anyone I will go to Eterna Forest, find your real parents, make your mom rebirth you, and rename you 'My Bitch'. Don't fuck with me!"

"Okay! Okay! I'll shut up. Wow you woke up in the mood."

"Sorry, I just didn't expect this."

"Listen just tell him. What's the worse that can happen?"

"I really don't want to know. I'm glad I can mask my emotions from him...to a point."

"So you're just going to hide it from a being that has been trained like a detective, super soldier, and super weapon?"

"I never said I was going to keep it in forever. I just need some time to get it together and make a decision."

"I hope you two do get together. I've never seen you so close to a male before. Also, you guys have been friends since you guys were babies. If anything you two have all the credentials for a relationship."

"I guess you're right but..." She then stopped talking when she heard the porch door open. "I gotta go sis. Talk to you later. Bye!" She then hung up the call.

Rick then entered the room with Maiyu sitting on his shoulder, attempting to play his violin. Maiyu then gave up and gave it back to him.

Rick then looked at Alara, "Are you going to stay in bed all day? We have to meet up with Dawn and May before we leave."

Alara then nodded and teleported into the bathroom and then shut the door.

Maiyu then said, "Well looks like she's getting ready for you."

"Excuse me Maiyu?"

"Oh nothing. Let's go eat breakfast already. I'm hungry!"

"Alright. Go eat!"

Maiyu then teleported to her sear while Rick took out her food and placed it in front of her so she could start eating. He then sat down and ate his breakfast, waiting for Alara to finish freshening up. It took about twenty minutes but Alara finally came out of the bathroom and ate her breakfast.

Rick then asked, "So what's on your mind?"

Alara then said, "Huh?"

"I can sense that something is bothering you. Want to talk about it?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking."

"Really? I'm starting to get worried."

She then gave a slight smile, "I'm alright Rick. Thanks for looking out for me, but I'm okay."

"If you say so." Rick sent her a small smile which she returned the smile. Maiyu was just looking at them with a wide smile and closed one eye before drinking her juice and giggling.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Rick went to check on who was there. He then smiled when he saw Dawn and May at the door and quickly opened it and they soon entered and greeted one another.

Dawn then said, "It sucks that you guys have to go already. I wish we could of had more time to hang out."

Alara then said, "I know! I was really enjoying your company in the last few days. Maybe I can get you two clearance to visit the Sanctuary."

May then said, "Oh please do! It sounds like an awesome place. A city made up of only pokemon, mainly from the Ralts line."

"I'll talk to my parents to give you guys passage immediately when I arrive. My dad will surely give it. He's an awesome guy."

"I really want to meet him."

Rick then said, "Oh he's really friendly. I tries to make you part of the family...and I can't stress that enough."

Alara then looked at him and laughed silently, "Well that's true in a way."

May then said, "What is?"

"My parents have been trying to get me and Rick together."

"Wait, you guys aren't mates?" Dawn then waved her hands to stop May from asking the question.

"No." Alara said plainly.

Dawn then said, "Wait...you guys didn't her mad or irritated."

Rick then said, "We kinda got used to it after being asked that about a few hundred times. We just say 'no' now and leave it at that."

"Oh okay." She then turned to May. "Now then. We just came to say goodbye."

"It's really nice of you guys to do that. Where are you guys headed from here?"

"Well we're headed back to Twinleaf Town and then May is going back to the Hoenn Region for a while."

"Oh really?" He then looked at May. "So you're from the Hoenn Region?" May nodded. "I was actually raised and grew up there. Twenty-one years and then came here."

May then said, "That's awesome...what city?"

"Fortree City."

"I'm from Littleroot Town."

Rick then chuckled, "Well we learn something new everyday. Anyways, there is a sports car on the outskirts of town waiting to take you both to Twinleaf Town as we speak."

Dawn then said, "How?"

"Did you see the guards outside the room?"

"What guards?"

"Exactly." Rick then yelled. "Good job guys!"

He then received a reply from the hallway, "Thank you sir!"

Dawn and the rest of the girls then looked outside the doors and could not find out where the guards were or where their voices came from. They then looked at Rick who shrugged his shoulders in response.

Dawn then said, "So I guess we have a free ride back home. Thanks Rick!"

"You're very welcome. Anyways, we have to go. Our flight leaves in fifteen minutes, so we have to get going."

"Alright. Bye guys!"

"Bye Dawn! Bye May!"

They all then gave their farewells and parted ways to get back to their homes. Rick had ordered a limo for May and Dawn and they got into their own limo and left the hotel and got back into the jet.

Not too long after Rick, Alara, and Maiyu arrived at the Sanctuary where they were immediately sent to the Chief's Court by the guards. Rick and Alara were already not surprised that they were sent for the moment they arrived and teleported to the Chief's Court.

In the Chief's Court, Alara's parents were speaking to Rick's team and were soon cut off by Rick, Alara, and Maiyu appearing in the middle of the room. Rick was surprised to see all of his friends in the room but ignored it and waited for Alara's parents to speak.

Alara's mom then said, "Good to see you both. Your performance was amazing last night, we all saw it."

Alara then said, "We're very aware of that. Thank you Jean!"

Jean then said, "No problem little lady!"

Alara's mom then said, "Anyways, we had a reason for calling all of you here and the reason is that you are all getting a day off tomorrow."

Rick then said, "Another?"

"Hear me out. We're ALL getting a day off tomorrow. We're having a day out at the beach."

Once Alara said that her heart stopped for a quick second and she then returned to reality. Rick however seemed to tell that something was wrong with her.

Rick then asked her, "Are you okay?"

She then responded, "Yes...I'm...fine."

"You don't sound..."

Alara then interrupted him, "I'm fine Rick! I just have a lot on my mind."

Everyone was still in an awkward silence after that and then Alara's dad broke the silence, "Anyways, we want to take a beach day. So everyone should go home and prepare for it...also, Seras is back."

Everyone then gave a collective 'huh?'. They all then heard someone walking down the flight of stairs and saw Seras, in her pokemon form, walking down.

Once she reached the bottom she said, "Missed me?"

Dartz then turned into his pokemon form and pounced on his sister, "Only a whole lot! Do you know how annoying it was to deal with Jean virtually by myself?"

Jean then said, "I resent that statement."

"Who the hell cares!? The other guys are always busy with...something. Rick and Alara are always with each other doing Arceus-know-what, the girls are always in different dens, and I'm stuck with you!"

Seras then laughed and walked up to Rick and Alara, "So you two have been spending almost all your time together?"

Rick then said, "Yeah, Alara wanted to compete in a contest and convinced me to make it happen."

"I know, I saw the contest back home. You guys did amazing. Did you keep the ribbons?" Alara then took out a case that May gave her and showed Seras her ribbon and Rick pulled his case out. "That's awesome. Only four more and you two can enter in the Grand Festival."

Rick then said, "Let's not give Alara any ideas. That last contest was way too close for my liking."

"Oh yeah. I freaked out when I saw Giovanni. You're lucky that he didn't recognize you or there was going to be a blood bath."

"I know...but I still got a hit on him."

"Was that just out of spite or rage?"

"Both. I wanted to hurt him for all the crap he did to me, but I couldn't kill him with people around me. He then began to touch me and Alara and when he started to pet Alara I let one loose and busted his nose."

Seras then sighed and then giggled, "Well I'm glad you had fun. So who's up for a beach day!?" Everyone then gave a collective "aye!". "Good so let's get to buying our swimsuits already. We're going to be there all day tomorrow."

Jean then said, "Lucian, get the footballs."

Lucian replied, "You know it!"

Gloria then said, "Can you guys ever go to a beach and not play beach football?"

Jean then said, "Hey you girls don't do anything at the beach besides work on your tans. We like to play a nice, competitive, violent game of beach football." Jean then leaned down to say to Serenity and Winston, "Or as you Brits call it 'hand-egg'."

Serenity then said, "Oh shut up!"

Everyone then laughed and then departed for their homes to prepare for the day of fun the following day. All the guys made a check list of things that they will need for the beach day: Grill, football, hamburger meat, bread, paper plates and cups, a lot of soda, hot dogs, taco shells, taco ingredients, a lot of first aid kits, and two drink coolers with ice. All the guys split the list and went shopping for the day while the girls focused on their swimsuits.

In the afternoon, Alara was in her house after arriving from buying her swimsuit. She quickly went upstairs, sat down in front of her mirror, and began to brush her hair. She then sighed and sank her face into her hands.

"Why the hell do I feel like this? X, Rick's parents, or Arceus, if you can hear me tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do."

She then rose here head and looked into her mirror. Her eyes then shot open when she saw a humanoid figure standing in the middle of her room. She quickly turned around and teleported her sword into her hands. She then stood up and looked at the being. The being looked almost human, with long white and gold hair, it was wearing a white cloak with a golden brim. Alara could not see its feet or its face as its face was covered by a golden veil. What alarmed Alara more was the fact that it had a blade in a sheath on his side.

Alara then asked the being, "Who hell are you!? Are you here to harm me? Are you part of Team Rocket?"

The being then spoke, his voice was gentle and powerful, "Be in peace Alara. I am an ally. You asked me for help so I came."

Alara then got out of her stance and stared at the being, "Who are you?"

"It would of been a danger to come to you in my true form. I am your master and Aeruthael's master. I am the first of all. I am Arceus."

Alara quickly dropped her sword, "Is this true?"

"Yes child. I came here in this form but this is just my image. I never leave the Hall of Origin but I can manifest myself this way. Besides, no Team Rocket member can pass your psychic barrier in this place. I'm here because you called for me."

"I wasn't really expecting anything to happen."

"Well I'm here now. I always listen."

"Why did you even bother coming to see me?"

"Because you are my child. I must listen to you. Also, because you have a part in this war. You are supposed to help Aeruthael along in his task. From beginning to end and really soon. That war will begin and you will have a part to do with that."

"I don't understand. Am I going to do something to cause the war?"

"Not necessarily but it will be because of you."

"I'm so confused but I'm not going to ask. I'd rather wait for it to happen."

"True, this is not the reason for me to being here. So you're having trouble with your emotions?"

Alara then sighed, "Yes. I'm trying to not distract myself because I feel like I'm in love with Rick."

"How is that a bad thing? To me it makes sense that you have these feelings. He's the closest to you and you admire him incredibly. I see it as natural that you wish to mate with him."

"Alright, I never said that now."

"You're forgetting who you're talking to. I can tell anything that's going on with you."

"Listen, can we just get back to my emotion part of the conversation?"

"As you wish." He then sat down on a chair in Alara's room. "Emotions were created so that my creations can have their own personalities and live accordingly. I know that they probably conflicting at time but it made my creations into individuals. No two individuals are completely the same and...to be honest, it is very entertaining. You're emotions are understandable, you love him and want to be with him. That is what I see and I wanted you to accept."

"Wait, you knew this will happen?...oh wait, stupid question."

"There's is no such thing as a stupid question. I actually saw your dream last night. Needless to say, you're confused how the setting is turning to be the same setting your going to be in. Follow your dream like a script and keep going. Regret nothing that you do. It will all happen for a reason tomorrow. I wish it could happen sooner but things have to take their own time. So I sent a preemptive prior."

"Wait, that's actually going to happen?"

"Yes. If you didn't call for me you would of done it regardless. Don't be afraid of Aeruthael. He is not afraid of you so show him in kind."

"So there's no way around it?"

"If you want it to happen. If want something different then I will understand. It's a lot to take in and I haven't been the largest of help."

Alara's voice then had a hint of sadness and pity, "You know. You couldn't changed his life if you wanted to. Probably stopped all that sorrow and pain. Maybe he could of been happy."

Arceus then gave a long sigh, "I know. I hate thinking about that but it needed to happen. I wish I could take it all back and change his life for the better but then this plan would of not worked. He was chosen because he had the capacity to take the pain and to respond to it correctly. I did not choose him out of the blue, I had to see if he could take it. He was so young though and everything so horrible. I've never seen such a young person take so much pain and carry it with him."

"He carried his pain?"

"He never let go of it. He continued to carry it behind him and put on a brave face. The truth is that he is always in pain. Being a Project means that you will always be in pain but you learn to live with it. Rick's pain was the worst. He was the only orphan among the Project and he went through more pain than the others. The experimentation was horrible, it killed him a few times but I would not allow him to die. I always feel like I should of stopped it earlier but my plan would not allow me. I made him the scapegoat and then turned him into the devil, in Team Rocket's case. They even codenamed him 'the Devil' because of how he turned out."

"So he had to go through it and he's still in pain? I can't imaging it."

"Oh but see he is not in pain anymore. He gave up his powers, giving his body room to recover. He formed a new family to cope with his real family's death, and he eventually made it back home. I made him suffer, so I gave him comfort. I'm not asking for you and Aeru to forgive me, I just hope both of you can understand."

"Was I a part of that healing process? Did I help?"

"Yes, in your own way. I took his best friend away and then I returned her to him. It was hilarious to be honest but it had a greater purpose. You make him happy and that's what I wanted. I also returned his parents to him, though they are dead but he can see them and have a relationship with them."

"What about his sister? After her death he never saw her. I feel like he's confused on how he can see his parents but his sister is nowhere in sight."

Arceus sank his head at the comment, "She cannot face him...yet."

"Doesn't she love him. I mean she loved him so much."

"She still loves him but there were circumstances that made her not want to face him. She's a little ashamed but she's also sad. She will not allow me to bring her to him. It's sad, even for me, but she made up her mind."

A tear then came to Alara's eye, "That's...really sad. The person Rick loved most in his life and she doesn't want him to see her."

"It's not out of spite. It's out of shame. It makes me feel bad that I had to take everything away from him but I'm a being of mercy. I will make everything right but he has to give me some time and I can't do it alone. Which is why I also chose you to help me out...scratch the 'me' I just said. Replace it with Aeru."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Keep doing what you're doing. You're changing his life, little by little. But as it was once said, 'The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.' Aeru's journey began but he didn't take a step, he crawled on his stomach for some of the distance. His friends helped him crawl on his hands and knees. You...helped him get up and walk the rest of the distance. When you actually take the time to think about it, maybe a thousand miles isn't too much of a challenge. Once you start walking you might stretch your journey from a thousand miles to ten thousand, maybe a hundred thousand, or maybe a million. It does not matter as long as you get from point A to point B. But I decided that will not travel alone, he has others and you."

"Anywhere he goes I will follow. If that is what I'm supposed to do."

"No, you will not follow him. You will lead the way with him."

A knock was then heard at Alara's door, it was Amber who then said, "Alara! I'm home. What are you doing?"

Arceus then said, "Go ahead, open it."

Alara then got up from her seat and opened the door and saw Amber in the hallway carrying the swimsuit that she was going to wear the following day.

"So what are you doing sis?"

Alara then answered, "Just fixing up my hair. What are you going to do?"

"Oh just make myself some dinner and then head straight to my room and watch tv."

Alara then gave her a giggle, "Alright. Go enjoy yourself."

"You got it! Bye sis!"

Alara then closed the door and looked at Arceus, "She didn't see you."

"Like X, only those that I allow to see me will I appear to. She cannot see me or hear me. Nor can she hear you when you're talking to me."

"I guess that makes sense." Alara then looked at her window and saw X standing in front of it.

X then walked up to them and said, "Enough questions. You know what to do. Make it...entertaining." He said as he disappeared with a laugh.

Arceus then said with a chuckle, "Oh X, always looking for entertainment but always knowing when to be serious. He's an interesting individual. As long as he is around Rick will continue to advance in strength. Believe it or not Rick is learning more about his power the longer X is with him. I will soon wield that sword like X wields it. Anyways, I have no more to tell you. Do what you want now Alara. The decision is your's and your's alone. Goodbye!"

Alara then bowed her head, "Goodbye my lord!"

Arceus then faded from view and Alara was left alone in her room. She then laid down on her bed to think about everything she had heard and what she knew might happen the following day.

[The Following Day]

The entire team arrived at the beach south of the Sanctuary and the boys wasted no time to drop everything on the beach and take off with the football. Rick walked up to the beach with Alara holding onto his arm and she then let him go so he could tackle Lucian to the ground and take the ball. Alara then cringed when she saw Wayland tackle Rick.

Alara then walked up to Amari, who was cooking on the grill. She then looked around and saw everyone in their human forms so she decided to turn human as well.

Alara then looked at the guys playing football and saw them destroying one another. She then asked Amari, "Good Arceus! They're supposed to be tackling one another not obliterating each other."

Amari then giggled and said, "Why do you think we have so many first aid kits? This happens all the time."

Amari then saw Jean running with the ball and handed Alara the spatula, "Hold this for me for a quick second." Alara grabbed the spatula and Amari went running towards Jean and drop kicked him, taking the ball, dodging a tackle from Sage, and throwing it at Allen. She then went back to the grill, "Sorry about that and thank you. Yeah, I love the game. I'm the toughest girl here."

Gloria then landed near her and said, "Go play if you want. I'll take care of the food."

"Thanks Gloria!"

Amari then ran back to the game and clothelined Shadow for the ball and began to run with it. She was then cut off by Bolt. She then threw the ball at his crotch and kicked him when he fell on his knees and took off running again. She then jumped on Wayland's head made him carry her to the goal but Rick managed to take the ball from her by hitting her with a **Psycho Cut**. Jean then took it back hitting him with a **Blaze Kick** in the gut and suplexing him.

Alara just looked at the game and asked Seras, "So what's the point to beating the shit out of each other?"

Seras then responded, "You do realize that they almost always forget to keep score? The game hasn't even started. So I don't understand what they're doing."

It took another thirty minutes for the food to be ready and that alone stopped the guys and Amari from killing one another. Everyone then went back to the grill and grabbed food to eat and sat down on the beach to eat. Maiyu sat on Rick's shoulder and ate while Rick and Alara ate next to each other.

Alara's dad then said, "So it looks like food stops you guys from killing each other."

Sage then said, "Oh we can take anything we can dish on each other. Also, damn it Amari you took Shadow's jaw out."

Shadow then said, "It took me a while to push it back in place. At least I'm not Bolt. I'm surprised he kept his balls."

Bolt almost said 'bitch' but stopped once he saw Maiyu on Rick's shoulder. "You're a mean person."

Everyone then began to laugh and finished their meals. They then put the trash in a pile and Jean torched it with a pile of branches and dead wood, creating a bonfire. Every then began to have fun around the bonfire. They began to play music, tell stories, play in the water, and joke around, just enjoying each other's company.

It was beginning to become sunset and the girls changed from their swimsuits back to their regular clothes, or went back to their pokemon forms. The boys just transformed back into their pokemon forms.

Alara soon came back from changing and saw Rick on the beach playing with Maiyu. The sight of both of them and Rick being so fatherly to Maiyu made Alara smile wide. Alara then swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath before walking over to them. Once she got there Maiyu waved to her and Rick chuckled.

"Hey Alara. Want to play with Maiyu too?"

"Maybe later. Want to go for a walk Rick?"

"To where?"

"Just a walk on the beach. Nothing extravagant."

Rick then put Maiyu down and told her, "Okay Maiyu. Go play with Seras. I'll be back soon."

Maiyu then said, "Okay cousin Aeru. Don't take too long though. I want to play more."

"I'll be back little tike. Now go."

Maiyu then skipped towards Seras and Alara took Rick's arm and began to walk with him along the beach, away from the others. Alara was waiting for all the events in her dream to come true and she fought the urge to just kiss him and get it over it but she wanted to stay true to the timeline. She just waited for him to start running off ahead of her.

Rick noticed Alara's uneasiness, "Alara, seriously you've been acting weird for the past few days. Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine Rick. Just thinking."

"About?"

"You probably don't want to know. I want to keep it to myself."

"That's not very healthy. Come on, you can tell me anything."

"I know I can but it's too personal. It's nothing bad though. I'm just thinking about it."

Rick then gave a concerned grunt but decided to drop the subject. "Say Alara, how do you think your training is going?"

"It's going great! I feel stronger, that's for sure. I have a lot more stamina then usual."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Rick then gave a small laugh and took off running. Alara then chased after him and she suddenly realized what was happening and then smiled and remembered what she had to say.

"Rick...wait...I can't run...as fast as you can." She said while panting.

Rick then stopped and chuckled before looking back. "Sorry, I just wanted some fun."

Alara then gave a chuckled. This was actually happening "It's okay. Should of given me a heads up though." She remembered to sit down on the beach. "I always loved coming here. Ever since I was a baby my parents would always bring me here. It's always been a yearly tradition to come here and take a day off. I wonder if I'll come with them here again this year." She said with a hopeful look on her face.

"Maybe but that's between you and them." Rick then sat down next to her, like in her dream. "I rarely go to beaches but I always found them to be calming."

Alara then smiled, "Well I hope you enjoy it. Odd for someone who constantly travels."

"Well everything I do is odd. I expected you to realize this by now."

"Oh nothing surprises me anymore." Alara then remembered to ask about his hand wounds. "How are your hands since the fight with Giovanni's pokemon? You grabbed their **Horn Drills** with your bare hands...to protect me."

Rick then showed her his palms.

"Do they hurt?" She said, pretending to be concerned.

"A little. It stings a little when I hold things but it's nothing serious. I can still function and fight. My arms are still sore from the fight though, but once again it doesn't hinder me. It's been two days since the contest so still being sore doesn't surprise me."

Alara then grabbed his right hand and almost cried while she spoke, "I put you through so much pain in the short few months we've been together."

"I'm used to pain, besides I protect you because I want to."

"Thanks but you're becoming a shield for me. I don't like seeing you like that."

"Oh well. It's my job and you're my best friend."

Alara held back her feelings a bit longer and kept the conversation going, "What about Seras and Jean?"

"They're my best brother and sister. They're best friends in the sense that we're extremely close. You're someone who isn't related to me or sworn into a pact sibling-hood. So you technically count as my best friend."

"That's actually sorta sweet."

"And I wasn't trying."

They both then laughed and Rick looked at his Poketch, "It's late already. Sunset or, more specifically, 6:30."

"Already?"

"Yeah." Rick then looked at the horizon. "Look."

Alara then looked at the sunset and then back at Rick, almost forgetting what to say until it dawned on her again. "Wow. Everytime I see that...it makes me happy. It's always so beautiful."

Rick then said, "But we're facing south. How is sun setting here?"

"It's not. The Sanctuary's invisible psychic barrier actually reflects the sun's rays. Making it look like it's here."

"I still have a lot to learn."

Alara then smiled wider, "Well you'll be with me for that time. I'll teach you everything I know."

Rick then chuckled, "I'll like that. I get to enjoy my time with you and learn. Not like I don't learn something about you everyday."

"And I learned a lot about you. We're back in each other's lives and it's been great."

Rick then chuckled louder, "You can say that again." He then turned his head back towards the horizon and Alara looked at him and bit her lower lip.

She then got his attention, "Rick?"

A voice then came from a nearby hill, "Aww how romantic!"

They both then looked back and saw a unwanted and unexpected sight. Epsilon was standing on the hill looking at them and laughing.

Rick then jumped on his feet and drew his blades, "Epsilon! What the hell are you doing here!? How did you find me!?"

"Simple tracking skills. I don't know where you've been staying but I was still able to find you. Anyways, looks like you two were having a moment. How bad of me to have interrupted!" She said sarcastically and then broke down into a laugh again.

Alara quickly turned her head and let tear loose and then quickly whipped it before turning back to look at Epsilon. She then teleported her sword to her hands and took her position.

Rick then said, "You have two seconds to get out of here! I don't want to fight today, I was actually enjoying this day."

"Oh really? Well Alpha I can tell you were enjoying your time. Any longer and you two would of been making out in a heartbeat."

Alara didn't say anything. She just gasped and then shook it off and turned her Poketch on and dialed Seras's number secretly, so that they can here what was going on.

Rick then said, "Epsilon just leave! I don't want to fight."

"Listen here! You started this fight the moment you returned on my radar. I thought I would of never of worried about you again. You humiliated me! You made me feel inferior again! No one is stronger than me! No one! And for that I decided to destroy you at any cost."

"And how do you intend on doing that?"

"Oh you'll find out."

Rick then looked at his palm and saw Epsilon's 'E' on his palm, just then two more symbols appeared on his hand. An 'N' and an 'M' and Rick then realized that there were two more Projects with Epsilon.

"Damn it! Project Mu and Nu!"

Two Projects then came from the forest behind Epsilon and laughed with her. Mu was a Skarmory and Nu was a Sandslash. A large group of Specters also followed them out of the forest,

Epsilon then said, "You're out manned Alpha! Also, how could you tell that they were here?"

"I'm the Alpha Project. I know what Projects are nearby and I know what Greek name goes with the symbol. I've never seen the other Projects passed Project Theta but I can name the Projects by their symbols."

"The luck of the Alpha. Besides, you're not my target today Alpha. So just step aside! I want the Gardevoir."

Alara then gasped and Rick grabbed her and put her behind him. "Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged. Mu! Nu! Get me that girl!"

Mu and Nu then lunged at Rick and Alara. Rick charged a **Fire Punch** and an **Ice Punch** on his hands to take on both Projects. Just then Jean and Serenity appeared out of nowhere and knocked the two Projects out of the way, followed by the other team members.

Rick then held Alara to shield her from Jean's flame attacks, that were exploding everywhere. Alara just held onto him and then looked at him. She was shocked. Why would Arceus want her to follow her dream if this was going to happen? She then looked back and saw X standing on top of the water and walking towards them.

He then stopped and told Alara in a message only she could hear, "This wasn't supposed to happen. I was too late to make things happen according to plan. My job was to keep things in order but something happened in the timeline that I can't explain too well. I was working on keeping you two alone for this time but another matter needed my attention. I thought I could of attended to both but it looks like I was wrong. Alara, you need to try to stay away from Epsilon and her goons. Mu and Nu are made from her DNA and she has her Fragments with her. Look out!"

Alara then looked and dodged a scythe attack from Epsilon. She then punched Epsilon and Rick knocked her back. Epsilon then got back on her feet and snapped her fingers and the Specters attacked them. Rick's team then went on the defensive and took on the Specter army. Two other pokemon then came out of the forest and laughed as they came next to Epsilon.

Epsilon stayed in place and watched as Rick and his team decimated the Specters and held back the Projects. After the last Specter got killed by Amari Epsilon began to clap her hands.

"Great job! I knew you guys would win. Anyways, let me introduce you guys to my Fragments." The two pokemons, a Delcatty and a Swellow with Epsilon's symbol on their cheeks.

Alara then asked Rick, "What a Fragment?"

Rick then answered her, "A Fragment is just like a Remnant. They're different in the sense that they are created scientifically instead of their master injecting their DNA into them. The DNA is incorporated into them and they share a few similar abilities. They are just as strong as Remnants but there are way too few of them. Projects are limited to only two at a time and they're only for the first five Projects."

"I see. What do they want with me?"

"I don't know and I don't want to find out right now. I have to get you back to the Sanctuary without them following."

Epsilon then lunged towards Rick and tackled him to the floor and brought the scythe down on his neck but he blocked it with his dad's blade and kicked her off. At that moment the battle was on with the Delcatty making more Specters and sending them into the battlefield. Seras then went to fight the Delcatty, while Jean fought Mu, Serenity fought Nu, and Gloria fought the Swellow.

Rick was desperately trying to protect Alara from Epsilon but it was becoming more difficult with Epsilon's rapid movements and Rick focusing more on Alara's position than Epsilon's movements. Rick then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then charged a **Focus Punch** and swung at random, hitting Epsilon and sending her flying back.

Epsilon then gave a loud growl and sprang back to her feet and disappeared into thin air and punched Rick in the stomach and uppercut him. She then grabbed his legs and slammed him on the floor and threw him back into the air and hit him with a **Night Slash**, launching him into a tree.

Epsilon then turned back to look at Alara and then laughed maniacally. She then grabbed Alara by her neck and lifted her up. "Oh poor, poor little Gardevoir. You're mate was weak. You're going to be useful to me."

Alara then kicked Epsilon in the face, making here let go of her. She then hit her with a **Signal Beam**, knocking her on her back. Epsilon then got back up and tried to slash Alara with her scythe but Alara blocked it and disappeared. She reappeared and punched her repeatedly. Epsilon quickly hit her with a **Dark Pulse** and grabbed her before she could fly away.

"Looks like Alpha trained you a little. That actually hurt. I'd rather end this quickly." She then felt someone pulled her shoulder. She turned her head and was met by Rick's **Drain Punch**. Rick then pulled her back into a knee in her stomach. He then hit her with an **X-Scissors** and kicked her onto the Swellow.

Rick then said with a livid tone on his voice, "I've just about had it!" He then charged a gatling gun on his blades and then fired it, taking out the Specters and hurting the Projects and Fragments. Rick then began to walk towards the downed Rockets with his eyes glowing red and his aura at full blast. "I was enjoying my life so much before you guys returned into it. I thought I could live my life without you interfering. You're an obstacle and obstacles must get destroyed."

Epsilon then smiled and said, "You fell for it."

"Huh?"

Rick then felt something pounce on him and hold him down. He then saw Project Mu and Nu holding him down and Epsilon using **Night Daze** to harm everyone around Alara. Epsilon then moved towards Alara and laughed again. Rick's rage then exploded and her pushed both Projects off of him and used **Night Daze** to get them away from him.

Epsilon looked back and was shocked that he used her species' signature attack. "How did you use that?"

"Don't worry about that! Now die!"

Rick then disappeared and reappeared choking Epsilon, like last time. His fangs were out and he was growling loudly. Mu then appeared behind Rick and grabbed Rick and pulled him off of Epsilon. Rick then turned around and hit him with a **Fire Punch**. Epsilon then drove a Specter's spear through Rick as he turned back to attack her. Rick then fell onto the ground, unable to move looked at Alara telling her to 'run'.

Alara didn't run, she just fell to her knees next to Rick and tried to heal him but couldn't get the spear out of him. She then heard Epsilon laugh and Epsilon then stomped on Rick's stomach.

"What's wrong? Can't move? Sucks, doesn't it?"

While Epsilon was taunting them, Serenity got up after shaking off the daze effects of the **Night Daze**. She then saw Epsilon beating a downed Rick and the Swellow, now in human form, holding Alara and making her watch as Epsilon beat him. The mere sight made Serenity furious, so she charged a **Megahorn** and ran towards Epsilon, succeeding in hitting her and knocking her onto a rock. She then headbutted the Swellow off of Alara and hit it with an **Ice Beam**, dazing him.

After getting freed by Serenity, Alara went to Rick and saw him barely conscious and bleeding from his mouth and nostrils. She then remembered about the spear in his gut and quickly tried to pull it out, succeeding after a few agonizing moments for Rick. She then used **Healing Pulse** on him to keep him conscious. He kept on bleeding so Alara ripped a part of her dress's skirt and used it to wipe off the blood on his face.

Rick then grabbed her wrist, "Alara...I told you to run. Get...out...of here!" He said in between breaths.

Alara then said, "Everyone was knocked out thanks to Epsilon's overpowered **Night Daze**. I can't leave you to suffer or worse."

"What's more important right now?"

"...I really don't know what to do."

Alara then gave him another **Healing Pulse** and he got up with a **Recover**. Rick then drew his dad's sword again and they watched in time to see Epsilon and Serenity fight one another.

Serenity was succeeding in holding Epsilon back and damaging her. Epsilon was trying hard to hit her but Serenity kept disappearing and attacking her when she reappeared. Serenity then went into her human form and drew her scythe to combat Epsilon.

Epsilon then said, "Alpha has been training you well. Are you his Remnant?"

Serenity then gave a contempt chuckle, "No, but he trained me well enough to fight a Project...at least for a while."

"Really, then come at me!" Epsilon said as she put her scythe on her back and stood still.

Serenity then charged at her with an **X-Scissors** and attacked her. When her attack reached Epsilon, it went straight through her as if she was a ghost. Serenity then turned back to see Epsilon and was met with Epsilon's scythe slashing her from her shoulder to the end of her waist. Serenity then fell onto the ground, easily mortally wounded. Epsilon then stood over her to finish her off but was knocked back by Sage hitting her with a **Megahorn** and then checked on Serenity.

Epsilon fell back and then stood up and moved back to attack Sage but was blocked by Jean and Wayland. Sage was extremely worried for his partner and tried to keep her conscious.

Sage was telling her, "Serenity, stay awake! Don't go to sleep! If you go to sleep, you won't wake up!" He then called for Aleerah. "Aleerah! Get over here!" Aleerah then landed next to them and began to check on Serenity. Rick then appeared with Alara and they both used **Healing Pulse** on her to try to heal her but the wound wouldn't close. They then heard Epsilon laugh.

Epsilon then said, "Aww what's wrong? Did you lose a friend there Alpha? I'm amazed that she's still alive. I nearly sliced her in two and hit almost all the vital organs. She won't last long though."

Rick then yelled, "EPSILON YOU BITCH!"

"What? I better end this now. Gale (the Swellow), get me the girl!"

Gale then appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Alara and returned to Epsilon, who grabbed her and held her at blade point. Rick then tried to charge at her to get Alara back but was knocked back by Projects Mu and Nu.

Epsilon then opened a portal, "If you want to do something about it, then face me in my fortress. You know where it is. I'll be waiting." She then turned around to go to the portal and saw Seras and Dartz blocking her way. "Hmmm? You're in my way!" She then kicked them out of the way and walked through the portal with Alara struggling to get free.

Rick then heard Alara yelling "RICK!" before disappearing. Projects Mu and Nu then followed through the portal and then the Delcatty. Rick then grabbed then spear that was in him and threw it at Gale before he could walk through the portal. The spear hit him and Dartz knocked him away from the portal.

Rick then turned to look at Serenity beginning to bleed out. He then asked her, "Serenity, tell me, do you want to live. Do you want to fight again and get revenge for this evil?" Serenity slowly nodded. Rick then sighed and brought the spike in his finger out and stabbed her in her neck. "Congratulations! You'll live and you've become my Remnant now."

Serenity then began to shake until the wound close and she passed out. A blue 'A' then appeared on her cheek and Rick then looked away and walked towards the downed Gale.

Rick immediately grabbed the spear and pulled it out of his chest and threw him onto the beach and began to push his head under water. "Now you're going to tell me everything you know! What is Epsilon up to!?

Gale then laughed, "What!? Were you expecting an apology?"

Winston then appeared in front of them and said, "You have no choice now! Tell us all you know!"

"Gee mister, I sure am sorry for attacking your friends and stealing the girl. I promise that I'm going to be good for now on." Gale said sarcastically. Winston then stomped on his hand. "OW! Take a joke asshole!"

"You are beginning to piss me off!"

"Alright, I'll tell you. This is what you do: You go to your local pharmacy, ask for something called Viagra, it will help you keep 'it' up so you can go fuck yourself." He then elbowed Rick and jumped through the portal and it closed.

Rick then roared out of nowhere so loud that the ground shook. He then vanished and reappeared in his house and headed straight to his dad's armory.

**This chapter was fun to write and I thank you guys for reading it. Well I gotta go guys. Sorry for not having a lot to say but I'm running late for class today. Peace out!**


	29. Chapter 29: First Blood Part 1

**This is one of my shortest chapters in a while but it's the beginning of a three part special. A climactic first battle with the army versus the Projects and the drama of Rick and Alara's feelings for each other. What could happen in the next few chapters is left to my imagination. This one took me longer than it should because of school work, but now I have all the time in the world to write now and I'm finally back on track with my posting days. I'll like to thank all my viewers for staying so loyal and actually wanting to be a part of this story. I am accepting any ideas you guys might have and I do check my Private Messages for all the requests and suggestion. So please keep them coming and also keep going with the questions. A Q&A might come in a few chapters after I have enough relevant questions. Quick shout outs to Emerald Dynamo for all the ideas (though I did not use them in this chapter), Ponikemon Love for the helpful encouragement to continue writing, Species Unknown and Undeadicus for the reviews that make me laugh every now and then, and all my other readers and reviewers who try to get involved and give me all the motivation I need to keep writing this story. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) The Philippines, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Australia (Canada and UK have some new competition), and 5th) Finland.  
**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick was in his father's armory, livid as hell. He was stocking up on guns, blades, and explosives. Rick's eyes were glowing red, his wounds were still bothering him, and he was still bleeding badly. He didn't care about the disabilities and the pain, he wanted to save Alara and wanted revenge. He didn't know why he was taking the situation so extremely, he has never been this mad for losing someone.

Rick's team and Alara's parents then arrived at his house, after Amber opened his door with her key. They made their way into the armory where they saw Rick stocking up on a huge cache.

Jean immediately grabbed Rick's shoulder to attempt to calm him down, "Bro, calm down!" Rick ignored him and continued assembling a handgun. "Rick have you gone crazy?"

Rick then pointed the finished gun at Jean's forehead, "YES! Now do you really want to stop me? Because you can't!"

Seras then stepped forward and Rick put the gun down. She then said, "Rick please calm down. I know this is bad but you're in no shape to go save her right now."

Rick didn't respond but looked at her and put the pistol in a gun case and walked into his dad's study and sat down at his dad's desk. Alara's dad then sat down on the seat across from him and sighed.

He then said, "I know you tried your best to protect my daughter and you were tricked but don't get yourself killed because of it. I want my daughter to be back here safe and sound, but you need to get prepared for a rescue mission if you need to go on one."

"I will save your daughter sir...and I will kill Epsilon in the process." Rick's Poketch then began to ring and he answered it after seeing Alara's name on the Caller ID. "Hello? Alara?"

A laugh then came from the other end, "Not quite Alpha! It's me Epsilon."

A vein then appeared on Rick's head, "Epsilon, what do you want?" The Chaos Scarf then came to life and hissed at the sound of Epsilon's name.

"Just to see if you intend on saving this girl."

"You're damn right I will save her."

"If I were you I would stand down. If you come save her you will die and so will she, but she will die right after you. So she can see her beloved died prior." She said playfully dramatic and then laughed.

"Where is she?"

"She's here. Want to talk to her?" A scuffle was then heard in the background. "Well talk girly!"

Alara then began to talk, "Rick!"

Rick was immediately shocked, "Alara!? Don't worry. I'll come save you!"

"Yeah...I'm kinda hoping that you'll do that because this place is horrible!" She said quickly and irritated.

"Where the hell are you?"

"In some room in a tower. Sadly, that's the least of my concerns."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh I don't know...probably the fact that I'm around three Projects, two Fragments, and a bunch of Specters. Other than that I'm having a grand old time." She said sarcastically.

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you. Is Epsilon hearing in on this?"

"No, she left with the others to some chamber. She left me alone so I could talk to you. Other than that no other number works on my Poketch and none of the communication apps. So I can't text, video call, or record audio. Apparently she wants you to focus on me right now."

"Were you able to learn anything?"

"No. I wish I could." Her voice then got soft. "Umm...is anyone around you?"

Rick then looked around, "Yep...everyone is around me."

"Can you tell them to leave, please?"

Rick then said, "You heard the lady! Everyone out of my father's study!" Everyone then looked at one another and then back at Rick. "NOW!" Everyone then scrambled out of the room.

They all then got outside of the room and closed the door. All of them, except for Alara's parents, put their ears onto the door.

Alara's parents then said, "Don't bother. It's soundproof." With that everyone hit the door in frustration. "It's also indestructible."

Everyone then said, "We weren't trying to break it. Why is it indestructible?"

"Because there is a room full of weapons, files, and explosives. Do you get it now?"

Everyone then nodded.

[Inside the study]

"Well Alara they're gone. Also, I'm going to ask you a series of questions."

"Why?"

"Apparently you didn't pay attention to what species of pokemon Epsilon is. I'm making sure this is you and not Epsilon in disguise as you."

"I thought the Chaos Scarf nullified the effects of her illusions."

"This is true but I'm just checking if it works from a long distance."

"For the love of...You're name is Aeruthael Amias "Rick" Fenrir. Your entire name broken into meanings is Aeruthael= I don't know where it came from but it stands for "One who saves, one who cares". Amias= It's Latin for "Loved". Rick, and it's other forms, is Celtic for "Brave Ruler". Fenrir= It's Norse for..."Demon wolf of the Apocalypse that will eat the king of the gods and insure the end of the world".

"Anyone could figure that one out. Also, how do you know all that?"

"I get bored on my Poketch sometimes so I look up stuff."

"But anyone can learn that with the right informants."

Alara then sighed, "You have a dead sister named Harmony. You have a being in your head named X that tells you what to do. You and I have been best friends since I was born. You have a scar on your side from a gunshot wound."

"Again, anyone can figure that out with the right information and informants."

"You have a picture of me and you hugging in the Harvest Festival as babies in a picture frame next to your bed."

"Okay so it is you. So what's on your mind? You already know I'm going to rescue you."

"I don't doubt that but you have quite the battle on you hands. With the Projects, Fragments, and Specters on the loose and another Project coming over."

"There's another Project that will be joining them?"

"Yes. Are you familiar with Project Theta?"

"Shit! A high leveled Project. That's two already. Regardless, they are all dangerous but she's still considered as an original that wasn't created from another Project's DNA."

"Oh so she's a powerhouse! What is she?"

"When I was there she was an Eevee. Now she's a Glaceon...wait, why are we speaking so casually?"

"True. Listen there's a reason why I wanted to talk to you...before the Projects comeback. I actually took Amber's Poketch when she wasn't looking. That way I can keep you guys updated despite the limitations on my own Poketch. Epsilon thinks she is so smart but I managed to fool her, but only for now."

"That's really smart. Keep it hidden though I don't want to lose contact with you. I won't call you, you should be the one to call so that you can stay inconspicuous."

"Sounds like a plan to me...actually, there was more I wanted to tell you."

"Well tell me while you still have time. I'm listening."

Alara then took a deep breath and said, "Well, you see, I think I..." She was then cut off by Catalina (the Delcatty) entering the room.

Catalina then said, "Okay your call time is up. Say goodbye and let's go."

Alara then sighed, "I have to go Rick. Please take care, and don't worry too much about me. They won't kill me until they get rid of you so I'm pretty safe. I just want you to be safe yourself."

Rick then said, "I'll be plenty safe. You're my objective and my one worry. I will save you."

"I know you will but don't get yourself killed on my account. Love you, bye!"

"Love you too. I'll be there soon."

Catalina then took the Poketch and spoke into it, "Yeah we get it! You two love each other. We all could figure that one out by ourselves, that's the whole reason she's here. Now then, I hope you enjoyed your talk with her."

Rick then said, "Oh I did. What now?"

"That's up to Epsilon to decide. As for now I have nothing to say to you. Goodbye Alpha!"

"You guys should just let her go."

"And if we don't?"

"You can either keep her prisoner and all of you will die, or you can can let her go, in which case, only most of you will die."

"Nice threat, but a threat and nothing more."

"Listen, just let her go. If you don't I will go there, I will find you and kill you, and Epsilon's head will be mounted on my wall. Just keep in mind who you are dealing with."

"Goodbye Alpha!" She then hung up the call.

Catalina then turned and threw the Poketch back at Alara and laughed, "Aww looks like he really does love you. How long have you two been mates?"

Alara then answered her, "We're not mates. He's my guardian."

"Oh? But I can sense that your in love with him and I can also tell that he is also in love with you, considering how determined he is to save you."

Alara the blushed, "I don't know what he's feeling."

"It doesn't matter. Let's go!"

Alara just looked at her, "What?"

Catalina then shed her happy demeanor and grew a cruel attitude, "I said move!" She then grabbed Alara by her hair and pulled her through the hall into a cell and closed it. "We're just going to have to wait for the ending of this little romantic tragedy." She then walked away laughing.

Alara then looked through the bars that were on a small hole on the door and said, "She's just as cruel as Epsilon. Rick please get here soon." She then sat down on the floor and rested on a wall. She then took her Poketch out and went through her picture gallery until she found a picture of her and Rick and smiled. "Well at least I have one thing to keep me happy."

[In the Sanctuary]

Rick was explaining to his friends and Alara's family what he had learned. Alara's parents were happy to know that she was alright but they wanted to know what Rick was planning to do to save her.

Alara's dad then said, "So Aeru, what the plan?"

"I go, I kill the Rockets, I save Alara, I blow the place to kingdom come. The usual. I don't know what to do." He then walked towards a window and looked outside. "Epsilon's Fortress in the Johto Region. It used to be a Rocket Base but they decided to give it to her as a base of operations. The top Projects got bases, except for me, Gamma, and Delta. Upsilon and Epsilon shared that base together and I've been there before and it's pretty big. I doubt I can do it by myself with four Projects present. I can take one of them but four is too much, not to mention the Specters and Fragments."

Jean then said, "You need us and the army then."

"I'm not taking the army. They're not ready for a battle of that magnitude."

"They've actually increased in strength substantially. I think they're ready."

"It's not their strength that I'm worried about. I just don't want to lose any men, yet I know I can't save everyone and that crushes me."

"You have to have faith in YOUR army. They're eager to serve."

"I want to give them more training so they can survive in a battle with Fragments, at least."

"First, we have to get you healed up." He then threw a Full Restored at Rick. "Take this. It'll heal you completely. I think I have an idea on what to do so we can save Alara by tomorrow."

"I'm listening."

"Talk to the X guy. Ask him to send the army to the chamber where you fought him since time is of little relevance to him, as a time being. We can train the army in a few minutes as we would be training them for a few months."

"Jean, that's way too much trouble."

Rick then felt someone behind him and saw X standing in front of him.

X then said, "That's a brilliant idea. I can right this wrong by giving the army access to my chamber for training and Arceus can teleport you guys to the Johto region to save Alara. It can happen, we can't guarantee anything but this can work."

Rick then turned and said, "X says that he'll do it. Gather the army in the district and we will go train in X's chamber."

Everyone then left to gather the soldiers and it took thirty minutes for all the soldiers to gather together and Rick had the displeasure of explaining the situation and the solution. As usual they all accepted the plan and were eager to finally see some action for the first time in a while.

Rick then looked at X, who was standing next to him. X then stepped into the middle of the court and sunk into the floor, creating a portal for the soldiers to enter. They all then entered and Rick and his team jumped in after them.

Alara's parents, Daedalus, and Zant stayed behind to count the minutes that they spent in the void.

[In the Time Chamber]

Rick and the army arrived at the chamber and were immediately met by X, this time everyone could see him.

X then said, "Welcome to my domain. Here you will train until Aeruthael chooses that the time has come to march into battle. Let me explain a few things about this room. Three hours on the outside world is about a month here and a day and a half like a year. I would take it that you will all be willing to train to the extent of your abilities. Also, you do not age in this place and you can tell the time by the gigantic clock on the wall over there."

Rick then said to the army, "You all get the idea! Now get ready for intense training, because I am not about to fail in my mission.

Everyone then gave a "Sir yes sir!"

"Hey X can you manipulate the appearance of this room?"

"Yes."

"Make it look like a military fort so that there can be places for them to sleep and have training grounds."

"It shall be done." With that the room changed appearance and it looked like a gigantic military fort, like Rick had asked for.

The training was immediately on and Rick teleported Debilitator weapons for them into the chamber for them to begin their training. This routine continued for six months (chamber time). The army trained nearly around the clock and Rick would take nights to himself to train alone or with one of his friends, ignoring the need to sleep so he could get stronger.

One night Seras woke up after hearing grunts and heavy breathing and walked to the exercise grounds and saw Rick doing push-ups and testing his martial arts skills on a combat dummy. Seras was surprised at his determination but was concerned about his refusal to sleep for four out of seven nights each week. Rick then dropped and did fifteen push-ups before punching the dummy and destroying it with the punch.

Seras then head him say, "Damn it! Not good enough! I'm not strong enough yet. I was stronger as a child! I can't beat all those Projects like this."

Seras then walked up to him and asked, "Rick? What are you doing?"

Rick then looked back to her and saw her, "Oh hi Seras. I'm just training."

"At two thirty in the morning?"

"You know how I am."

"This is starting to worry me. You only sleep for three days out of the week. You stay awake and train for most of the day and you rarely eat. You're strong enough. You just destroyed that dummy in one hit."

"The Projects can do that already. I need to return to Project strength."

"Why not just find a way to recall your powers without killing them for them?"

"Because I'm not going to go out of control at random times. I don't want that beast power in me again."

"You're right. I'm guessing you don't want to be in association with Team Rocket again."

"You know me too well."

"Rick just go to bed. You can continue to train in the morning. I just want you to go to be well rested. We're here until you say so."

"I guess you're right...but I need to make sure I'm ready to face Epsilon by the time I get out."

"You can already beat her, she just has a lot of help."

"You know she can get stronger?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but she's always stopped by another Project." She then sighed. "Rick, are you doing this just to beat Epsilon and settle the score?"

"No, I'm doing this to save Alara. Epsilon is collateral if she gets in my way."

"So all of this is for Alara?"

"Yes."

"Are you in love with her?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are...you...in...love...with her?"

"I don't know. She's my longest running friend and I spend all my time with her."

"You miss her?"

"I've been in here for six months. Yes I miss her."

"Rick, just tell me straight. What do you feel about her?"

Rick then sat down on the floor and thought for a second, "I really don't know. These feelings are alien to me."

"Well you've never felt romantic love so that might be the reason why you can't wrap your head around it."

"I never said I was IN love with her."

"But you never said you weren't. I hate how you always try to hide your emotions but you've never hid them from me. So why start?"

Rick then sighed. What Seras said was true. He had never lied to her or hidden anything from her and he never wanted too. He knew he could tell her anything and it will mean something to her. "Fine! You're right, I do feel something for her. What it is is a mystery to me but I know I have to save her at any costs."

Seras then smiled, "Well I'm glad that you're opening up and someone is getting through that steel plated heart of yours." She then sat down and wrapped her tail around her.

Rick then asked, "Why did you wrap your tail around yourself?"

"Because I am tired and don't want to fall from exhaustion and hitting my face to the ground. So I rooted myself to tail so if I fall I will pull on my tail and keep myself awake with the pain of having my tail pulled."

"Understandable. That was off topic, wasn't it?"

"It was. Well Rick please go to sleep. We'll continue tomorrow."

"Alright! I'll give it a rest for now."

"Good." She then stood up. "Let's go! I am tired as hell."

"You and me both."

They then went back to the barracks and went to sleep, well Seras anyways. Rick was awake in his bed and then turned on his Poketch and went into his picture gallery and flipped through the pictures. He then stopped when he found the same picture that Alara was looking at and chuckled.

[The Following "Morning"]

Rick was at the sparring grounds with Serenity, helping her hone her Remnant skills. She was, as usual, learning quickly and was keeping up with Rick's attacks but to a point. In the spar she fired a **Psycho Cut** at him, which he dodged, but it caused a small explosion at the contact point. She then went into her human form and attacked him with her scythe and sickle.

Rick blocked her attacks and said, "You've really grown stronger thanks to my DNA in you. You learn too quickly." He said with a chuckle.

"Thanks! You've trained me well. I think I can take on one of those Fragments by myself now."

"Well you were already pretty strong. I don't think they stand a chance against you now, but I don't know if you can take on a Projects."

"Well at least I'm useful."

"And to think, you were the first to join me and it was supposed to be temporary. But I grew to fond of having you around. Now you're my best pupil and probably the strongest person I have ever trained."

She then smiled and giggled, "Aww thanks Rick. I'm happy I ran into you...ten months ago?"

Rick then laughed, "Four months ago. We've been here for the chamber's time of six months."

"Damn it! This place is driving me crazy. There's no sun, no clouds, no wind, no moon. All you can see is clocks on the ceiling and materialized locations. But worse, the time ratio is the thing that has been plaguing me. We've been here for six months but it has only been, technically, a few hours. I'm starting to miss people already."

"Me too. I'm actually starting to miss Alara. I wonder how Amber is doing without her."

"Well she's determined to save her sister. She's been training with Allen nonstop. I've never seen her so determined before."

"It actually feels odd without her here."

"You feel empty, don't you?"

"Yes. I was around her all the time and now I haven't been with her for about six months, chamber time. It's been weird but it motivates me to keep training. Also, what's been going on with you and Sage?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh please. You guys speculate now let me get my revenge for one. Ever since I appointed you guys as partners you've been together almost as much as me and Alara."

"Not even. Believe it or not I'm actually with Amber for a lot of the time. I'm with him too but I'm usually with Amber.""

"What did you guys do when you were hanging out?"

"Amber would take me shopping or take me out with the girls. So she helped me have a social life, but something just takes me back to the battling scene. I love training and I love how I went from a weak little female Absol to a living, walking weapon. And I have you to thank for that. I may not have any siblings but you're the closest thing I have to a brother."

Rick then pulled her into a one armed hug, "Aww thanks Serenity. You remind me a lot about my little sister. Always eager to please and very caring. Yet a little naive but that's to be expected from a four year old...not that you're a four year old."

"No offense taken."

"You know, I thinking last night, I never helped you find your parents."

Serenity then gave a forced smile, "That's okay. Actually, I don't think I want to find them. I can barely remember them. I was a cub back in the day. I just remember sleeping in our den with them and then waking up and they were gone. I know they didn't abandon me because I know that they loved me very much." She then gave a small giggle. "I remember, my dad would go hunting and then bring the catch back to the den. I couldn't eat it yet so I had to rely on my mom's milk to stay fed. I eventually learned to eat meat but my dad wouldn't take me hunting with him. My mom was always so playful with me. She would play with me for hours and try to teach me a few things for when I grew up. But one day we settled down to go to sleep in the den and then I woke up the next morning and they were gone. There was still a Noctowl carcass in the den so I fed on it while I waited for them to return. A week later I finally gave up waiting and went out looking for them. I found them with a trainer and I kept chasing after them until I lost their trail and never found them again. I kept looking for another fourteen years until I ran into you. I'm sixteen and I've been on a crusade to find my parents since I was two. I wonder how my life would be if I was still with them. I wouldn't be so powerful as I am now and it would be a shame because I would of never met you guys."

Sage then appeared from the shadows and said, "After all this is over, if Rick can't help you find you parents, then I will."

Serenity then smiled, "Sage, you don't have to."

"I most likely have nothing to do after this war. What will you do if you DO find them?"

"I don't know. I just hope they'll recognize me as their cub."

"I'm sure it might not be immediate but I'm sure they'll love to have you back."

Rick then said, "Hey if they want you back, who am I to stop them? You're their child."

"Well I do want to see them again but I'm too old now to be their cub now. I'm their daughter but I'm no longer their child."

Rick didn't say anything, he just smiled and shook his head. Serenity then smiled back and waved goodbye before going back into her pokemon form and walking away with Sage.

Jean then appeared and grabbed Rick's shoulder. Rick turned around and saw him and a group of soldiers, including Simmons and Allen.

Jean then said, "Hey Rick, how about a handicap battle. You versus me and all these guys. Just to test your strength."

"Sure." He then called X, who appeared. "Can you turn this area into a combat zone? Somewhere for us to play manhunt."

Allen then asked, "Manhunt? I thought we were just having a handicap match."

"Oh trust me, you guys won't be hunting me...I'll be killing you."

X then laughed, "I have got to see this slaughter. So it's ten against one...you guys are fucked." The area then took the appearance of a storage warehouse and Rick then disappeared. Jean and his team then went through the maze of storage crates, looking for Rick. Rick was on top of the crates, stalking the soldiers...silently. Jean then took out a shotgun with debilitator ammo, followed by the other soldiers taking out their weapons.

Rick was waiting for then to look away from one another so he can begin his assault. He then got the chance when they all turned to watch all their sides. He jumped down and began to beat the hell out of all the soldiers and Jean and jumped away before they could turn around and see him.

Jean then got back up and began to patrol for Rick. He then made it to an iron wall, where Rick broke his arm through and pulled Jean into the wall, making him hit his head on the iron. Rick then **Psycho Cut** him through the wall, sending him flying into a crate. He then disappeared and began attacking another soldier and taking his weapon and shot most of the other soldier. Allen then fired a **Dragon Pulse** at him and charged at him with a lightning blade. Rick grabbed his arm and made Allen hit Simmons with the blade. He then turned Allen around and hit him with a **Focus Punch**.

Jean then got back up and shook off the disorientation and fired a **Fire Blast** at him. Rick disappeared and the **Fire Blast** then hit Simmons while he was going, "No, no, no, no ,no...FUCK!" He then got up after shaking the flames off. "Am I ever going to get back up without getting hit back to the ground?" Rick then fired a **Night Slash** at him, knocking him back to the ground.

Rick then faced off against Jean and Allen, ducking under their attacks and knocking them back. Rick then suplexed Jean and clotheslined Allen off the crate. Rick then fired a **Psycho Cut** at Jean, knocking him off the crate as well. Rick then landed back on the ground and picked up Jean and threw him at Simmons. Allen then got up and saw his chance of beating Rick. He then used **Psychic **on a crate and dropped it on Rick.

Rick quickly saw the shadow of the crate coming down on him so he threw his arms up and caught the heavy crate. All the guys had their jaws open in astonishment that he was able to catch it. Rick then threw then crate at them and Allen threw it back with **Psychic**. Rick then sliced it in half and dashed towards Allen and took him out with a pistol and then he took Simmons and the remaining soldiers that were firing at him. Rick then tackled Jean onto the floor and stabbed him with a debilitator combat knife, winning the match. Rick then proceeded to break the gel off of everyone.

X then came to him and said, "That was entertaining." The room then returned to normal. "Also, Arceus and your parents want to see you."

Rick then nodded and followed X out of the chamber and into the main hall of the Hall of Origin. He then saw Arceus standing in the center with Rick's parents speaking to him. They then stopped and looked at Rick when he appeared before them.

Rick then said, "You wanted to see me?"

Arceus then said, "Mainly your parents. I do have somethings to say. Like, are you ready to save Alara yet?"

"Yes I am and so are the soldiers. They have what it takes to take on Team Rocket now."

"That's all I wanted to know. Now Xeron and Aldira have something for you."

"Oh? They do?"

Rick then looked at his parents and his dad handed him what looked like armor. The armor was black and crimson. It looked like a breastplate with shoulder pads attacked to it. What was also interesting on the armor was a series of symbols and glyphs inscribed onto it and graphics that Rick could not identify. He then said, "This was my armor during my time of conflict. It served me well in my time and I know it's going to help you."

"Wait, I thought I already had your armor?"

"That armor is the family's armor. It's more of a title than a suit of armor. Also, this armor is lighter and more resourceful."

Rick then put on the armor and felt how light it was and then put on the gauntlets.

"What are these gauntlets for?"

"Have you ever played any of the Assassin's Creed games?"

"These gauntlets have hidden blades, don't they?"

"Yep."

Rick then began toying with the gauntlets and then a blade came out. "Damn! This can be useful."

"That's why I loved it. The armor can block almost all attacks but that doesn't mean that your invincible. Aeru, this armor also has many other ability that I can't tell you because I've yet to figure them all out. Arceus tells me that it has more."

"How are we pokemon getting all these items that sound almost mystical?"

"Because some of these are created by legendaries. The armor was crafted by Arceus here and he empowered it further for you. We Psychic types also have the capacity of creating items that can help us in battle."

"Alright. I won't ask questions."

His mom then asked, "So leave tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Well go save her. I know you miss her."

"Is this hall also in time lapse?"

"Yes. We have to stay in the same time as the chamber because you're here and we don't want to compromise your time."

"Well that's good."

"So are your plans after you save her?"

"Take her home, let her feel safe again, live my life but with the war beginning."

"Nothing in between?"

"Like?"

His mom then gave him a grin, "Oh I don't know." She said playfully. "This war might take years so I was kinda expecting you settling down and maybe in a few years or earlier, I might see some grandchildren."

"You're out of your mind. Even if I wanted to, how would I with a war going on?"

"Well you won't be fighting everyday and you and Alara are getting closer by the second."

"No fucking way mom! We're close but not that close!"

Arceus and Rick's dad then looked at each other and then back to the two and chuckled.

His mom then giggled, "Oh you never know. Besides, she's the closest any Gardevoir, besides me, has ever gotten to you. I say it's the best choice."

"Oh my" He then pointed at Arceus, "you! Not you guys too!"

"You have to understand why we heckle you so much about that. We just think that she's the best choice for you. You don't associate with many other Gardevoirs...or females for that matter. She's perfect for you."

Rick's eye then began to twitch, "I...I can't believe what's coming out of your mouth. First my friends, then Alara's parents, then the media, and now my parents and my own god. Why do you guys want us to be together so bad?"

His mom then stopped and then said with a giggle, "Looks like you want that too."

"Wait...what?"

"I sensing your emotions."

"How? I have a huge blockade on my emotions."

"I'm dead. The fuck do I care? Don't hide it now."

"I've gotta go."

"Aww it's all right. No need to be so bashful."

"I'm out of here! Bye guys!"

His dad then stopped him from leaving. "There's no shame in it. Besides, it's similar to how me and your mother got together."

"Really? How?"

His dad then took a deep breath and said, "Well, first, we've known each other all our lives. Two, we used to argue...a lot. Three, we then got close and then inseparable. Four, we pound it and then had you. Need anymore info? Because I think I accidentally left that info in the memories I left behind. Also, you are in the third stage in this baseball game. You and Alara have known each other your entire lives, you used to argue a lot, and you are now inseparable. Let's go for home now. Make it a Grand Slam, if you catch my drift? I was the Warlord and I still found the peace to have you. Besides the fact that it was a surprise from your mother a week later when she told me she was pregnant. Man was I surprised!"

"Why are you telling me this? I don't think I want know more." Rick then stopped and whispered to himself, "Why do I ask my parents questions knowing I'm going to regret the answers?"

"Point is Aeru, save her and keep your relationship going. Also, stop being so blunt. You have an army to lead and a battle to win. You're going to need all the open-mindedness you can have and a lot of leadership skill. You have it from me so use it."

"Gee thanks dad!" He then looked at Arceus. "We're been so quiet."

Arceus then said, "I don't have a lot to tell you that you don't already know. Just go and do your job Aeru. I'll see you at another time."

"Very well. Goodbye!" He then hugged his mom. "Bye mom!"

He then teleported back into the chamber, leaving Arceus, his parents, and X in the main chamber.

X then said, "He's hopeless."

All of them then said, "Yep!"

"Well I better go back and let them out." He then disappeared and arrived to hear Rick talk to the army.

Rick said, "Alright, we're heading back to the Sanctuary. From there we will go to the Johto Region and get Alara back. So may I ask X to open the portal." The portal then appeared. "Alright move on out!"

With that everyone then marched through the portal, followed by Rick and his team. Rick was then stopped by X before he walked through the portal.

X then said, "You guys won't be able to take the army in here again unless absolutely necessary. Also, take this." He then handed Rick a yellow crystal. "This crystal summons a portal to the Johto region when shattered. It won't take you directly to the fortress but it'll take you close. I don't want to risk you guys getting attacked on sight because of where I set the location. It's a bit of a...climb. The fortress stands on a prairie in the Mt. Silver mountain range. They are not expecting you yet because it's too soon for an attack. Let me warn you, Alara didn't anticipate or hear that another Project is going to be there. The Projects will be Epsilon, Theta, Mu, Nu...and Omega."

"Omega!? She called for the big guns already!?"

"Omega won't harm the soldiers. Omega is more concentrated on you. You are not ready to face Omega yet. Omega out-rivals your power at the moment. If you run into 'em...run for your life and don't stop running until you lose it. You have to find its weakness and use that to stop it from chasing you down. You can't kill Omega, at least not yet."

"I understand. This is going to be quite the battle."

"Yes it is but you've prepared enough for it. Now go and get her back!"

X then disappeared and Rick walked through the portal.

[Back in the Sanctuary]

The following day, Alara's parents and Rick's uncles were waiting in the courtyard where they left the day before and waiting for them to arrive back from the Time Chamber. The soldiers came out, followed by Rick's team, and then Rick.

When they all came into view they all looked bigger and stronger, even Amber, who went with them to help save her sister. Rick even looked bigger, as if he did not stop training for anything. He definitely looked stronger, he had more muscle mass, and his expression seemed determined.

Serenity also looked stronger, it was finally visible that she was a Remnant, with her eyes glowing red and a blue 'A' on her cheek, her eyes then returned to normal when she powered down.

The moment Amber stepped back in the Sanctuary she said, "Oh Sanctuary, sweet sanctuary, how I missed thee!"

Rick then walked towards Alara's parents and said, "I say they're ready for the battle."

Daedalus then asked him, "What did you guys do in there?"

"You don't want to know. We never stopped training and I taught them everything I've learned. They should be ready for anything now."

"Very well. When will Arceus send you guys out."

Rick then pulled out a crystal, "When I throw this onto the floor, a portal will open and send us a few miles from the fortress."

"You've done so much in such a little time. Your dad would be proud."

"Oh he is. He helped to train them as well. Now they fear him because of his form of training."

"Lucky bastard. I should of gone to see my brother."

"What about your mate?"

"How long were you guys there?"

"Six months."

"Then fuck that! Did you guys age?"

"Nope. The chamber does not allow age or ailment."

"Well that's useful."

"Besides the fact that I can't use the chamber anymore. The only reason I got permission to use it was because X, or the being who controls the chamber, fucked up big time."

Daedalus then looked at him with a puzzled look, "So no hug for missing me, Zant, or Alara's parents?"

"What for? I was only gone for a little under a day. I missed you guys but I was realistic...I...was...only gone...for...a day."

Daedalus then glared at him, "You're a bastard, but I like that realism."

Alara's dad then said, "So are you guys ready to save my daughter?"

"Yes. The army is more prepared and stronger than ever. This kind of training can never be replicated in the "short" span of time. We leave to save Alara tonight."

"Let it be so...How are you going to get to the Johto Region by tonight?"

Rick then pulled out a yellow crystal, "X gave me this crystal. It will let me open a portal that will take us there."

"And getting back?"

"I'll figure that one out as I go along."

"Very well, I trust you with everything. How much power did you gain in there?"

"Enough that one of my **Psycho Cuts** can break through steel."

"That's a lot of power."

Rick then sighed, "Yes but the Projects can do that too. I need to test for myself if I still have what it takes to take down a Project."

Alara's mom then said, "I believe you can do it. Bring my daughter back and take down that Zoroark!"

Rick then smiled, "No need to ask me twice. Epsilon will pay and she, or any of the other Projects, will die tonight."

"I hope you live up to that. Now...GO!"

"Yes ma'am." He then turned to the army. "You heard your your queen. Line up in attention and march through the portal when I give the order!"

He then received a military salute and a "Sir yes sir!" from the soldiers who lined up in attention. Rick then threw the crystal on the ground, where it shattered and conjured a portal.

"Alright move out after me." Rick then walked through the portal, followed by his team, and the soldiers. When they arrived on the other side they were on a mountain range and saw a tower in the distance. Rick immediately began to march up the mountains and noticed the sunset, the first he's seen in (what was to them) a long time.

It took another two hours for Rick and the army to reach a flat area and then they noticed a towering fortress in the distance. The fortress was gigantic. It had three towers, and many watchtowers. There was one large door in the front and Rick could make out that there were Specter guards and then saw Gale walking into a door that was on a balcony.

Rick then thought to himself, *Alara has to be in one of those towers. But which one?*

Rick and the army then began to talk towards the fortress and stopped when they reached a spring of water. They decided to wait for the dead of night to attack the fortress and camped out there, waiting for the moon to give them cover.

[In the fortress]

Alara was looking at the pictures on her Poketch and smiling at each one of her and Rick and their baby pictures.

"How I wish you were here? It's been over a day and I already miss you." She then sighed. "Rick, if you do come to save me...be very careful and don't be brash for my sake. I want to see you alive when I get out of here and maybe...just maybe, I want to see you closer after this."

**To me this chapter was too short but oh well, I ran out of ideas and it sounded alright to me. Well tell me what you guys think. Send me your reviews, suggestions, requests, and questions. I'm also taking reading requests and review requests. So if you have a story that you want me to read and review then send me a Private Message with the name of the story and/or URL and I will gladly read them. I'm also taking revision requests so I can read and revise your writing. I'm doing a lot lol, but I'm also willing to give out writing tips to those that need it or are trying to write a story of their own. So take care guys and have a nice day.**


	30. Chapter 30: First Blood Part 2

**Here's part 2 to First Blood and the battle is on. We also get a new enemy in the form of Project Omega, who is by far one of the strongest things I have ever thought up of. I love how this chapter came out and I was happy because of the reception the last chapter got. Keep up with your support guys, it is really helping me write. So here's the battle at Epsilon's Fortress. Will Rick be able to save Alara and how will the army take up the new scenario of open battle. Let's hope everything goes alright for Rick and the army =]. Beware of the powerhouse that is Project Omega. Tell me what you think. Viewing Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Australia (They are now in the race for number 1!), 3rd) Canada, 4th) The Philippines, 5th) Mexico.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and the army were resting near a spring on top of the Mt. Silver mountain range. The fortress was within sight and Rick could almost sense that the battle was going to be intense once he arrived within its walls. Rick was sitting on the banks of the spring looking at his own reflection and thinking. Thinking of Alara and the battle that was to take place. He hated the fact that everyone's life was in his hands but he remembered that he promised Alara that he would do anything to protect her, and he was going to stay by his word.

Jean was finishing putting warpaint on his face and different bands. He then got up and walked over to where Rick was staying. When he arrived he saw Rick in a praying position and walked up to him with a chuckle.

Jean then lightly smacked the back of his head, "Well I never thought of you as the religious type."

Rick then opened his eyes and looked at him, "I'm not too religious but I promised Alara that I would do everything to protect her. And if I don't pray then I haven't done everything, have I?"

"That is true. So what's your plan?"

"I have no idea. Give me an hour and then we'll attack."

"Sure bro." He then left and walked back to the others and Rick went into the a rock field that was nearby and scoped out the fortress. Rick then sighed when he saw that was going to need a lot of power to break through the defenses and teleported to the creek and threw water on his face.

Rick then wiped the water off his eyes and looked at his reflection, only to see a being, Arceus, in the reflection behind him with his sword drawn. Rick then quickly drew his sword and took his position. Arceus then attacked Rick and Rick blocked the attack. They exchanged attacks for a few moments until Rick knocked the sword off of Arceus's hands and Arceus did the same to him. Arceus then attempted to tackle him to the ground but Rick caught him and threw him towards the creek. While in the air, Arceus managed to get his feet on the ground and lunged towards Rick and tried to punch him. Rick caught the fist and threw his own punch, which was caught by Arceus. They then struggled for superiority but they were even in strength.

Arceus then said, "Good, you're ready to attack. You'll do great."

"Who the hell are you and how do you know about that?"

"It's me, Arceus. I attacked you so that I can test your power. You struggled with your god and won. Congratulations!"

"I didn't win. We're tied."

"Well I can't stay for long. You need to attack and quickly. Do not worry about the army. They are powerful enough and all the other pokemon civilizations will know of this battle. There is no doubt that the war has begun and Team Rocket will think twice about attacking you directly again."

"If you say so. I don't care about the battle. My mission is clear. I get Alara and I kill Epsilon."

"Let that drive you but be careful and don't get cocky. Also, do not forget about Project Omega. Omega is already in the premises and none of them are expecting you here yet. So you have the advantage since Epsilon is getting careless and only wants to kill you."

"Understood but how should I proceed?"

"Well obviously through the front maybe with some...dragon strength."

Rick then chuckled, "Oh...I like the idea."

Arceus then chuckled, "I know you'll do great. Goodbye Aeru. Also, do you remember of the sigil on your left hand?"

"Yes." Rick then turned his left hand to see the sigil. "That will become useful to you very soon. You'll see how."

"I think I would of liked to leave that as a mystery."

"But I really didn't tell you anything. Anyways, take care and farewell."

Arceus then disappeared and Rick walked towards his blade and picked it up before putting it back into its sheath. Rick then walked back to his team.

Rick then said, "Alright! We're ready to move out! But first let me give you guys the plan. First, we need to get through the gates. This is going to be easy with the help of one certain nineteen year old Lucario."

Allen then said, "Me?"

"What other nineteen year old Lucario do we know?"

"What do you want ME to do?"

"Conjure up your elemental dragons to break through the entrance and destroy the gate guards and first wave of soldiers. Also, use your supernova on the first Fragment that appears."

"You know how much energy that costs? I won't be able to fight afterwards."

Rick then threw a Max Elixir at Allen and told him, "That will replenish your strength after your attack. Now just focus on creating them."

Allen then looked at the fortress and then back at the army and took a deep breath. He then opened his eyes and they were glowing with **Psychic** and soon eight dragons appeared.

Rick then said, "Eight dragons? You only had seven."

"I learned to manipulate my aura with **Psychic** so that I could create another dragon."

"Great!" Rick then said, "Let them loose!"

Allen then yelled, "GO!"

The dragons then growled and took off towards the fortress.

While the dragons charged towards the gates Rick turned and looked at the army, "Listen up! This might be the first time any of you have gone through a battle before. This may be the first time you guys might shed some blood. But ask yourselves, what are you going to fight for? Family, home, honor, and the such? Don't you want to tell Team Rocket that they cannot mess with Gallades, Gardevoirs, and our posterity. Don't you want one chance to tell the other pokemon civilizations that we still have what it takes to be the most powerful. We used to be the most powerful pokemon army, but has that even changed? What I see around me is the ONLY pokemon army willing to take Team Rocket down. So who do you think is more powerful? Remember, evil only prevails when good men and women decide to do nothing. So as far as I am concerned, we're still dominant...albeit, a bit more brazen considering what we're doing, but we have a reason to fight."

A soldier, a very young Gardevoir, then said, "Sir! There are a lot of them! What's there to do about a beast of this magnitude?"

Rick then walked over to her and told her, "A beast? Let me ask you something. Can you fish out the Leviathan with a fishing net? Can you snare the Behemoth with a bear trap, can you capture the Roc in a bird cage. No! You must conquer them! You cannot show them fear and you cannot back down. I understand your fear. Battle is never fun or easy. You might lose a hundred of your friends to your right and a thousand more to your left but you have to keep fighting. Not because the dead mean nothing but because you can avenge them."

Jean then appeared wearing a kilt, Scottish war paint, and speaking in a Scottish accent, "We will smash down their walls, burn their homes, slay their people, and make put an end to British tyranny!"

Rick then sighed and said, "Jean, wrong setting!"

"Oh...sorry! I'll go get my Spartan outfit!"

"NO! Just get your regular armor."

"I was just playing dude." He then looked at the army. "But still, remember we're here to save someone and your friend's life right next to you should be the same as your own. Protect one another and kick some ASS!"

The soldiers then gave a collective "Hoorah!"

Rick then said, "Well looks like you're all ready." Rick then turned towards the fortress, seeing the dragons stealthily wrapping around the fortress without the Specters noticing. Rick then drew his blades and his sword, "Get ready! Once the dragons attack you charge into the fortress and kill every enemy in your sight. There are no prisoners to take. We WILL save Alara and we WILL win!" Rick then pointed his sword towards the gates. "CHARGE!"

All the soldiers then charged towards the gates. All that could be seen was a sea of green, red, and white moving rapidly towards the gates. The dragons then saw towards the army and saw them charging. They then roared and began their attacks on the fortress and broke through the gates and killed the guards on the other side.

[(Minutes prior) In Epsilon's Fortress]

Epsilon was in her throne room with Projects Mu, Nu, the recently arrived Theta, and Omega, the Fragments Gale and Catalina and a group of Specters, intelligent ones at that. Epsilon was relaxing on her throne eating grapes and laughing to herself.

Theta then said, "Are you going to laugh to yourself all day? Let the girl go! She doesn't deserve any of this."

Epsilon then laughed to herself, "Oh please! She's my ace in the hole. Alpha will come to save her in a few days and that day I will strike him down."

"Do you have a plan to kill him?"

"Yes. By tomorrow morning I will have my Specters in formation, preparing for Alpha to attack them. Then I will attack him myself. There's no way he can beat me with an army at my side. Also, there's no way for him to have an army. All he has is his little team, which is not enough to take down me and you guys."

"That plan makes little sense. Why not just attack him now and kill him while you have the chance. Didn't you wound him? What better time than now?"

"NO! I need him to be battle-able so that I can humiliate him as I kill him. The girl is the siren's song that will lead him to me. He can't resist but to come save her."

Theta then sighed and asked Mu, "What do you make of this?"

Mu then said, "I have no idea. I'm just here because Epsilon ordered it. She's my superior as so are you."

Theta then asked Nu the same question and he said, "I'm here for the same reason, but I'm also here because I wanted to test Alpha myself."

Theta then sighed and looked at Omega. Omega was a sight to behold. Omega was easily ten feet tall, had no appearance to any pokemon that has been identified, Omega had two horns that slouched back and then hooked upwards. Omega was muscle bound and had black skin and glowing red eyes, ten tentacles on its back, a long tail with a bladed barb at the end, claws at the end of its fingers, and stood on it's toes, which were clawed, as its legs were dragon-like. Truly a sight to be feared, even by Rick's standards.

Theta then asked Omega, "What do you make of this?"

Omega just looked at her and gave her a soft growl.

Theta then smiled at Omega and pet Omega, "There, there. I know you're waiting for Alpha but try to socialize. You're so powerful but so shy. I sweat you're a child in a beasts body."

A small laugh could be heard coming from Omega and Theta smiled and walked away, followed by Omega, like a loyal pet. They then sat down to eat a meal that was prepared by Epsilon.

Not too long later Epsilon told Catalina, "Bring me the girl! Theta and Omega must see her." She then gave a laugh as Catalina walked away to get Alara in another tower. It took a few minutes but Catalina then arrived with Alara being held by two Specters.

Epsilon then gave a wide grin when she saw Alara being held there. She then gave the order to let her go and dismissed the Specters.

Alara looked at Epsilon, then at the Fragments, then at Projects Mu, Nu, and Theta, and then her eyes became locked onto Omega. Omega then brought out its tentacles and wrapped up Alara and brought her close and smelled her. Omega then gave a loud growl and snarled at Alara after it smelled her.

Theta then told Omega, "Omega, let her go! I know you smell Alpha on her but she's not Alpha."

Omega then let go of Alara and put her down gently on a pillow on the floor. Alara was surprised by how gentle Omega was for a demon looking. Her eyes then shot open when she realized that it was Project Omega.

Theta then told Alara, "Sorry about that. Omega smelled Alpha on you and was trying to see how close you are to him. Omega is gentle to others, but when Omega needs to attack Omega does it well."

Alara then said, "You're actually being nice."

"Oh not all Projects are evil agents of the Devil, like Epsilon."

Epsilon then said, "Well fuck you too Theta."

Alara then said, "What kind of pokemon is Omega?"

Theta then responded, "Omega doesn't like it when I tell people what pokemon they are."

"Okay."

Epsilon then told Alara, "So how does it feel being separated from Alpha?"

"I do miss him already but I went twenty years without him. I'm fine right now."

Epsilon then giggle to herself and stood up from her throne and walked up to Alara and said, "So you've known him for a long time? That's so cute. Such a pretty face and you're the best lure I could find. When Alpha gets here after a few days, you will be the reason for him falling before my blade." She then let her go and said. "Someone take her back to her cell."

Theta the got up with Catalina, "I'll go. Catalina lead the way."

Theta then picked Alara up and walked with her back to the North tower and into her cell. Theta then opened Alara's cell and helped her inside. Theta then surprised Alara by handing her a tray of food and a journal with pencils.

Alara then smiled at her and said, "Thank you! You're really nice!"

Theta then smiled back at her, "My pleasure. I know that you're hungry so I decided to get you some food. Also, the journal is for you to pass the time. I find writing as a great way to occupy my time. Write about anything and also keep it a secret from everyone."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome! Goodbye and take care! Don't let Epsilon keep you down. As far as I'm concerned I'm rooting for Alpha."

"You don't like her very much, do you?"

"Who does? She's probably the most demented of all of us and the most power hungry."

They both then laughed and then said goodbye again and Theta closed the cell door. Theta then handed the key to Catalina, who put it in her bra.

Theta then said sarcastically and coldly, "Very classy."

They then returned to the throne room and got back to their original position. Theta sat back down next to Omega, Nu crossed his arms and leaned on the wall, Mu laying down on a ledge near the ceiling, and Gale was standing near the window. Not too long after they heard a few roars and then an explosion.

Everyone then gave a collective "What the hell!?" Omega however stayed in their same position, sitting down with their arms crossed and looking through the corner of their eyes. The whole room then began to shake viciously and Gale and Nu looked outside the window and were met with the Fire Dragon looking back at them.

Mu then said, "Ummmm...hello?"

The Fire Dragon then roared and flew away and they were confused on how the ground was shaking since the dragons were flying. They then saw the army storming into the base and obliterating the Specters.

Gale then said, "Ummmm...we have a problem."

Epsilon then said, "What the hell is the problem besides a dragon wrecking havoc in my fortress!?"

"Technically it's..." He then turned and counted the dragons. "It's eight dragons of different elements and an army of Gallades and Gardevoirs."

"WHAT!?"

"Looks like Project Alpha DOES have an army and he's completely healed because he is kicking ass."

Omega then got up and gave a roar when they heard the name 'Alpha'. Epsilon then jumped off her throne and gave a loud growl.

"How the hell did I miss this!?"

Theta then said, "Because you don't think things through."

"Shut up!" She then grabbed Project Mu and Gale and threw then through the window while saying, "Don't just stand their bird brains! Do something!" She then told Catalina, "Throw me my scythe!" Catalina then threw her the scythe and she placed it on her back.

Theta then said, "You're going to face Alpha?"

"What the fuck do you think!?"

"I guess that threw your plan down the shitter. So what's your plan now?"

"My plan is getting rid of Alpha!"

Epsilon then disappeared and left Theta shaking her head. Omega then smashed through a wall and took off to meet Rick somewhere in the maze of buildings.

[Alara's side]

"What the hell is that?" She then tried to focus on the emotions on whatever it was that was causing all the commotion. She then realized who it was and gasped, "Rick! You actually came to save me...quickly at that."

She then sat back and began to write in the journal Theta gave her. When she finished he closed the journal and smiled and giggled.

"I'll be waiting Rick. You more than anyone knows not to keep a lady waiting."

[Rick's side]

Rick and the army managed to breach the gates and were easily obliterating all the opposition before them. Rick was in the front of the line and killed two Specters with the blades on the gauntlets. He then attacked a few more and sliced them to shreds. Rick kept going at his own battle pace and then noticed two birds jumping out of a window and coming at them. Rick immediately noticed it was Mu and Gale and gave his men orders.

"Like we trained! Project Mu is coming and so is Gale! Allen, use the dragons!"

Allen then controlled his Fire and Electric dragons to attack Gale and Mu. Both dragons hit their marks and slammed both Rockets to the ground. Both of them got up shortly and were attacked by Jean and Amari. Jean fought Mu and Amari fought Gale.

Rick then began to run for the entrance to the main building but was immediately tackled by Epsilon, who came out of nowhere. Epsilon then tried to stab him but he caught the blade with his bare hands. He then punched her off of him and then kicked her to the ground. Epsilon the got back up.

She then said, "How the hell did you do this!? You look stronger, you have no wounds, you have new armor, you caught my blade with your bare hands, and you somehow got an army in a day."

"It didn't take a took a while. This army has been mine for a quite some time now. I'm their commander and a leader among my species now. Also, all these soldiers are trained to take Rockets down with deadly efficiency."

Epsilon then laughed, "Yeah right! Now to do to you what I should of done before!"

"Try it!"

(Battle Music: **Dismiss (extended) from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep**)

Epsilon then charged at him but Rick caught her arm and threw her to a wall and then disappeared, punching her through the wall and into the main building. Epsilon then got back up and fired a **Dark Pulse** at him but Rick stood in place and took the attack with no visible damage.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Rick smiled at her and said, "Could it be that I've surpassed your power again or you were never stronger than me?"

Epsilon the snarled at him and honed her claws before going towards him with a Night Slash. Rick's sword then began to glow purple and then slammed it into the floor. A shockwave of purple energy pillars then rippled their way through the room and hit the approaching Epsilon and threw her back to a wall and hit her repeatedly, cratering her into the wall.

Rick then said, "It took me a while to learn how to use the Psycho Cataclysm, but it paid off in the end."

"What is that sword?"

"It's a family heirloom and it's probably the strongest weapon I have ever wielded. It has a lot of abilities that I have yet to learn them all. That's all I know...that and the shield ability."

"Well then let's see how that blade works in someone else's hands."

Epsilon then disappeared and Rick noticed that Shadowbane was no longer in his hands. He then looked at Epsilon and saw it in her hands. He then laughed and the blade electrocuted her and returned to Rick's hands.

"Oh did I forget to mention, this sword only works for me and attempts to kill all that try to hold it that it does not accept. So you'll never be able to wield it."

"Well damn you! I don't need that sword to kill you!"

She then brought her scythe out again and swung at him, Rick just dodged and blocked each attack. Rick then smacked the scythe away and kicked her back. Epsilon then fired a **Dark Pulse** at him again and swung at him simultaneously. Rick then brought his left hand up and caught the blade. Rick then **Focus Punched** her and began to beat her back.

While Epsilon was trying to catch her breath, Rick walked up to her and chuckled at seeing her look so weak before him.

"Well this is amazing. I knew I got stronger but this is crazy. Oh well, looks like this is over."

Rick then lifter his blade to kill Epsilon but before he brought it down he was stopped by an ice spear lunging at him. Rick jumped out of the way and then saw Theta land next to Epsilon. Theta then grabbed the spear and spun it around before pointing it at Rick.

Rick then felt someone next to him and then looked and saw Dartz next to him.

Dartz then said, "Rick, I got Project Theta. You focus on your task."

Rick then told him, "Be careful."

Dartz then told Theta, "Mind a change of venue?"

Theta then said, "Yes." She then looked at Epsilon. "Will you be alright on your own?" Epsilon growled at her. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Come on Umbreon!"

"Let's go!"

They then disappeared and Rick was left alone with Epsilon. Epsilon then stood up and gave a blood curdling scream and her aura exploded. Rick just looked at her as her dark red aura encircled her. She then disappeared and managed to slash Rick with a **Night Slash**. She then kicked him across the room.

Rick then laughed, "Great! Now the battle is really starting!"

Rick drew his blades and waited for Epsilon to attack him and she then charged at him. She swung her scythe at him and Rick blocked it and returned the slashed. They exchanged attacks for a few moments before Rick grabbed her and threw her across the room and used Psycho Cataclysm again.

Epsilon was not about to be hit by that attack again and lifted her scythe, and it began to glow red. She then slammed it to the ground and her own wave went towards Rick's attack and blocked it. She then pounce on Rick and sat on his chest and brought her scythe back up to kill him. Rick then caught her hand when she brought the scythe down and flipped her over him and kicked her away.

Epsilon got back up and saw that Rick was not going to be taken down as easily as before. She couldn't believe how quickly he came to save Alara, how quickly he healed, and how quickly he gained so much power.

Rick then began to walk towards her and she tried to slash him again but he smacked her away as quickly as she lunged at him. She saw that she was extremely unprepared for him to be there and she didn't stand a chance while she was in a reserved state. So she quickly got up and surprised Rick why running away from the fight and headed towards a maze of structures and buildings.

Rick then said to himself, "What the hell!? I guess I'll let her go." He then drew his sword again. "Oh fuck that! I came for her head." He then ran after her and kept chasing her for a few hundred feet.

He then got close to her and was about to stab her with his sword but was cut off by three tentacles blocking his path. Rick then looked at his hand and saw a 'Ω' on it. He thought to himself, *CRAP! OMEGA!" Rick then looked back and heard very heavy thuds on the ground. It took only a few more seconds for Rick to see a hulking monster with a Omega symbol, Ω, on the center of its chest, shoulders, and forehead.

Omega stared at Rick before glaring at him and roaring. At that moment Rick took his fighting position but remembered what X told him, to run when he sees Omega and that he can't face it yet. Rick then re-sheathed his sword and took off running, sliding under the tentacles. Omega then let out another roar and began to chase Rick through the buildings and ledges.

(Chase Music: **Stand Alone by Godsmack**)

Omega took off on all fours, chasing Rick down like prey. Rick began to jump from ledges to ledges and using parkour to elude Omega. He was extremely surprised on how fast Omega was, since Omega was easily catching up to him. After five minutes of running, Rick and Omega made it to a long ledge with a dead end but Rick could see a few bars on the wall that he could use to make it to the other side and hopefully lose Omega. Rick jet straight to the dead end but then had to dodge a powerful **Shadow Ball** attack from Omega, the attack destroyed the ledge and Rick quickly jumped to the wall on the side and ran on it. He then jumped from the wall to the pole and swung to the other pole and jumped to the other ledge and kept running but stopped when he saw that Omega wasn't following.

Omega then gave a loud roar and Rick laughed to himself. He then stopped laughing when he saw Omega making the incredibly long jump to the other ledge and brought its claws out to attempt to kill Rick. Rick jumped out of the way while saying, "HOW THE FUCK!?"

The chase was on again and Rick ran towards a wall and ran on it before jumping off to a ledge that was above him. Omega jumped onto the ledge and continue the chase. Rick then jumped up another wall and jumped to the other side, where he stopped to catch his breath. While he was resting he could hear Omega on the wall behind him and then began to walk away until Omega broke through the concrete wall like it was made out of paper. Rick then gave an agitated sigh and began to run again. Rick then began to run through a maze of hallways in a building and managed to lose Omega for the moment. He then walked onto a bridge system and looked at the courtyard and saw Jean and Amari winning in their fights and the army were destroying the waves of Specters, all the dragons were still active and Rick located Allen still using his powers and eating Leppa Berries by the droves to stay empowered.

Rick stayed on the bridge and caught his breath until he heard a loud growl coming from the hall that he recently left. Omega then burst from the hallway and actually spoke, "You cannot escape your fate Alpha!" Omega's voice was almost demonic, spliced like a ghost's and it just filled Rick with more panic as he heard it.

Rick then took off again but Omega managed to catch him with a tentacle and slammed him on the floor, then onto a nearby wall, and then brought him to its eye level. Omega then snarled at Rick and then threw him, with incredible strength, to a tower many hundred feet away.

Omega then looked at the tower they threw Rick at and then looked at another tower, realizing it threw Rick to the wrong tower. Omega then gave a long sigh, "Oh great! Perfect!"

Rick was flying through the air and eventually smashed through the tower's wall and fell inside. He was in pain and was surprise about Omega's insane strength.

"Ow! What kind of pokemon is that? Good Arceus that hurt!"

Rick then rose his head and opened his eyes and saw Catalina sitting on a chair staring at him in shock. Two Specters were behind her and she didn't say anything after seeing Rick smash through the wall.

She then said, "What the hell just happened to you?" A roar then came from the outside. "Oh...Omega! Wow that thing is strong!"

"Preaching to the choir on this one."

"Well then looks like you're in a lot of pain."

"What the hell are you doing here?" He then looked at her face and saw a bruise on her cheek. "What happened to you?"

"Theta happened to me! She came in here, ordered me to let the Gardevoir go and I refused. So she hit me with the blunt side of her spear and took the key and then ordered me to stay here and wait for you and to never disobey her again."

"So where's the Gardevoir?"

"Somewhere in this tower. But that's the least of your concerns at the moment."

The two Specters then began to move towards Rick and he threw two knives at them, killing them.

"Not really. I'll be leaving now."

Catalina then pulled out a sword and swung at Rick, who caught it with his bare hands and snapped it in two. Catalina looked at him with fear in her eyes and Rick then turned and walked away. Catalina however was not about to let him go.

"You know I have nothing to say to you at this moment. All I have is the need to kill you for my mistress." She then pulled out a dagger and charged towards Rick.

Rick then turned and looked at her, "Yes you do have something to say to me." He then used Psychic to knock her towards a nearby wall, knocking her out. "How about 'goodbye'?"

Rick then left the cell room and began to explore the rest of the tower, looking for Alara. Rick was surprised that he couldn't find her or sense her emotions, she must of been far from his current location. Rick then descended down a stair case and entered a long hallway. When he got halfway through the hallway he heard a crash behind him. He then turned to see Omega jumping onto the floor he was located on. When Rick saw Omega his eyes shot open and he began to run and Omega roared at him and chased him again.

(Chase Music: **Escape the Dahaka from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within**)

Rick ran towards a stairwell and slid down the rails and kept running for another four floors until Omega caught him with a tentacle and threw him through the floor. Rick fell down six stories and landed in a hay pile, luckily for him. Omega then jumped down and tried to crush him, but Rick rolled out of the way and rat towards two parallel walls and wall jumped between the two walls and made it to the ledge thirty feet up. Omega reached the ledge in a single jump.

Rick then sighed and said, "Seriously? Are you THAT powerful?"

"You don't know the half of it."

Rick then began to run again and jumped off the ledge onto a pole and swung to the other side. Omega then took a gigantic leap and tried to punch him, but Rick jumped through a small hole on a wall that led to another room. Once Omega hit the wall a shockwave was felt and Rick ran and hid in the shadows of a corridor to elude Omega. Omega then smashed through the wall and began to look for Rick in the room. Rick held his breath as Omega looked around the room for him and then stood perfectly still when Omega reached the corridor he was hiding in. Omega looked around the area and then walked away when it couldn't find Rick. Omega then smashed through the ceiling and jumped into the next floor. Rick then slowly walked out of his hiding spot and breathed a sigh of relief.

*I managed to elude Omega, but it'll be back. It'll always come back.*

Rick then back tracked and went back to the room that he was being chased in. He then looked around and saw a door on the far side and then looked around to see how he was going to get down again. He then saw a tapestry that almost reached the floor, but it was quite the jump to the tapestry. Rick then stepped back and then sprinted to the edge and jumped. Rick then brought a dagger out and cut through the tapestry and slid down to the ground.

"Well that worked fabulously. Now to find Alara."

Rick then walked toward the door and opened it and was surprised with the sight of a group of Specters looking back at him. Rick then drew his sword and attacked the Specters. He quickly killed them and then stopped when he heard a roar nearby but about three floors above him.

"No fucking way!"

Rick then began to run again and at that moment Omega crashed through the ceiling. Omega then caught Rick in its tentacles and threw him across the hall into an incomplete stairwell, making him fall about ten stories and hitting suspended wood and steel before landing into a pool of shallow water. Rick was knocked out by the time he landed and woke up a few moments later, sore and beaten. He then stood up and used **Recover** and looked up to see Omega growling at him and then leaving the area.

"Did Omega just let me go? It knew I was still alive, so why didn't it continue its assault?"

Rick then turned around and opened a door to a hallway and then heard a roar and looked up. To his horror Omega was beginning to climb down the scaffolding and set metal towards him. Rick then ran into the hall and closed the heavy steel door. He then grabbed a metal pole and bent it around the handle so that Omega couldn't enter the hall quickly. Rick then ran out of the room and onto a bridge system that led to a smaller tower. Rick then took out a remote mine from his combat pack and placed it on the side of the bridge. Rick then began to walk away and then heard a crash and looked back. Rick then fell to the floor to dodge the steel door that went flying towards him. Rick then saw Omega running like a beast towards him and he then ran and pressed the button to detonate the mine and ran faster so he could make it to the other side of the of the bridge. Omega was caught in the middle and tried to catch Rick before it fell. Rick knew he was not going to out run the bridge collapse so he jumped and held on to the edge of the end. Omega began to fall and roared before trying to grab him with a tentacle but Rick quickly slashed it with his sword.

Rick then yelled, "DIE YOU BASTARD!" Rick then stopped yelling when he saw Omega climbing the wall with its tentacles. "OH COME THE FUCK ON! IS THERE ANY WAY TO KILL YOU!?"

"You'll never find out because you won't live long enough to figure it out!"

Rick then lifted himself onto the ledge and opened the door and went inside and twisted the handle with **Psychic**.

"That's not going to hold it back for more than ten seconds. I better find Alara before Omega finds ME." Rick then found a welcoming sight, an elevator. "Oh Hallelujah! Thank you Arceus!" He then saw that it only had two destinations, the floor he was on and the eight floor. "What kind of elevator is this? Guess I only have one choice. Going down!"

Rick then pressed the button and went down the four floor and then the doors opened and Rick then saw a sight that made him happy. Alara was standing the middle of the room.

"Alara!"

Alara then looked back and saw Rick and then smiled and ran up to him and hugged him. "Rick! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Same here. Man it's been a while!"

"A while? It's only been a day."

"Oh yeah, you don't know. I sent the army into X's time chamber, we stayed there for six months and trained. Six months or a day in this world."

"Oh wow and it worked?"

"Yep, the army is kicking ass outside and I got way stronger so I could fight the Projects. However, Epsilon ran away from our fight and I've been chased by Omega for a while now. I think I ran a good three miles just trying to get away from it."

"You ran into Omega?"

"Yeah but I managed to lose it, but only for the moment."

"Well at least you're alright."

"Thanks. I see that you're okay too. I really missed you in those six months."

"You do look stronger. I'm impressed!"

"Thanks. Why are you just standing here?"

Alara then sighed, "Because the door to this room is locked and the only way to open it is to pull those levers over there." Alara then pointed to a ledge near the door.

Rick then nodded and looked around and saw another lever on the other side but each way to the levers was pretty much destroyed. Rick looked around the room and saw poles and bars on the walls.

Rick then told Alara, "Get on my back. I need to get you to a lever so I can get to the other one and pull it."

"But how are you going to get to them?"

"Don't worry about that. I have a way."

Alara then nodded and got on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Rick then ran up a wall nearby and jumped to a nearby bar and lifted himself up before jumping onto a ledge and sidling down the ledge until he could jump to another ledge. Rick then jumped to a pole and climbed it and then jumped to another and landed on a ledge with a lever.

"Alright, stay here. I'm going to go to the next lever."

"Alright. How did you do that?"

"Me and my team used to practice parkour. It makes getting around easier and it's faster then running around."

"That's really cool. Can you teach me how to do that someday?"

"Yeah someday. Now wait here."

Rick then jumped off the ledge and back onto the pole. He then positioned himself and jumped onto a indentation on the ceiling and held onto it before moving and positioning himself above a bar and dropped down on it. Rick then jumped to another bar and then jumped onto a ledge near the lever and wall ran to the lever.

"Okay pull it!"

They both then pulled the levers and they heard a lock opening. Rick then jumped down and rolled as he landed. He then walked up to the ledge where Alara was at.

Alara then said, "How do I get down?"

"Jump! I'll catch you!"

Alara then jumped off the ledge and Rick caught her and then put her back on her feet. They then opened the door and saw a large room with a large statue of Epsilon in the center.

"Wow she sure is conceited, isn't she Rick?"

"Yeah, she's always had an ego."

Alara then giggled and leaned on his arm.

"Hey Alara, I actually brought you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

Rick then reached into his battle pack and pulled out Alara's sword. "Ta da! I got it from Amber, who found it on the beach. I took it with me to the Hall of Origin and modified it for you."

Alara then took her sword back and looked at it, "That's really sweet. Thank you! What did you do to it?"

"Well it has a built in gun. The blade was pushed a bit higher so that the barrel could not be blocked. I also sharpened the blade and changed its color."

"I can see that. My sword was blue, my mom's favorite color. You turned it red, my favorite color."

"It is? Wow I just guessed."

"Well you guessed right."

Alara then pressed the button to compress her sword and was surprised when it compressed into a pistol.

"Yeah I also though that since I modified it with a gun I would make its compressed state into a gun. You can also turn it into a dagger and its original form."

"Awesome! Thank you! The gun will come in handy here."

Rick then looked around the room and saw a door on the floor above them.

"Looks like you'll have to get back on my back so I can climb us up there."

Alara nodded and climbed onto his back again. Rick then climbed the statue and jumped off of it to a platform. Rick then found a ladder and climbed it until he could see another ledge and wall ran to it.

"How can you run on a wall like that?"

"Jean made me do some crazy things when we learned how to parkour. I learned how to do it when Jean started firing **Fire Blasts** at me when we were sparring in a rock pit. The trick to it is to lean your weight onto the wall your running on and try not to lean to the other side. Also, you can only go so far before gravity makes you its bitch. So you have to calculate how far it is and how much momentum you can get. I'll teach you about it at another time. Let's just get out of here before..." He was then cut off by a roar coming from below and the door flying across the room. "And with that we are running. Hold on!"

Rick then sprinted to the edge of the ledge and jumped to another ledge. Omega then jumped on the ledge behind him and began to chase him again. Alara held on for dear life as Rick jumped from place to place and dodged attacks from Omega. Rick then grabbed a remote mine from his combat pack and threw it the ceiling and detonated it, causing large stones and chunks of metal to fall on Omega, but Omega was either unphazed or knocked the debris away.

Rick made it to the ledge with the door and quickly opened it and, this time, didn't bother to close it. Rick then turned a corner and Alara lost her grip and fell off of him. Rick then stopped and tried to go back for her but Omega cut him off and forced him to run to the end, where Rick was caught in a dead end with no way to get out except for the way he came. Rick then saw Omega walking up to him and Alara getting up.

Rick knew that there was no way for him to get out of the corner so he took a deep breath and drew his sword and charged a **Psycho Cut** on his free arm. If he was going to go down he was going to go down fighting.

Omega then brought out its claws and glared at Rick, preparing to kill him, and Rick took his battle position. Alara then jumped in between Omega and Rick and drew her sword. Alara then tried to slash Omega but Omega caught her arm with a tentacle and wrapped another tentacle around her waist and neck.

Omega then spoke, "You DARE get in my way!"

Rick then tried to free Alara by attacking Omega, but Omega smacked him back into the wall, cracking it with Rick's body. Rick then fell onto the floor in pain and looked up to see Omega staring at Alara. Omega then began to choke her with the tentacle, making Rick growl and his eyes begin to glow red. Rick then looked at his left hand, to the sigil that Arceus put on the back of his hand. He saw that it was glowing and Rick then got up and swung the arm at Omega, hoping it to do something, since Arceus told him that it had a purpose.

Once Rick swung at Omega's tentacles, he could hear Omega shrieking and roaring in pain and chunks of the tentacles falling on the floor. Rick then caught Alara as she fell and she tried to catch her breath. Rick then felt something in his hand and looked at it. What he saw surprised him, he had a sword in his hands that had a chain that came from the sigil and connected to the end of the sword. The blade was glowing white and Rick was surprised on how it actually harmed Omega.

Rick then put Alara down and proceeded to cut down the tentacles and take slashes at Omega. Rick however knew that he couldn't get cocky so he stopped attacking because he knew Omega was still too powerful for him to kill. Rick then watched as the cuts delivered on Omega healed.

"So you can't take light? This is interesting news. Let me guess this isn't your true form and because of this light has an effect on you. It's pointless for me to try to kill you."

Alara then asked, "Rick, what are you doing?"

"I'm giving it an option to back off and leave me alone for the moment and to fight another day. I still can't beat Omega but it's vulnerable to light in that form."

"Form?"

"All Projects have stronger forms. It's a consequence from the experimentation. You get more evolutionary stages but you can revert back and forth as you wish."

"So you have more stages?"

"No, I gave up my powers." Rick then told Omega. "So either continue to fight in that monstrous second stage of yours or leave."

Omega then roared and tried to punch Rick. Rick then brought up the sword to block the punch and the sword then became a shield and shot an explosion of light, harming Omega.

Rick then said, "How the hell? This is awesome. I have a sword of shadow and now a sword/shield of light. Thank you dad and Arceus."

Omega then roared again and smashed through a wall and left the room in pain. After Omega left the shield disappeared and so did the sword. Rick then tried to bring the sword out again but it wouldn't reappear.

"What happened to the sword?"

"I don't know. I can't bring it out again. Well that sucks!"

"Let's not worry about that. Let's get out of here before Omega heals and comes back for your head."

"Agreed, it'll come back angry and I won't be able to beat it. Hell I still don't stand a chance, even with that sword."

Rick and Alara then walked through the maze of passages and found a elevator at the end of the maze. They then took it to the bottom floor.

Alara then said, "Finally, we're getting out of this damn tower. I've only been here for a day and I'm tired of it."

"I've been here for an hour and a half and I'm sick of it."

Alara then giggled and held onto Rick, making him chuckle contently.

The elevator then stopped and the door opened. Rick and Alara then walked off the elevator and noticed the entire room was covered in sand.

"Why the hell is there so much sand? Looks like a useless interior decorating idea."

Rick then chuckled, "Well Epsilon is an idiot. I don't regard her as much else."

They then felt something in the room and looked towards the center. Once they looked they saw Project Nu burst out of the sand and look at them.

Nu then said, "Ah so you're finally here. Now the fun can begin."

**So there you have it. One more part in this battle and a lot of battles that need descriptions. The next chapter will put more emphasis on the other battles that are happening at the moment. Epsilon is a super coward right now, isn't she? Things are only going to get more epic from this point on so please bear with me. Keep sending me your questions, suggestions, requests, and ideas. All these are really appreciated. So that's l have for now guys. Bye!**


	31. Chapter 31: First Blood Part 3 (Finale)

**The grand finale of the three part battle is here and it is long, longest chapter I have ever written. This chapter is going to be very action packed and it will have a lot of music to go along with it. I initially finished this on Friday but my mom deleted it by accident so I had to start all over again...over 12,000 words in all. I actually prefer how this one came out versus the original so feel free to enjoy the story. So tell me what you think in the reviews, leave me your questions, suggestions, and requests. Also, I forgot to mention in my last chapter but thank you all for over a hundred reviews and this month you guys have beaten your all time viewing record. We're in the middle of November and the views already passed those of October and September. Thank you so much. Thanks for you time guys and Enjoy. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) Australia, 4th) The Philippines, and 5th) Iceland.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and Alara were in the giant sand room, looking at Project Nu stretch and crack his joints. Rick and Alara drew their swords, preparing for Nu to make a move.

Nu then said, "You know, I have been waiting to meet you for a while Alpha. In fact, I have been waiting to test your strength since the time I first heard about you."

"Really? I wasn't aware that Team Rocket even spoke of me anymore."

"Oh they do. They want to get you back by any means necessary. Giovanni feels like you're the biggest threat we have as long as you're not on our side."

Rick chuckled, "Oh he couldn't be more correct, but I will never be on his side again. I never truly was. If I even get the chance, I will kill him with my bear hands."

"Understandable, but let's get to what we're here for. Fight me! I want to see your strength."

Rick then cracked his neck and stepped forward. Alara grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back to talk to him.

She said, "Rick, are you sure you want to fight him? He's a Project."

Rick smiled back at her and turned around and told her, "I'll be alright. I'm stronger now. I understand your concern but I need to do this. To prove to myself that I can do it."

"Rick..."

"I can beat him. Don't worry about me. If anything you should try to get out of here while I fight him. Try to get to the army or to any of our friends. I have to take down this Sandslash."

Alara was surprised about what he was saying, "I can't leave you alone here. What if you lose? You need me!"

"I'll be okay. You're the one that needs saving, not me. I need to prove something to myself."

Alara didn't respond, she just stood there and looked at him with a concerned look. Rick then turned around and looked at Nu, who was sharpening his claws.

Nu then said, "So are you ready?"

"Yeah, just let Alara here get to a safe distance."

Nu moved out of the way so that Alara could walk towards the exit, which was on a balcony above the room. Nu then summoned a stair case made out of sand so that Alara could reach it. Alara reluctantly left Rick's side and walked up the sand steps to the balcony. She looked back at Rick before opening the doors and leaving the room.

Rick was now alone with Project Nu in the sand pit room and Rick knew that Nu already had the environmental advantage over him. Rick braced himself for anything Nu was about to do.

Nu then said, "She seemed really afraid to leave your side. She seems to worry a lot about you and she seems to really care about you."

"She's always been like that. Ever since we were little."

Nu then chuckled, "Oh to be a kid again. What great times! But that times has already ended for both of us."

"Yeah...so are you ready to do this?"

"Whenever you are."

(Battle Music: **Ignored by I.O.N** (DBZ fans go crazy))

Rick nodded and took his battle position, along with Nu. Nu then lunged at Rick and tried to stab him with his claws. Rick dodged the claws and grabbed it, leaving Nu open to a medley of melee attacks. Nu, however, blocked each attack with the other arm and tried to stab him with the free hand. Rick let go of him and fired a **Psycho Cut** at Nu's gut, but Nu caught the blade with his claws and slammed it to the ground. Rick then appeared in front of him and tried to hit him with an **Ice Punch**, but Nu caught the fist and swung Rick over his head before slamming him to the ground.

Rick was surprised by Nu's quick reflexes and upper body strength, the attack really hurt but it didn't do a lot of damage. Rick then looked up and managed to roll out of the way of a **Crush Claw** heading straight to his head. Rick stood up and looked at Nu's hand and saw that Nu wasn't bringing it out of the sand.

"Are you stuck?"

He then heard Nu chuckled, "Not quite."

Rick was confused by this, but quickly realized what he could of meant when a sand spike came out of the ground and attempted to impale him. Rick began to jump out of the way of hordes of sprouting spikes that kept homing in on him. Rick then took a bad step and got surrounded by spikes that sprouted and split, tangling him up like a spider web.

Nu chuckled again and made a wave of spikes charge forward towards Rick. Rick began to struggle in the mesh and managed to get his right arm out of the trap. Shadowbane then began to glow and Rick lunged it to the ground, summoning a Psycho Cataclysm wave, freeing him from the mesh and destroying the incoming spike attack.

"You can either get your claws out of the ground or take the pain of the attack."

Nu growled and took his claws out, charged a **Brick Break** and slammed it onto the wave, stopping it in its tracks and shocking Rick.

"What was that Alpha? It wasn't too bad considering how easily I destroyed it."

Rick just looked at him with an awkward/shocked smile, "I have no idea. I didn't know that you could just slam a wave down like that. You have a lot of upper body strength."

"That's the least of your worries."

Nu jumped into the air and then dove into the sand, disappearing from sight.

"Shit...**Dig**!"

Rick stood where he was but stayed vigilant and tried to locate where Nu probably was. Rick sunk his feet into the ground to try to feel for his location and, for some reason, he couldn't pick up his emotions. Rick thought desperately for a solution to his problem, and it soon came to him. Rick charged an **Ice Punch** and punched the ground, causing an ice field about fifteen feet in diameter. Rick then stood still for a little while and waited for something to happen. It didn't take long for Rick to see the ice cracking and coming towards him, telling him that Nu was charging. Rick took a battle position and charged a **Leaf Blade** and sliced at the ground when the ice began to crack near him.

Not long afterwards Nu burst out of the ground with a green slash on his back and in pain. He looked back at Rick and had an angry expression on his face.

"Damn it! That hurt!"

"Don't take me lightly then."

"Go to hell!" He then gave a scream and flailed his arms, causing a large cloud of sand to appear and become a **Sandstorm**.

The sandstorm began to blind Rick and forced him to rely of his psychic abilities to locate Nu, which turned out to be a hard task since Nu was somehow concealing his presence from Rick's abilities.

Nu then rushed towards Rick with an **X-Scissors** on his claws. Rick shielded his eyes and sunk his feet into the ground to locate Nu. Once Nu got close Rick felt his presence and ducked under the attack and **Focus Punched** Nu. Nu then sunk into the ground and Rick could no longer feel him coming and the only way for him to brace for an attack was if Nu got extremely close to him. The last few dodges have been out of pure luck and training but now he was vulnerable.

Rick thought for a second and pulled the Chaos Scarf over his eyes and commanded it, "Chaos, be my eyes for little while." The scarf gave a grunt growl, took the form of a snake's head, and dove its head into the ground, looking for Nu. A few moments later it came back with Nu in its jaws and slammed him into a nearby wall. The Chaos Scarf then went back to Rick's side and looked at Nu for him since it can see through sandstorms and in heat.

Nu got back up and looked at the Chaos Scarf and then at Rick and asked, "What the hell is that thing?"

"Like it? You should be weary. This is called the Chaos Scarf, a gift to me from Giratina himself for doing an important favor for him. This thing is an extremely powerful weapon, and a dangerous one. It can take the shape of almost any creature/object, it possesses incredible strength, it can dispel illusions and curses, it can channel visions, and can even absorb energy and fire it back. But luckily for you I don't use it very much because it's just not my style to use outside assistance. However, it works very well for strategies or last second tactics, like what just happened a few moments ago."

Nu then fired a **Focus Blast** at the Chaos Scarf to see if it fazed it. The attack hit the scarf and made it flinch but it did no damage to it. The Chaos Scarf then hissed at Nu and fired a beam at him, which Nu barely dodged in time but was thrown by the explosion that followed.

The Chaos Scarf then charged another beam attack but Rick stopped it before it could fire it.

"Stop Chaos! You know you're not supposed to attack without my order." The scarf then gave an apologetic growl. "Don't worry, everything is alright. You'll get your chance soon enough but for now hold back on attacking out of rage." The scarf then nodded and looked back at Nu.

Nu stood up and shook the shock off of himself, "That thing is...is...a demon."

"You may be right in that sense, but it's a demon that knows how to get the job done."

"So you can see what it sees?"

"Yes, but I don't use that ability since it can cause headaches. Some of this thing's abilities do have drawbacks, so I have reasons to not use it too often."

"Enough with the lecture! DIE!"

Nu ran towards Rick with an **Aerial Ace** on his claws and Rick met him in the center with **Psycho Cuts** on his blades. They exchanged blows for a few moments until they both managed to hit one another and knocked each other back.

Nu held onto his gut and Rick shook off the pain of the blow to his chin. Nu then gave a loud yell and the sandstorm grew denser. Rick felt it grow denser so he began to gather energy and then let it explode out, dispersing the sandstorm.

Nu saw that Rick got rid of his **Sandstorm** and asked, "How!?"

Rick pulled the Chaos Scarf back down to his neck and chuckled, "I'm the Alpha. After a while of being in the sandstorm, I realized that it had a certain rhythm and pattern to it. So I figured, what would happen if it was disrupted? So I used my own energy disrupt the flow. Battles aren't always won by brute strength; There's a mental factor that can help you in battle, if you take the time to think and analyse."

"So your legend is true. You get stronger the longer a battle continues."

"I wouldn't say that. My strength remains the same but I take my time to analyse things around me."

"You're powerful and I have great respect for you, but you must realize that we are not friends. We must fight to the bitter end."

Rick sighed, "I understand that. I'm ready to continue whenever you're ready."

Nu nodded and charged an **X-Scissors** and Rick charged an **Ice Punch**. Both attacks collided and caused an explosion, with Rick and Nu exchanging blows in the epicenter. Nu then jumped to one side of the arena and charged a **Hyper Beam** at the end of the claws and Rick charged his own. They let the blasts go and both attacks collided and both Rick and Nu fought for supremacy in the attacks, no one gaining ground quickly.

Nu then charged his energy and let his aura out and began to overpower Rick's **Hyper Beam**. Rick fought hard to hold his ground but Nu's energy was amazing in his eyes and he couldn't push back the blast in his current state. Rick made a decision and gathered his energy and then gave a loud roar, causing his black aura to explode out. He began to push back Nu's **Hyper Beam** and with one powerful burst of power engulfed Nu in the combined blasts.

Once the struggle was over, Rick recalled his aura so that Nu couldn't accurately read his power. Once the dust settled Rick's eyes shot opened when he saw Nu rolled up in a spiked ball, to protect himself from the blast. Nu then began to spun in his ball form and lunged at Rick like a saw, trying to slice him in two. Rick grabbed the sides of Nu's ball and tried to keep the rotating spikes from his body, but that was easier said than done. They struggled again for power and Rick was beginning to loose power when Nu increased his spin speed. Rick, seeing that Nu was going at a very fast speed, jumped out of the way and forced Nu to hit a wall. Nu recovered and began to spin again towards Rick, but Rick was ready this time. Rick charged an **Ice Punch** and punched the ground and used **Psychic** to make a ramp out of ice, making Nu fly into the air. Rick then charged a Psycho Cut Gatling Gun and unleashed the attack, beating back Nu and making him crash land onto the ground.

Nu struggled up onto his feet and face Rick again while growling to himself on how he wasn't gaining much ground, and how resourceful Rick was. Nu cracked his neck and began to laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?"

"I've been waiting for a long time for someone to be able to take me on like this. It's been far too long since my last decent challenge. Now then, let's continue but in my next form to make this more fun for me."

Nu charged his energy again and Rick took up a defensive position. Nu chuckled and began to glow brown. Rick saw his claws grow longer, to the length of swords, his back spikes became longer and sharper, he grew many feet taller, some of the spikes on his head began to rise slightly and the ends spiked up, making a crown of spikes. The ground around him began to ripple and a roar was then heard coming from him.

"Crap!"

[Alara]

Alara was running down a hallway, looking for an exit. She couldn't get Rick out of her mind and wondered whether she should go back, just in case he needed her help in fighting Nu. She stopped running and looked back down the hall and fought the urge to run back to Rick, but it was hard to leave him alone with the Project.

*Rick, I think you need me but I know you want to keep me safe. Damn it! What should I do!?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by her hair being pulled back by Catalina, who had a livid expression on her face.

"Where do you think you're going!?"

Alara held onto Catalina's hand, trying to pry it off, "I WAS going to get out of here, but then I thought that I should help out Alpha. But it looks like I'm stuck fighting you."

"Yeah right! You don't stand a chance against me." She said as she threw Alara to a wall.

Alara quickly got up and drew her sword, shocking Catalina. Alara giggled to herself, "Didn't expect me to be armed, did you?"

"Where did you get that sword?"

"This is my own personal sword. It was made my father for my mother, my mother gave it to me, and Alpha modified it for me. I haven't used it since he gave it back to me a few minutes ago."

"It won't help you." Catalina reached to her side and pulled out sword.

(Battle Music: **Bloody Rabbit by Yuki Kajiura**)

Catalina lunged towards Alara and Alara blocked the attack. Catalina was attacking Alara viciously and Alara was putting her training to the test by successfully dodging the attacks and returning blows. They then swung at each other and clashed in the center, fighting for the advantage. Alara had to admit that Catalina was one powerful Delcatty, and she was not going to win by brute strength alone.

"So what's the deal with coming after me? Theta told you to leave me alone."

"Theta has no power over me! I serve Epsilon! If I kill you I might actually win her favor."

"You actually believe that? Epsilon hates everyone."

"That is true. She doesn't have to like me but she will see me as her best Fragment."

Alara sighed and blocked an incoming attack from Catalina. Catalina yelled and jumped into the air and fired a **Shadow Ball** at Alara, surprising her. Alara jumped out of the way and returned fire with a **Thunderbolt**, dropping Catalina to the ground. She quickly got up and hit Alara with a **Zen Headbutt** and then hit her with a **Giga Impact**. Alara hit the wall behind her and slouched down in pain. She looked up and saw Catalina lunging at her with her sword. Alara quickly used Psychic to knock her back to the wall and got up. Catalina got up and lunged forwards again, but Alara saw it coming.

Alara said, "Okay fuck this!" She then hit Catalina with a right hook, spinning her around and knocking her out instantly. While she was on the floor Alara stood over her and giggled to herself. "That was easy. I'm surprised how Rick's training has actually helped me. Should I kill her?...Nah! I'll just let her get hell from Epsilon later." With that she teleported Catalina to Epsilon's tower and then ran back towards Rick.

[Dartz]

Dartz's fight with Theta was well underway with both exchanging attacks and no one really going for a domination. They were fighting at the top of the West Tower. Dartz was dodging Theta's ice attacks and returning the attacks with his wire, which Theta would dodge or cut to shreds.

Theta said, "You know, this is interesting. I'm a Project but you didn't hesitate to fight me."

Dartz chuckled, "I guess I was bored. I don't fear a lot of things, not even fighting a Project."

Theta giggled, "Well I guess this battle isn't necessarily on bad terms."

"I don't care what happens in this fight. I just needed to get you away from Alpha. I don't want to kill you now, I just want some action."

"Likewise. We may be enemies but we don't hate each other."

"You're different from the other Projects, aren't you?"

Theta nodded, "Yes. I'd rather not kill my enemies, if I have the chance. I'm also the most kind hearted of all the Projects, which is weird for Projects."

"This just tells me that you didn't join them by choice."

"No, I was kidnapped as an Eevee but I stayed because of Projects Delta and Omega. Delta was my teacher and Omega is my best friend."

"Omega? That beast that I saw chasing Alpha through the bridges?"

"Yep. Omega has been waiting to go after Alpha. But I sense that Alpha got away and is now fighting Nu. Oh well, trade one villain and get another."

Dartz chuckled, "So are we going to keep going?"

Theta walked forward and grabbed Dartz's wire and pulled it. "Considering that this isn't slicing my hand into pieces tells me that you don't want to kill me. Why fight?"

"Do you have something better to do?"

Theta giggled, "No, but I doubt that your wire is going to beat my spear."

"Then let me level the playing field."

Theta arched an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Dartz then recalled the garrote wire and materialized a black spear to his hand. "Ta da!"

Theta's eyes then had a hint of curiosity, "Oh? You're a lancer as well?"

"Yep. It's my true signature weapon. I use the wire because I like it and many enemies don't expect it. So shall we?"

"Sure!"

(Battle Music: **The Battle for Everyone's Souls from Person 3**)

Dartz and Theta ran towards one another and met in the center of the area. They clashed spears and began to exchange blows until they landed themselves into a power struggle. Dartz had more strength than Theta so he easily won the power struggle and forced her back. Dartz pushed forward, almost to the edge, and he then pushed her off. Theta began to stagger back until she was about to fall but was saved when Dartz grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Thanks!"

"No problem. It was my fault anyways. Now then..."

The fight was on again with Dartz on the offensive, swinging his spear around and with Theta blocking the attacks and then firing an **Ice Beam** at him. The attack hit Dartz in the chest and froze him in place, giving Theta a chance to attack him. She then tossed her spear and it went through the ice and through Dartz.

"Sorry about that. I didn't throw it through a vital area so you should be fine."

As she looked back she saw Dartz disappear and reappear, tackling her to the ground and driving his spear next to her head.

Darts chuckled, "Ah **Faint Attack**, one of my favorite moves."

"Oh so you tricked me?"

"Yep. I got out a few moments prior to you drilling your spear in there. Let's make this fight a little more interesting, do you mind?"

"What's the game?"

"We fight in our original forms. That means no spears, no arms, nothing human. We fight as pokemon and only that. It shouldn't be too hard to do that since that's how we learned how to fight."

"Alright. Sounds fun."

Both of them then began to glow and turned back into their pokemon forms.

Theta then said to Dartz, "Do you mind getting off of me now?"

"Oh! Sorry!" He quickly jumped off of her, letting her stand up. She then shook to fix her messed up fur and then looked at Dartz, who was bracing himself for the fight.

"So let's get this over with."

"Yeah."

Theta smiled and fired an Ice Beam at him and he returned fire with a Dark Pulse, cancelling each other's attacks. They charged at one another and tackled one another, bearing their fangs.

[Jean]

Jean was facing off against Mu, and enjoying himself in the fight. Mu was actually having a lot of trouble keeping up with Jean's unpredictable battle behavior. He would constantly switch his fighting style and move extremely fast in the fight, leaving Mu unable to even hit Jean.

Mu said to Jean, "How is a Remnant beating me to the curve?"

Jean said with a laugh, "Because I fight like seriously and make it look like a joke, and you fight like a joke and make it look serious."

A vein then appeared on Mu's head, "What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

Mu gave a yell and fired an **Air Cutter** at Jean, which Jean dodged easily by using his accelerated movement. Mu yelled again and fired a series of **Air Slashes** at him. Jean through his hands up caught two of the air saws and threw them back at Mu, which bounced off his steel plated armor.

Mu then flew up into the air,, above a forked arc, and Jean made a fireball in his hands and placed it on the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You'll see."

He then waited for Amari to beat Gale towards Jean's location. Not too long afterwards, Gale stumbled in front of Jean's fireball and then Amari **Bullet Punched** gale until he was disorientated. Jean smiled and kicked the fire ball towards Gale, hitting him and sending him flying towards Mu, hitting him, and making the fire ball explode. Two Gallades then appeared next to Jean wearing referee uniforms, blowing whistles, and throwing their hands up.

Jean then yelled, "It's good! He's still alive and I want to be serious now."

Mu got up and threw Gale towards Amari, while Gale was yelling, "Oh no! Not her!"

Mu shook his metal feathers to get the soot off of them and glared at Jean. "You think you're so tough because you're beating back a Project and joking about it."

"I never said that. I know you can change the tide of this fight in a second."

"Good. So you're aware that we Projects have more than one form. This form isn't as powerful as other Project's weaker forms but my second form is a beast in power."

"I'm getting bored! Let's see it!"

Mu chuckled, "As you wish, but you were warned."

Mu then crossed his wings over his face and the ground began to shake and his body began to glow white. His body then began to change, he grew taller, received another spike on his head (emulating horns), his wings split into two pairs of wings, he grew arms and a muscular build, he also grew three more tails. Mu then threw his wings to his side and gave a loud shriek, making the light disappeared and exposing the new form of Project Mu, now standing at a colossal twelve feet tall.

Jean saw Mu and began to laugh, "Finally a true fight! Come at me!"

(Battle Song: **Indestructible by Disturbed**)

Mu glared at Jean and rose his four wings and spread them, exposing the multiple blades that made up the wings themselves. They then began to glow blue and he fired a barrage of **Air Slashes** at Jean. Jean dodged all the blades, and so did all the Gallades and Gardevoirs. Jean fired a **Fire Blast** at Mu, hitting him on his face but didn't faze him at all. Jean rushed Mu with a **Blaze Kick**, jumped into the air, and brought the kick down on his face, apparently not fazing him again in any way. Mu grabbed Jean's leg and slammed him on the ground, swung him at a group of soldiers, swung him at another group of soldiers, and then threw him to the fortress's outer walls.

Jean pried himself off the wall and fell onto his face, trying to take the pain and begun to stand up. Mu saw him getting up and covered himself in blue flames and crashed into him, hitting Jean with **Brave Bird** and knocking him through the stone wall. Mu then grabbed him in one hand and picked him up before hitting him with an **Aerial Ace**, launching him back into the fortress's courtyard. Jean recovered in the air and fired a **Blast Burn** at Mu, finally hurting him. Mu counter attacked by firing a **Flash Cannon** at Jean, launching him back down onto the ground.

Wayland ran to Jean's side and helped him up. "Jean, you alright brother?"

"Yeah, I'm alright...LOOK OUT!"

Wayland looked up and barely dodged an **Air Slash** from Mu. Wayland then tried to hit Mu with a **Dynamic Punch**, but Mu caught his fist and slammed Wayland to the ground. Jean tried to hit Mu with a **Fire Punch**, but Mu blocked it with one of his wings, kicked him back, swung Wayland at him, slammed him to the ground, and hit Wayland with an **Aerial Ace**, launching him into Jean and sending both flying.

Mu then laughed, "Why don't you just give up? It'll save you any more pain you will experience in the near future."

Jean chuckled to himself while Mu was walking towards him, "I was never taught how to give up. I just fight until I stop kicking."

Mu reached him and brought his fist up and punched Jean into the ground, shaking the ground.

[Rick]

Rick was still watching as Nu changed into his second form. He was bracing himself for the worst and just then the light around Nu disappeared and the monster that was now Nu stood in his place and dropped his head and panted.

Nu then lifted his head and began to chuckled, his voice was way lower, "Ah so now that I'm at full strength we can fight like the warriors we are. But you won't survive the encounter. Groudon's DNA gives me power over the ground and the sands of the Earth!" A face mask then appeared out of his the spikes around his face and covered his face.

(Battle Music: **Why by I.O.N**)

Nu roared and sand circled him in the form of a atom's rings. He roared again and a wave of spikes lunged from multiple directions, which Rick dodged and he drew Shadowbane again to fight the new super powered Nu. Nu laughed at the sight of Shadowbane and the Chaos Scarf.

He then said, "Both of those are now useless against me. Nothing can kill me now!"

He lunged towards Rick with his enlarged claws and Rick jumped on them and ran up his arm before slicing his head in two. Rick looked back and was astonished at the sight of Nu's head reforming. Nu then brought out arms from the sand, causing Rick to continuously jump out of the way but managed to get caught. The arm threw Rick into the air and Nu clotheslined him and then slammed him into a nearby wall multiple times.

Nu laughed maniacally and threw Rick the other end of the room and slammed his arms onto the ground, making two giant rocks burst out of the ground and crash onto the downed Rick in a **Rock Tomb**.

"CRUSHED!"

Rick then gave a yell and broke out of the **Rock Tomb** by making his aura explode and breaking the rocks apart. Rick glared at Nu and fired a barrage of **Psycho Cuts** at him, just shy of a gatling gun. None of the blades, however, did any damage on Nu and Rick was running out of options.

Nu chuckled and lunged at Rick and grabbed him in his massive arm and threw him across the room again, but this time he brought out spikes to impale Rick on. But before it could be done Rick flipped and used his **Psycho Cuts** to destroy the incoming spikes. Rick landed and his eyes were glowing red. He lunged forward with an **Ice Punch** on hand and hit Nu in the gut, actually hurting him. Rick then roared and lifted the colossal monstrous Sandlash, almost effortlessly, and slammed him to the floor and wailed on him with **Ice Punches** and **Leaf Blades**. Once he finished his assault he roared again and his eyes went back to normal. Nu noticed this and grabbed him before throwing him at a wall and making a gigantic sand fist hit him into the wall.

Nu got back up and said, "What the hell was that? It actually hurt me. You weren't yourself for a quick second." He removed the fist from the wall and let Rick fall onto the ground. "So you still have some pent up strength within you! You better let it out before I manage to kill you. I'm not too far from that."

Rick lifted his head and staggered to his feet and looked around for anything that could help him in the fight, there was nothing he could use. Rick looked at Shadowbane and Chaos and realized that they couldn't help him against Nu's second form. Rick began to think of all sorts of things that can cripple sand and then came up with an idea, but to test it he would have to wait for Nu to bring out the spikes from the ground.

Nu chuckled and tried to stab Rick with his claws, Rick jumped on his arm and flipped over Nu and hit him with a **Psyshock**, knowing it would not hurt him. Rick landed and got in front of a lantern so that his shadow covered the room. Nu turned around and looked as Rick took a combat pose.

Nu laughed, "So you still have some fight in you? This might be more fun that I thought it would be."

Rick smiled and Nu arched an eyebrow. Rick then gave a small yell and his shadow moved by itself and took the shape of a gigantic fist and came up off the ground and punched Nu into the air. The shadow fist then grabbed the airborne Nu and slammed him onto the ground.

Rick chuckled, "No one ever expects the **Shadow Sneak**. It's a useful little move."

Nu lifted his head and growled before slamming a fist into the ground, summoning up spikes to attack Rick. Rick smiled wider and charged a **Fire Punch** and hit the ground, turning the sand around him into glass. The spikes stopped the moment they reached the glass and Rick laughed.

"Wow! It actually worked! You can only use those moves in sand but not in glass. So you have an ironic disability, your own element can also be your weakness. Also, considering that you're made up of sand and flesh now, you are now vulnerable to fire. Interesting and kinda ironic to be honest."

Nu roared and tried to slash Rick but Rick fired a **Will-O-Wisp** at the claws, turning them into glass. Once the claws got close Rick punched them, shattering the arm and making Nu flinch and roar in pain. Rick chuckled and grabbed the lantern and threw it towards Nu, it shattering when it hit the ground near him, causing a large pool of flaming liquid to cover a space between Rick and Nu.

Nu roared once more and sunk into the ground, appearing behind Rick and throwing him into the air. Nu then jumped up after him and slashed him with his remaining arm. When Rick hit the floor Nu dropped down and punched him into the ground, making a deep crater to appear and sand flowing in. Nu jumped out of the sand pit and reformed his arm with the sand around him.

Nu then yelled, "You won't get the chance to do that again!" Nu slammed his arms on the ground, forming a **Sand Tomb** and covering the crater with sand. "Die!"

Nu turned and accidentally placed one of his feet in the fire pool, turning his leg into glass and making him fall over. Nu cursed his luck and broke the glass off, roaring in pain as he did it. As he did that he glared at the Sand Tomb and jumped landing on the ground and summoned an **Earthquake**.

"That's for the pain!"

He turned and was then surprised by a reply from Rick, "What? All is fair in love and war. I found your weakness and I began exploiting it." The sand that was on top of Rick then flew into the air and Rick appeared with his aura out and then disappearing. "I bet you're wondering how I'm alright. I have a little move that I don't use very often called **Recover** and another that I use even less called **Protect**. However, I can only use **Recover** once per fight.

"So you decided to use it now? What a waste!"

"Not really. I could of died if I didn't. So I say it was the right move. Now then!"

Rick charged a **Will-O-Wisp** in his mouth and fired it at Nu's gut, and hit it directly. Rick ran towards him with a **Focus Punch**, dodging Nu's attacks and hitting him in the gut, shattering the glass and splitting Nu in two. Nu's torso fell to the ground and Rick stepped back when he saw Nu reforming his bottom half again.

"You can't destroy me with a simple **Will-O-Wisp** strategy. No matter how many times you chip away at me, you won't land a killing blow. You'll just hurt me a little."

Rick smiled and charged a **Fire Punch** and disappeared, reappearing on Nu's back and punching him through his chest. Rick jumped off and saw as Nu thrust his own arm through his chest to take the glass out, so he could reform. Rick was about to hit him again until he felt a familiar presence on the balcony above them. He looked up and almost shrieked when he saw Alara standing on the balcony, watching the fight.

Rick yelled at her, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!? I TOLD YOU TO RUN TO SAFETY!"

She then yelled back, "IT'S KINDA HARD TO RUN WHEN YOU GET ATTACKED BY FRAGMENTS!"

"So you ran back here for protection?"

"No, I beat Catalina and then walked back here."

Rick sweatdropped, "So why are you here?"

"Because I feel like I need to help you. Can you blame me?"

"Umm...no, but it probably wasn't the best move."

"LOOK OUT!"

Rick looked back but was grabbed by a now gigantic Nu, who was growling in a rage.

Rick then asked, "When did you transform?"

Nu replied, "I didn't transform, I just grew thanks to the sand in the room. Now then, I'm going to crush the life out of you!"

Nu began to crush Rick in his hands, Alara looked on until she heard Rick's ribs cracking. Once she heard the first rib crack she fired **Will-O-Wisps** at Nu's arms and shot the glass, making him release Rick. Alara quickly dropped down and used **Healing Pulse** on him to heal his ribs and other wounds.

Nu quickly recovered and grabbed Alara and brought her to his eye level. Nu growled at her and morphed his arm into a spiked mace.

"You immediately became a nuisance and nuisances must be destroyed."

Nu swung the mace towards Alara and Alara closed her eyes to take the attack. After a moment she opened her eyes when heard Nu roar in pain. When she opened her eyes she was the mace fall to the ground with the end flaming with white fire. She then looked for Rick and saw him slicing off Nu's other arm with the light sword in his left hand. Once he sliced off the arm he grabbed Alara and ran down the arm and made it to the ground, where he set her down.

Nu quickly tried to stop on them but Rick sliced the leg off with the sword. Rick then disappeared and appeared behind Nu and wrapped the sword's chain around his neck and pulled him down to the ground. Once Nu fell to the ground he opened his eyes to look at Rick. What he saw terrified him and Alara. Rick's eyes were glowing one being white and the other black, his voice became spliced and the sword was covered in white fire. Alara looked at Shadowbane and saw it covered with black fire, it took the shape of the light sword, it had a chain on it and connected to Rick's hand, and a wolf's head crest on the guard.

Rick then said, "NEVER ATTACK HER! IF YOU EVEN HARM A HAIR ON HER YOU WILL DIE AND BURN IN HELL! I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME ANYMORE! MY GOAL IS TO PROTECT HER AND PROTECT HER I WILL! NOW GET READY TO DIE!"

Alara looked at Rick with awe and fear, he looked furious and he seemed to be hell bent on protecting her. Alara was immediately concerned but knew she had nothing to fear around him.

Nu quickly shrunk down to his original size and tried to attack Rick by slashing at him. Rick immediately dodged the attack and sliced off Nu's arm. Nu tried to slash him again but Rick caught Nu's arm and twisted his wrist until he heard it snap. Nu roared in pain and dropped to his knees. Rick quickly hit him with a **Fire Punch** and slashed his chest three times with the swords, making him fall on his back. Nu quickly jumped up and tried to dive into the sand, but Rick threw the swords at him, hitting him, he then pulled him out of the ground with the chains and slammed him into multiple walls and then onto the ground.

Nu got up and looked at Rick with fear in his eyes, "I was just trying to battle a great warrior."

"Well you fought him!"

Rick then plunged the light sword into Nu's chest and Shadowbane into Nu's head, killing him. The light sword immediately disappeared and Shadowbane return to its original form. Nu also return to his original form. Afterwards, while Nu fell, the area around them turned into a grey room of nothing with only Nu and Rick present.

Nu then said to Rick, "That was what I like to call a battle."

Rick was now normal and Nu was still talking, "Yes it was. You know, I've only been here once. To say goodbye to Upsilon, when his sister killed him."

"So this is what happens when a Project dies, the Alpha is the one to send them to the afterlife."

"Yes, no matter if I'm on your side or not, I must give you a farewell when you die."

"I wanted to battle you so that I could see if the legend about you was correct. I guess it was. It was an honor to battle you Project Alpha."

"What is your name?"

"Project Nu."

"No! What is YOUR name?"

Nu asked, "My real name?"

"Yes."

"...Richter. That was my birth name. Why did you want to know it?"

"A warrior should always die with their identities. If you die as yourself then you died with your honor. You are not going to die as a Project. You will die as an individual."

"Thank you. You know, you're a greater man than I. Let the world know that a Gallade's honor is something you must not trifle with and let the world know the evils of Team Rocket. Do me one favor, as a dying wish."

"I'm listening."

"End Team Rocket. Wipe them off the face of the Earth or rather kill Giovanni."

"It shall be done."

"Thank you."

Rick then said, "Richter, let you find peace in death. Nothing can harm you anymore and nothing can control you. Return home and live in paradise. Rest in peace." With that Rick closed Nu's eyes and Nu breathed his last breath.

Rick returned to the true world where Alara was looking at him.

Rick asked, "What are you doing?"

"Your eyes, and Nu's eyes, were glowing grey and then his eyes closed. He also returned to his normal form and his symbol disappeared."

"That's what happens when a Project dies. I go into their subconscious and give them their final goodbyes."

"I guess that Team Rocket wanted to make sure they went out well."

"Nah! Team Rocket doesn't give a damn about their deaths unless they really needed them. When Upsilon died they didn't even punish Epsilon. They just fucking left Gamma and Delta to bury him in his homeland."

"That's...I don't know what to say anymore. I know that he was your friend. It must of been horrible to say goodbye to him."

"It was, it made me hate Epsilon and Team Rocket more and more. But enough of this, let's get out of here."

Alara looked at Nu's body and saw a black mass appearing on his chest, "RICK!"

Rick looked back and when he faced the mass, ribbon like masses shot through his chest and exited from the other side. Rick immediately dropped to his knees and caught his breath.

Alara quickly tried to help him up, "Rick! Are you okay?"

Rick immediately said, "Step back!"

Alara obeyed his command and stepped back. Once she was a safe distance away Rick roared and claws appeared at the end of his fingers and he slashed around until he fired a blast from his claws.

Rick said, "Good! I got my claws back."

Alara asked, "What was that?"

"Those things that shot out of his chest into mines are known as Alpha Essence. They carry my discarded powers that each Project inherited. It happened before when Upsilon died and I gained my aura powers back. I got rid of my powers but I can get them back by killing all the Projects. Apparently, Nu held my claw powers. So now I can bring my claws out whenever I want and use the Claw Rush."

"Claw Rush?"

"It's my strongest attack with my claws. It's automatically super effective to whatever it hits but I can only use it if my energy is high enough. I don't have the energy to use it right now, nor do I have a target. Let's just go."

Alara nodded and left the room with Rick.

[Jean]

Jean and Wayland were being beaten down easily by Project Mu and Mu immediately stopped and looked towards the fortress.

Mu yelled, "NU!"

Jean laughed, "Looks like Rick finally killed a Project. Now if he was here to help me, this pain probably wouldn't be happening."

Mu turned around and kicked Jean into the air and flew above him and kicked him back to the ground. He then grabbed Jean by his neck and slammed him through a a wall and threw him to the ground. Mu walked up to him and put his foot on top of Jean's head and began to push down.

"I'm going to crush your fucking head in! You've taken so much damage and yet you refuse to die! I though the DNA of Lugia within me would get rid of you quickly but it didn't."

"I already told you I never learned how to give up and I damn well don't know how to die."

Mu increased the pressure and made Jean scream in pain. Wayland got back up and managed to tackle Mu off of Jean, but Mu hit him with a **Sky Attack** and sent him flying towards the fortress's wall. Mu then turned around and was met with a **Giga Impact** from Seras.

Seras then yelled at Mu, "Stay away from my mate!"

Mu held his gut, "Oh? So that Blaziken is your mate? How interesting." He disappeared and reappeared grabbing Seras by her head and turning to face Jean. "So I'm guessing that this little creature belongs to you?"

Jean jumped up, "Seras!" He ran towards Mu but Mu kicked him back.

"So sad you're so weak now. You can't even protect her. Let's see what she looks like with her brain spewing out of her skull." He began to squeeze on Seras's head, making her scream in pain.

Jean got up and he had the look of pure anger on his face, "LET HER GO NOW!" Jean then disappeared and reappeared kicking Mu in the head with a **Blaze Kick**. Something was different about this hit because it hurt Mu and forced him to let go of Seras. Jean then **Fire Punched** him in the gut and followed with a **Sky Uppercut**. The uppercut forced Mu the floor and Jean stood over him and then turned to check on Seras.

"Are you alright?"

Seras held her head, "Yes, I'm fine. Where did that come from?"

"I got mad. You know what happens when I get mad. I don't accept others hurting you. Now stay here, I'll end him quickly. He'll die shortly."

Mu jumped to his feet, "So you think that you can stand a chance in a fight versus me, huh?"

Jean walked up to him and looked at him face to face, "Stand a chance, no. I'm going to kill you here and now."

Mu began to laugh at Jean's remark, "That's gold! I'm even going to give you a the first hit in this third round."

"You need it more than I do now. You can't kill me with a nuke and a head-start."

Mu laughed again and Jean lost his smile, taking a serious look on his face. Mu stopped laughing and swung his fist at Jean, who caught the fist, surprising Mu.

Jean looked at Mu and said, "Releasing restraints!"

"Releasing what now?"

(Battle Music: **This Fire Burns by Killswitch Engage**)

Jean then began to scream and a flaming aura exploded around his body and two bands broke off his arms. The ground around Jean burned to ashes and he punched Mu in the stomach, hurting him and making him hunch over. Jean then Blaze Kicked him when he brought his head down.

Mu got up and looked at Jean, he seemed different to his eyes. He lost his playful demeanor and looked more serious and hell bent on killing him. Mu spread his wings and charged an **Air Slash** and fired them at Jean. Before the blades could reach Jean, he gave a yell and his aura exploded again, incinerating the wind blades.

Mu looked at Jean with complete disbelief, he couldn't understand where all that strength came from all of the sudden. He then thought about what happened when Jean's power increased. He remembered the bands Jean was wearing that broke off.

Mu asked Jean, "What were those bands?"

"Suppression bands."

"Suppression bands?"

"Yes, my old trainer gave them to me to help me keep my out of control energy in check. Whenever I would get mad I would destroy everything in my path. My parents saw this as a problem and sent me to be trained by my trainer. Even he had trouble controlling my insane power so he had those bands made. I even kept many of the bands with me, just in case events like this happen. I always try not to take them off because I know I can destroy anything and there's very little that can be done to stop me until my opponent can't fight back anymore. I try to stay upbeat and positive, even playful in battle to control my anger, but there's only so much I can take. One of the things I cannot take is someone harming Seras."

"The Espeon?"

"Exactly. Let me lay down some ground rules: 1) You don't threaten Seras or my family, 2) You don't attack Seras or my family, and 3) If you break both of these in either order you will die."

"Then make me pay then. I'm waiting."

"As you wish."

Jean then disappeared and Mu felt something kicking him in the gut, he looked down and saw Jean's foot sunk into his gut. Jean jumped off of Mu and uppercut him. Jean then flipped over Mu and grabbed his shoulders before slamming him onto the ground and kicking him away with **Blaze Kick**. Mu quickly got up and charged a **Flash Cannon** in his mouth, Jean charged a **Fire Blast** to counter it. They both fired their attacks and they exploded in the center. Mu quickly rushed Jean and tried to punch him, slash him, and stab him, but Jean dodged all the attacks without moving an inch from his location. Jean then threw a punch and hit Mu in the gut, making his fist break through the steel plating and sink into Mu's gut.

Jean removed his fist and stepped back to see Mu fall to his knees in pain. Mu held his chest and coughed up blood, which both frightened him and angered him. He slowly tried to get up but Jean spun around and kicked him with a **Blaze Kick** on the face.

Jean then said, "Let me re-introduce myself, I'm Jean and I'm one person you don't want to fuck with!" Jean grabbed Mu and kicked him into the air and reappeared above him and kicked him back to the ground. Jean brought a kick down on Mu, cratering him into the ground, "GET UP! I KNOW YOU'RE OKAY!"

Mu opened his eyes, quickly got up, and wiped his blood off the side of his beak, "I have to admit, I'm surprised. I was kicking your ass earlier and you're turning the tables. But that is about to end!"

Mu rushed Jean again and tried to hit him with a **Drill Peck**. Jean moved out of the way and kneed Mu in the head when he missed the attack. Jean then grabbed Mu's head and drove it back onto his knee before punching him away. Mu went flying in the air and landed on the ground, making drag craters on the ground.

While Mu was trying to recover, Jean charged two fireballs onto his hands and brought them together to make a larger fireball. He waited for Mu to get up and when he did he threw the ball at Mu. The fireball hit Mu and lifted him into the air before exploding. Mu began to free fall and Jean timed a **Blaze Kick** and kicked Mu to the walls of the fortress.

Mu lifted his body and glared at Jean, "You...you...PEST! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Oh no because you've been doing a fine job at that."

Mu gave a loud yell and flew up into the air and spread his wings again. Mu then flapped his wings and bladed feathers went falling down towards Jean. Jean sighed and stuck his hand into the air and created a flame field, destroying the blades. Jean dismissed the flame field and let one blade get close to him so he could catch it, which he did. Jean looked at the bladed feather in his hands and threw it back at Mu, driving it through the exposed area on this gut. Mu fell after being hit and hit the ground. He quickly pulled the feather out and staggered back onto his feet.

"FOOL!...NOW...YOU'LL DIE!"

"Bite me! Too much talk and no action!"

Mu yelled again and hit Jean with an **Aerial Ace**, but when he looked at Jean he saw that it didn't even faze him. Jean returned the blow with a **Sky Uppercut** and punched the exposed area, going though and his arm coming out from the other side. Mu began to cough up more blood and had a look of horror on his face when he saw Jean's arm inside of his gut. Jean pulled his arm out and let Mu backpedal in pain and fear.

Mu's expression went from frightened to livid as he flew up into the air and aimed at Jean. Once he got a good aim he spread his wings and charged and attack in his mouth. Jean identified the attack as **Aeroblast**, most likely being used because of Mu's Lugia DNA. Jean charged a **Blast Burn** and waited for Mu to release the attack. They then fired their attacks and got into a power struggle with them. Neither went anywhere until Jean gathered more energy and let it loose into the attack, making the **Blast Burn** cut through the **Aeroblast** and hit Mu, making him crash land.

Jean's arm then began to cover itself in fire and he said, "Looks like my instincts are telling me to end this. Better listen."

Jean waited for Mu to get up and when he did he hit Mu with a flaming uppercut, launching Mu up into the air. Jean disappeared and reappeared many yards above Mu. Jean brought his flaming arm up and a ball of fire, that looked like the sun, appeared above his fist and Jean punched down on an incoming Mu. Once the attack connected there was an explosion that took the shape of the Japanese symbol for fire and Jean landed on the ground while Mu burned to his death in the symbol.

Jean looked up and shook the ashes and soot off of his arm and said, "Goodbye Project Mu. I really hope that you don't forgive me. Goodbye!"

[Rick and Alara]

Rick and Alara were walking down a hall, trying to find out how to get out of the tower. All of the sudden Rick's eyes turned grey and he enter Mu's subconscious. In Mu's subconscious, Rick saw Mu laying on the ground, in his original form but burnt.

Rick asked Mu, "I'm guessing you got killed by Jean?"

"Alpha? Yes, the Blaziken surprised me with his power and obliterated me."

"Never take Jean lightly, he can easily surprise you."

"So I guess you're here to mock me?"

"No, I'm here to wish you farewell as you go to the afterlife. What is your name?"

"My name is Enoch."

"Enoch, find peace. You are no longer under Team Rocket's control and you can go on without pain or fear anymore."

"Tell me, can our sins be forgiven?"

"I don't know, but I believe that it wouldn't hurt to try."

"Very well. I just wanted to know before I pass. But Alpha, you probably have an idea of what I've done. If you were in my position, you would of done the same."

"I probably already have. Sometimes you don't have to do what you want to do the right thing, but you have to know when enough is enough. Which is why I left Team Rocket. No good could of come out of staying with them.

"You're more courageous than me then. I couldn't talk myself to leaving, I lost so much and didn't want to lose everything.

"Sometimes you have to lose everything to realize that much more is waiting for you on the other side. You just have to have the determination to keep going. Go in peace and do not fear the embrace of death. Rest in peace." Rick then closed his eyes.

Rick came back from Mu's subconscious and told Alara, "Jean killed Project Mu."

Alara said with a shocked expression, "I didn't think that Jean, or any Remnant for that matter, had the strength to kill one."

"Nu and Mu are not high leveled Projects but they are still powerful. If it was any of the higher leveled ones than it wouldn't of been that easy. Now all I have to do is wait for the..." Rick was immediately cut off by Alpha Essence going through his chest and giving him more powers.

Alara said, "Let me guess, stand back?"

"Yep."

Rick smashed a few nearby windows and then activated the power. The wind then began to blow into the room and picked up the shards of glass, quickly making it form into a shape of a humanoid figure. Rick then dismissed the wind and the shards fell onto the floor.

"So what's that move called?"

"Typhoon Puppetry. One move that I almost never used when I was a Project because I found almost no need for it."

Rick looked to his side and saw a door that said 'Supply Lab' so he walked up to it, opened the door, and walked inside. Alara saw him do that so she followed him into the room.

"Rick, what are you doing?"

"Looking for something that will help me in the long run."

"Like?"

Rick didn't respond and looked at one end of the room until he found syringe with a black liquid inside.

"This is what I'm looking for?"

"What is that?"

Rick once again didn't respond and proceeded to stick the needle into his arm/

Alara yelled at him, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"Getting a way to get out of here and go back home." With that he pressed the end of the syringe and the liquid went into his arm. His veins then turned black and he took a deep breath and black smoke came out of his mouth. "There! I can open portals now. Well only for a month at most. So I better take more of these things." With that Rick took ten more syringes and put them in his battle pack. "I need to get one of these analysed and replicated so that I can continue to use this ability.

"You can make portals now?"

"Yep. It's not a power that you learn. You need to rely on this fluid to do it." Rick then opened a portal and walked through it, reappearing behind Alara. "Good! I still remember how to use it."

Alara turned around and saw Rick smiling down on her, she then noticed a black strand of hair on Rick's head, but it immediately turned back to its original color.

She still asked, "Why did some of your hair turn black?"

"Did it? I guess it's because I'm gaining my Project powers back. When I was a Project my hair color changed into red and black, and once I gave up my powers it returned to its original color."

"Alright but does that mean that you're becoming a Project again?"

"Little by little but Team Rocket has no control over me."

"But you told me how you would rather have no connection to the other Projects."

"And I won't. I may have my powers but I refuse to be called a Team Rocket Project. I'm my own warrior and I will use the powers to destroy them. Don't fear me. Please."

Alara stepped back but then looked back at him and hugged him, "I'll never fear you."

"Thanks. Let's keep moving lead the way to Epsilon's Tower so I can strike her down."

"It's to the East of here. The Eastern most tower."

"Good let's go!" Rick took her hand and began to run with her. Alara was taken by surprise that he held her hand but didn't protest the hold.

[Dartz]

Dartz and Theta were still battling at the top of the Western tower and saw the death of Mu from the top of the tower and stopped their fight.

Theta yelled, "MU! NU! That's two Projects dead already. Stupid Epsilon because of her we lost two Projects!"

"I take it that you don't like her very much?"

"None of the Projects do. She's a bitch to all of us and makes the lower leveled Projects' lives a living hell when she gets the chance. Luckily for me I'm a high leveled Project and she stand clear of me but the same cannot be said for the others."

"How many high leveled Projects are there?"

"Well there's Me, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Omicron, Sigma, and Omega. The only dead high leveled Project is Upsilon."

"So a good chunk of you guys are already high leveled?"

"Yes but we're still the minority of the Projects."

"You know, this fight is too friendly."

"Well we're technically just sparring."

"This is true. So what now, we already did a number on each other. Hell I have cuts, scratches, and bite marks all over my body and so do you."

"Well there's no point in fighting anymore. I'd rather just go get Epsilon and Omega and get the hell out of here."

"So you guys are retreating?"

"Like we have another choice? The more Projects deaths the stronger Alpha becomes so we have no choice. Also, the Specters are almost all completely wiped out by that army."

Theta stood up and walked over to the glacier that had her spear thrust through it and pulled it out but fumbled it and it fell off the tower. Dartz walked up to her and brought the spear back using **Psychic**.

"Here you go."

"Oh you know how to use **Psychic**?"

"My little sister taught me how. She's the Espeon down there."

Theta giggled, "I hope you protect her well."

"I'm always on guard for her. She's all the family I have left, ever since Team Rocket attacked our home and killed my parents, kidnapped a slew of my friends, including my best friend."

"Wait, you were in that attack too?"

"Yes, were you?"

"Yes, that's the day they kidnapped me and took me away to a Rocket Facility in Hoenn."

"Well that's interesting. I probably already know you."

"What's your name?"

"Dartz, and my sister is named Seras."

Theta's eyes shot opened, "Dartz? Is it really...?"

"Do you know me? What's your name?"

"Ashlyn."

Dartz stared at her and she began to back away, "Ashlyn?"

Theta got near the edge and stopped, "Well looks like I have to go."

Dartz got up and tried to walk towards her, "Wait!"

Before Dartz could get close Theta brought a wall of ice between them and made a path of ice towards Epsilon's Tower and ran across. Dartz managed to jump over the ice wall and began to chase her.

[Rick and Alara]

Rick and Alara managed to make it out of the tower and into a bridge system that connected the West Tower to Epsilon's tower and stopped to look at what was happening in the fight. They saw that the soldiers won the battle and were beginning to storm into the fortress.

"Well looks like this battle is already won, huh Rick?"

"It looks like it. Let's just go take care of Epsilon."

Alara nodded and they turned to leave but they suddenly stopped when they heard a loud roar coming from the tower behind them. They turned around and, to their horror Omega was walking towards them.

Alara then said to Rick, "We have to run!"

"No need to tell me twice."

But before they could run they saw two attacks hit Omega and knock made it back off. Rick looked to the right of the bridged and saw two familiar and welcoming sights. He saw Fang and Claw flying towards them, firing **Dragon Pulses** at Omega. Fang and Claw returned to help out in the fight and they arrived at the best time.

Fang and Claw landed on the bridge and fire two more **Dragon Pulses** at Omega, forcing Omega to leave by jumping into Epsilon's tower and climbing up the walls until it reached the top and busted its way inside.

Fang and Claw saw that Omega was gone and turned into their human forms to hug Rick and Alara

Fang said, "It's so good to see you guys again!"

Alara replied, "Same here! We weren't expecting to see you guys again."

Claw said, "We felt the force of the battle all the way from the Hoenn Region and we decided to come help. It looks like we missed most of the fighting but we made it in time to get rid of that beast."

Rick replied, "And can't thank you guys enough. Now let's go end this battle already."

They all nodded and ran into the tower, to face Epsilon once more and to end the battle, once and for all.

They made quick work of the climb up to the main floor where Epsilon's throne room was and Rick slowly opened the door to see what Epsilon was doing. He saw Epsilon talking to a gigantic screen with someone else on the other end talking to her.

He then heard Epsilon say, "What do you mean that you won't release my power restrains!?"

The voice on the other side sounded just like Giovanni, "You don't deserve them at the moment."

"Why not!?"

"It wasn't my decision to attack Project Alpha, it was YOURS! You need to learn to take responsibility for your actions. You caused the death of two Projects! As punishment I will not release your power restraints. That is all I have to say to you Project Epsilon. Goodbye!"

"DAMN YOU! When Alpha gets here he's going to..."

She stopped when she heard Rick say, "Interesting. Continue. Oh please don't mind me, by all means...give me some ideas."

"You got here faster than I expected."

"Scared?"

Epsilon drew her scythe and attacked Rick, Rick however smacked her out of the way. The hit knocked her back into a wall and made her fall on her throne.

Rick laughed, "You honestly forgot what happens when a Project dies, didn't you? I get stronger because of it."

Epsilon got up with the look of fear in her eyes. She had no way to beat Rick this time and she was not about to retreat. Suddenly something arrived into the room and pulled her by her hair. She looked at what was holding her hair and saw Theta, out of breath and eager for something.

Theta then said, "We're leaving!"

"What?"

"We are getting the hell out of here!"

"No we're not. I never retreat. And nothing is going to change my mind." They all then heard a roar coming from a balcony above them and saw Omega burst into the room. "Looks like there's still some hope left."

Omega dropped down into the room and Rick immediately took up his sword to defend himself. Omega simply walked up to him and walked pass him until it was in front of Epsilon and Theta. At the same moment Catalina and Gale burst into the room.

Gale said, "We have to retreat. We can't take them all on."

Epsilon replied, "We're not going anywhere!"

Omega roared at her and wrapped its tentacles around her and slammed her multiple times on the walls and ground. Omega did this while saying, "Yes we are!" Omega then opened a portal and everyone began to walk through it.

At that moment Dartz burst into the room and said, "Theta! Wait!"

Theta saw him and brought up an ice wall to stop him from getting closer. She then walked into the portal and it closed immediately.

"DAMN IT!"

Rick grabbed Dartz's shoulder, "Calm down bro. What happened?"

"The past happened, that's what happened."

Not too long later the army burst through the doors and Jean walked in saying, "We're here to kick ass!" He then noticed Rick and the others and said, "And apparently we're too late to kick ass. Hi Fang! Hi Claw! Fancy seeing you guys here."

Rick gave an order, "Everyone out of the fortress the battle is over. Jean casualty list please."

"Amazingly no deaths but multiple injuries."

"That's great news. You guys did a great job keeping the Fragments and Projects away from the soldiers."

"It was your training that did the work. Let's go!"

It took them another ten minutes to get everyone out of the fortress where they saw Allen chowing down on Leppa Berries and still holding up the dragons.

Rick told him, "Allen, time to let go of the dragons and rest. Time to blow this place to kingdom come."

Allen yelled, "Finally!" With that he gave a loud yell and the dragons wrapped themselves around the towers and the fortress itself and exploded, obliterating the fortress.

(Walking Away Music: **I Walk Alone by Saliva**)

Rick turned to the army, "Well good job everyone. You serve the Sanctuary well and you helped save Alara. So now let's return home and get some much needed rest. You all earned it." Everyone gave a loud cheer while Rick opened a portal to the Sanctuary. "Now move out!"

Everyone got into formation and quickly marched through the portal and made it back home. Rick waited for everyone to go through the portal but then saw that Alara stayed behind.

He asked her, "Is something wrong Alara?"

"No, I just wanted to talk to you before we left." She quickly hugged Rick. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Would of done it a thousand times, given the chance. I wasn't going to leave you here as a prisoner."

"Thank you." Alara fought the urge to kiss him and instead let go of him. "Oh I think I finally figure out how that light sword of yours works."

"Really? How?"

"It comes out when you want to protect someone. I realized this because it appeared when you protected me from Omega and then again when you protected me from Nu. It only appears if you want to protect something and it seems to have an effect on Shadowbane. Sister swords, if you will."

"That actually makes sense."

"Come on! Let's go home."

"Yeah."

Alara walked through the portal and Rick looked back at the burning remains of Epsilon's Fortress. He took a deep breath and turned to leave, but he felt something near him and looked at his hand. What he saw shocked him, he had two Project symbols on his hand, 'Γ' and 'Δ'.

"Gamma? Delta?" Rick looked around but couldn't see anyone or sense their emotions. He looked back at his hand and saw that the symbols disappeared. "Where are you guys? Please come back. I want to see you guys again." Nothing happened and Rick sighed and walked through the portal.

When the portal closed two figures a Ninetales and an Arcanine stepped out of the shadows and smiled at one another.

Delta, the Ninetales, said, "He really is growing up. He's strong now."

Gamma chuckled, "That he is. I'm happy to see that he has a life of his own now. But only time will tell where his life will lead him. Hopefully for the better."

"I wonder if we'll get to talk to him someday."

"One day we will but for now we have to watch him from afar."

"Let's go home."

"Aye!"

They walked into a portal and disappeared from the scene, with happy expressions on their faces.

(End Music: **Vox Populi by Thirty Seconds To Mars**)

**This took me a gigantic chunk of my time and a lot of brainstorming but I managed to finish it. So expect a lot more battles like these in the future and thank you all for your time. Bye!**


	32. Chapter 32: What If, History, Greeting

**Here's the new chapter guys. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving or just a good week considering that many people don't celebrate Thanksgiving Day. This one took me a long time because I had to rewrite it three times. But here it is I love how it turned out. Note, this chapter has a lot of history in it and it's more of a informational chapter with a bit of filler. Also, I'm posting a poll on my profile to see who your favorite character so far is. So make sure to vote. Keep reviewing, sending me your suggestions, requests, and questions. View Rankings: ****1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) Australia, 4th) The Philippines, and 5th) Iceland.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and the army arrived on the other side of the portal and the army was confused on the location that they arrived at. They arrived inside of a military barracks that had the Silph Co. logo placed all over.

Rick explained himself, "We're not returning to the Sanctuary until morning arrives. It's two in the morning and you guys need your sleep...also, if I know the Chief, he is planning something for our return tomorrow. So we're sleeping here tonight, all courtesy of Mr. Silph and the rest of Silph Co. So sleep tight and those that need it go to the medics. Good night everyone!"

Everyone nodded and scrambled to get bedding for the night and settled down and rested until morning. Rick and his team were sleeping on the eighth floor. Rick was at a medical station, being checked up on and being patched up. Alara was in a room attempting to rest but found herself unable to do so. She took out her Poketch and shuffled through pictures and videos, one of which caught her attention.

What Alara didn't tell Rick was that, after she got out of her cell, she found a library that held files and information on the operation that created turned Rick into Project Alpha, Project Archangel. Alara shuffled through the files she downloaded onto her Poketch and found a series of files that horrified her. She couldn't believe how much pain they made Rick go through for the sake of power, and how excruciating the pain was for his young body.

She then turned on a video file that was title "Alpha Journal Report: Solitary Confinement Day 1".

[Video]

The video was of a young Rick, as a Kirlia, in a dark room, turning on a camera and making a log. He was explaining his experiences and what was happening.

"This is Project Alpha, it's eleven at night, August 3rd. I've been in this room since six in the morning because something is supposedly wrong with me. Team Rocket wants me to stay here for a certain period of time and see what happens. I already don't like Solitary Confinement but it's not like I have a choice. I can't remember what it was that happened but I know that this isn't punishment, it's a study. What the hell do they left to study off of me? They know everything about me already, or am I missing something? I've been a Project for four months. Either way, I'm going to bed. Maybe they'll let me out tomorrow morning. Project Alpha out!"

[Alara]

Alara finished watching the video and quickly pulled up the next video and played it.

[Video#2]

In the video Rick turned on the camera and looked at the wall next to his bed. The wall had a large claw mark and Rick was staring at it in disbelief.

"Project Alpha Log Day 2.

I went to sleep as I usually do but something weird happened to me last night. I woke up and had a large headache, and then suddenly something went wild in me. I lost control of myself and slashed the wall before I managed to get control of myself. That was at two thirty in the morning and that was eight hours ago. I haven't slept since that incident because I don't know what else I might do if I loose consciousness. Let's just hope everything goes alright for me. Alpha out!"

[Alara]

Alara found the next video and played it.

[Video#3]

Rick was lying in a fetal position at a corner of the room and then got up and walked towards the camera. He looked terrible, as if he hasn't slept in days and neglected to eat.

"Project Alpha reporting. It's been fourteen days since I've been locked in this room and I have yet to sleep since the first incident. I can't sleep, I hear...HIM talking to me. He tells me horrible things and he makes me relive horrible moments in my life. He uses my own past against me. Who he is is a mystery to me right now but he knows almost everything about me. His voice terrifies me, it's so demonic and cold. I know I'm not crazy but right now I'm even doubting my own reasoning right now. I don't know how long I can stay in here, but I know I want out. If this is a dirty little prank by Team Rocket then it has to stop, it's really getting to me."

He suddenly fell to the floor clinching his head and yelling in pain. However, just as soon as it started it stopped and Rick got up, with his back to the camera. He then quickly turned his head and growled. Alara could see that his eyeballs were black and his irises were glowing red. He looked into the camera before lunging at it with a roar and the video turned to static. A few moments later the video came back online.

"See what I mean. I'm starting to lose control of my actions and I have no idea why Team Rocket has done nothing to keep me in check. They have me locked in a reinforced room as a study matter. I need to get out!...Project Alpha out!"

[Video#4 (Final)]

"Day 32, I have not heard or seen Alpha in three days. I was able to sleep and eat. He kept me alive for so long and now he decided to leave me alone...why? I don't think I want to know. I just need to take advantage of the time I'm here. The last thing he told me is how I would forget about all my friends that I used to have before becoming a Project. Jokes on him, the only friend I had before becoming a Project was Alara. But I haven't seen her since I was a baby so I don't know what she looks like now. I don't think I want to forget about her but it looks like I'll soon have no choice. Alpha is going to make room for himself and then things will get crazy. I need to find a way to get rid of him before that. I think that thinking about my past was the only thing that kept me sane, but knowing Alpha this might end quickly. He can take control of me in a second whether I want him to or not, he'll do it and he'll make so many people suffer. I'm still learning how to control him but it's too hard. There's this thing that can control him apparently...well not control but make him back off. I found out about it by accident. Apparently ingredients that are found in Max Elixirs can make Alpha back off. How or why I do not know, but it's been working. However, the sad reality of the situation is that I'm going to run out of Max Elixir in a few days unless I get out of here, but they have yet to tell me when I can leave. Until then I just have this chance to say that I'm sorry to anyone I caused so much harm to as Alpha. I can't control myself. So if I hurt you please for me, I didn't want to do it. What the hell am I thinking? No one will be viewing this besides Team Rocket. Oh well, Alpha out!"

[Alara]

Alara turned off the Poketch and brought her knees to her head and rocked herself, trying to take in everything she just saw. She didn't know how bad Rick had it. Sure she knew about the pain of the experimentation and the pain of losing loved one, but she had no ideas that he used to fight for his own body as well and his memory of her and his people. She also realized that he DID lose a part of his memory that housed his memory of both of them as Ralts. Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

Seras then walked in and smiled at Alara, "Sorry for entering so late at night, but I was wondering why the lights were still on."

"Oh you're not interrupting anything. Also, you're just the person I wanted to talk to right now."

"Oh is something wrong?"

"Come in and close the door please." Seras did what she was told and shut the door before sitting down on Alara's bed.

"What's going through your mind dear?"

"Seras, you know that out of all the members of you 'family' Rick trusts you do most, and so do I. I need to show you something and please tell me if you know about it."

"Alright." Alara showed Seras the videos and she replied, "Oh yeah, I've seen these tapes before. Rick showed them to use before destroying them."

"Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this?"

"Rick doesn't want people to know about it. It makes him sound like an unstable monster but the being disappeared after he gave up his powers. Hell, the being called Alpha was the primary reason he gave up his powers. He went berserk one day and attacked us, and when he came back to reality he was so guilty for what he had done that he found a way to get rid of his powers. The reason he did it was because he attacked and hurt me. If I wasn't wearing this dress you would see the gigantic slash marks on my back. They never healed too well and they still limit me sometimes. That's the reason why I don't fight all too much, they will start to burn and cripple me for a while."

Alara put her hands to her mouth in shock and gasped, "Rick did that to you?"

"It wasn't his fault. It was Alpha's. It took an hour and all of Jean's strength to hold him down long enough so Gloria could shove the Max Elixir down his throat. But it was worth the effort." Seras then turned around and used **Psychic** to undo the zipper on the back and showed Alara the claw marks.

Alara gasped and looked at Seras's back in horror, "That's really bad. It looks his claws went deeper than just the skin."

"The claws did hit my spine but they didn't break it, so I was alright. I could still move but I was bleeding profusely. Jean saved me from Alpha before he could kill me. I remember the day perfectly, I was playing with Rick and I asked him to show me a few of his powers. That was my first mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"Well Rick gave up his powers after being with us for six months, but that's irrelevant. I was wanted to see some of his powers, but he warned me that it could be dangerous."

"But you still made him do it?"

"Yep, and I regretted it in the long run. But I forgave him immediately since I knew it wasn't his fault." She said as she put her dress back in place.

"Well I guess it makes sense." Alara then sighed, "I wonder how it would of been if his parents would of never of left the Sanctuary."

"Things would of probably of been different and the Projects might never of existed, but a consequence is that Rick would of never of met us."

"You think?"

"Oh I know. If Rick never left the Sanctuary then he would of never of been named 'Rick', Team Rocket wouldn't have the information to create the Projects, and if he never became a Project he would of never of ran into us, thus never becoming part of our family."

"I never thought about that."

"Well don't dwell too much on these thoughts. So is that all you wanted to talk about? Because I can sense that you have more to tell me."

Alara sighed and said, "Yes, I do have more to talk to you about. You know that I have a lot of trust in you in the short few months that I have known you. I guess it's because Rick loves you the most and he trusts you, and I might be that he always has an effect on me. I need to tell you something personal so that you can tell me what to do."

"I'm listening."

"Well you see...I'm in love with Rick and I don't know what to do."

Seras giggled, "Oh I've known that for a while now. What are your intentions right now? To get rid of the feeling or get together with him?"

"I'm going to go with the second option. Besides, my parents are not going to give it a break until it happens."

"I have an idea for that. It's a bit scandalous and hard to explain if people walk into the room, but it always seems to get you two closer."

"What are you intending?"

"Well you and Rick are sleeping in this room together since he couldn't call dibs on any beds because he had to go get checked up. So..." Seras smiled and both bed came together and Seras mended both beds with Psychic, turning them into one bigger bed. "...So let's see how this goes."

Alara looked at the new bed and smiled, "What are you proposing we do? We've already slept in the same bed various times already."

"Well Rick hasn't seen you in...what is to us as six months. So he's probably eager to be with you again. I'm just curious on what might happen tonight."

Alara then looked at her with a slight smile, "If you think we're going to mate then you're out of your mind. He's still hurt and will most likely be tired."

"Oh I wan't trying to make you guys seal the deal. I just want this relationship to go forward. But if you do mate then it is a plus for both of you."

"Let's see what happens. Thanks Seras."

"You're welcome dear. Well I'm going to go to sleep. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

Seras then left the room and Alara took off her Poketch and got ready for bed. It was only a few minutes later when Rick entered the room. When he opened the door, he stopped and stared at the single bed and Alara laying down on the bed.

"Hi Rick!"

"Umm hi...this was unexpected."

"Is there a problem?"

Rick quickly teleported into the bed, "Nope! It's just been a while since we did this."

"Once again it's only been a day for me and six months for you. So what do you want to do? Talk or sleep."

"I'm really tired. Let's talk in the morning."

"Alright. Goodnight Rick!"

"Goodnight Ally!"

Rick quickly fell asleep while Alara fell asleep on his chest.

While asleep Alara found herself in her subconscious, "What the hell am I doing here?" As she finished saying that she heard someone walking behind her. When she turned around she saw Arceus standing, looking at her. "Oh Lord Arceus it's you. May I help you?"

Arceus replied, "Name what you want, I will give it you. I owe you this much for what happened the other day. So name your request."

Alara thought about it for a second, "I don't know what to ask for."

"Don't you want you and Aeruthael to be together? Don't you want to become stronger? Don't you want anything from me?"

"I do want to be with Rick and I do want to be stronger, but those are not things for me to shortcut through. I have to work my way to receiving those blessings." She stopped and thought again, "Here's what I want. I want to see what life would be like if Rick's parents never left the Sanctuary. I don't want you to make it into my reality, I just want to dream it. I want to know how different things would of been if that never happened."

"Very well. You have chosen carefully and you gave me an interesting answer. It shall be done. However, let me warn you, this will be your dream for tonight. This means that you should play along with everything that you see. Also, be warned that what you see might surprise you, just don't freak out."

"Alright."

"Very well then, just go ahead and dream."

Arceus disappeared and Alara found herself blacking out.

[Alara's Dream]

Alara was asleep and then felt something sit on her gut. She opened her eyes and saw a Ralts sitting on top of her. She quickly got up and looked at the Ralts.

"Hello, and you are?"

The suddenly felt someone standing to her left, and when she looked she saw X standing in the room.

X said, "You said you wanted to know how things would of been if Rick's parents never left the Sanctuary. So this is one of the realities. That Ralts on top of you is your daughter, Sheerah."

"Daughter? Who's the dad?"

"Look to your right."

Alara slowly turned her head and saw Rick sleeping on the other side of the bed. She barely caught her scream and looked back at X.

"Rick is my mate?"

"Yep. Also, he's not Rick in this reality. He's just Aeru. So yes, this is the reality. Since his parents never left you guys stayed as close as ever and became mates a year ago. Sheerah was born a few months ago and is a very energetic little girl."

Alara looked back at Sheerah, who wrapped her arms around her mom and snuggled her. "There there dear. Mommy is awake now."

As Alara finished saying that a Gardevoir with a purple dress opened the door and said, "Sheerah, are you in here deary?"

X quickly told Alara, "That's Harmony, Aeru's sister. Since his parents never left, she never died."

Harmony looked around the room and saw Sheerah on Alara, "Oh I'm sorry. I was trying to give her her formula but she teleported away. I guess she wanted to be with her parents."

Alara the said, "Hi Harmony!"

"I take it you slept well?"

"Yeah I was sleeping fine until this little one woke me up."

"I kinda guessed. Should I take her to be fed again?"

"Yeah." Alara handed Sheerah to Harmony. "Make sure she gets full."

"Will do. Oh! I almost forgot, Amber wanted to see you at her house today."

"She did? Alright, I'll head over."

Harmony left the room and Alara looked back at X, who was chuckling.

He looked back and said, "See what I mean? Things are different."

"I'm surprised that Amber is still in the picture."

"She wasn't a result of Rick's parents leaving. You guys just found her by chance."

"Alright. That's a sigh of relief on my part, I love my sister."

"Also, she lives in the house that you two share in the real reality and Rick still lives in his parent's manor, but his parents live in the house next to your parents."

"Alright...and Harmony?"

"She lives with you guys. She's still in college so she's always around. She also always babysits Sheerah, but don't worry she lets you guys raise her."

"Sounds like a loving family...Wait, if Rick's dad never died then Daedalus never became the Warlord. And if Daedalus never became the Warlord then Rick never became the Warlord."

"Precisely! Xeron is still the Warlord."

"So what is Rick?"

"The future Chief...well in training right now."

"Future chief?"

"Yes, he's your mate. Which makes him the next chief."

"Oh...how's that job?"

"I can't say he likes it but he knows he has no choice."

Alara held her breath when she heard Rick move in the bed and begin to wake up. She quickly looked back as he began to stretch.

"Good morning Aeru!"

Rick opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep off of them, "Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

"Very!"

Alara suddenly felt something appearing into the room. Like she predicted Sheerah teleported into the room and jumped on Rick's chest.

"Well good morning to you too Sheerah! How's my little girl doing?" He said while lifting her up and kissing her forehead. "Did you get away from your aunt again? Restless like your mother, but I love that."

Alara giggled at the remark and watched as Rick sat up and cracked his neck. She was then taken by surprise when Rick leaned over and kissed her. Alara's eyes shot open but returned the kiss until she heard someone knock on the door.

Harmony walked back into the room, "Again? I have to keep that little girl on a leash. Oh, good morning big brother!"

Rick replied, "Good morning sis! Sheerah giving you trouble?"

"Oh yes. She won't let me feed her. She keeps teleporting back in here and tries to keep waking you guys up."

"Well I guess she just wants to be with us." He looked at his daughter, "Come on you little Houdini." He got up off the bed and walked out of the room and down the stairs.

Harmony stayed in the room with Alara and said, "That little girl has too much energy. Well, breakfast is ready. Come downstairs when your ready. With my morning luck the food might escape from me."

Alara laughed and Harmony went downstairs.

Alara quickly looked at X, "I don't think I want to wake up now. It all seems great. Rick is happy and I'm happy. He has his parents, his sister, his home, me, and we have a child. Also, everything seems stable."

"Oh it is...here!"

"It's not the same outside?"

"As you are aware, the Sanctuary is protected by a psychic barrier that keeps intruders away. Outside, Team Rocket has harvested a third of all pokemon in the world and caused a lot of suffering."

"How about Rick's 'family'? They were fighting against Team Rocket for a while before he joined them."

"Let me give you the short version. Seras, Jean, and Dartz are dead and Team Rocket is nearly unstoppable. Also, this might spoil it for you but in this reality, Rick won't live to reach thirty. He will die at twenty five because of Team Rocket. He'll die the same way his dad died in the real reality, protecting his family."

Alara looked at X with a look of horror, "What? Our friends would be dead and he will die?"

"...Alara, what the fuck did I just finish saying to you? Yes, that is what would happen in this reality."

"Then I would rather be in the real reality. Then again, I see him being happy. He has his family, and WE have a family. It's what I wanted but it's also the opposite of my hopes. In this reality I get to be his mate but he dies as a result."

"Do you want to linger in the dream for a little while longer?"

"Maybe another time. I don't think I want to see how he dies."

"That won't happen for another three years. Unless you intend on staying in the dream for that time."

"No, I'd rather be with him for many more years than loose him suddenly."

"How about the happiness you see?"

"He's already somewhat happy. Also, this is just a dream. I can try to make it real but with a few different details. I do want him to be happy, I do want to be his mate, but I don't want his most beloved friends to be dead. As far as I'm concerned, he still needs Seras and Jean to keep him in check."

"Well that was unexpected. I thought you would of stayed longer."

"Nah! I just want to live in reality. I got what I wanted...and SOMEBODY ruined the surprise."

"Sorry."

"Just take me back so that I can get ready for my day."

"It's five in the morning in reality."

"Then make me dream normally."

X began to quickly laugh, "Alright, but if you do anything then it's not my fault."

He then disappeared and Alara blacked out again and woke up in a real dream.

[In reality, 10 AM]

Alara was still fast asleep and was dreaming happily. She was suddenly woken up by someone tapping her on her head. When her vision cleared she saw Rick smiling at her with a surprised look on his face.

"Good to see that you finally woke up. Just to make this quick, I think I now know why my neck was numb the other day."

Alara was confused until she looked at where her mouth was at and saw that she was, once again, kissing his neck. She stopped herself from screaming and looked at Rick in fear.

Rick looked at her and smiled, "Oh don't worry, you were dreaming. You should kinda learn not to talk in your sleep though."

Alara quietly shrieked and asked, "What the hell was I saying?"

"Nothing that I could make out really. Just little murmurs and that I couldn't really hear."

Alara gave a quiet sigh of relief and looked at him. "So what now?"

"Well, I'm going to get ready for the day. It'll be hard to explain the mark on my neck though."

Alara looked at the mark and quickly used **Healing Pulse** on it to make it disappear.

"There you go. Good as new!"

"I'm not even going to ask." Rick then pulled out his Poketch and dialed a number. "Hello? Williams? Yes, get the troops ready to move out. We're leaving in half an hour. Alright, thank you. Goodbye!"

"So I'm guessing we're going home?"

"You know it. I want to be in my house again. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss it."

"How is that hard to believe?"

"Because I never really cared for a home as it is. But once I got to the Sanctuary and got reunited with my family and your family, I kinda got attached to the place. Thus making it my permanent home."

"So I'm stuck with you forever."

"Seems like it. I have to stay as the Warlord until I resign, am beaten, or die. I don't intend to resign anytime soon, I'm getting to strong to beat, and I'm, hopefully, not going to die young."

"I hope you don't die young. I'm staying there forever. If I don't get a mate by the time my dad steps down from being the Chief, then I'll become the next Chief. So I'm home-bound for my entire life. That doesn't mean that I can't travel whenever I want."

"I'm sure you'll make a fine Chief. Has there ever been a female Chief?"

"Yes, three more before me. There have been female Warlords before. Hell, the first Warlord was female. Warlord Illia Seri. This might be interesting to you but she was the original wielder of Shadowbane. She and her mate were also the founders of the Sanctuary. Her mate was the first Chief of the Sanctuary. They managed to conquer the area that was the first half of the current Sanctuary, by fighting out the Mightyenas that inhabited the area."

"So they just kicked them out?"

"Yes, but they didn't do it because they wanted to. They arrived in this forest and were met by the Mightyenas and their Alpha Male. Chief Claudius, or Warlord Illia's mate, brought his people there after they were met with hostility from the humans that were spreading into their homeland. What this land is or where it was has been lost in history but they made it here to find a new home. At the Alpha Male of the Mightyenas at the time welcomed them with open arms and even taught them how to organize a civilization and the Alpha Male taught Claudius how to lead his people. This great allegiance lasted while the Alpha Male was still alive, but then he died and his son took over and attacked their greatest allies.

[1,800 years ago]

Claudius ran towards the Alpha Male's den with Illia following closely behind. As soon as they entered they were let in by the Mightyena guards. As soon as they stepped in they saw the new Alpha Male, Lius, staring at them with an amused grin on his face.

Claudius said, "Lius! What is this about the message you have sent me? You want my people out of your land? Why?"

"Because I see you as a threat to my rule. So I'd rather have you leave than kill you Claudius."

"How are we a threat? Your father welcomed us with open arms. We are very grateful and would of never of betrayed his kindness, not even against you. Even your people welcome us, why believe this?"

"Who is my father? Who are my people? That's ancient history Claudius. Worry about now, not about some fantasy that my father placed in your head. I'm no friend of yours."

"Lius, I saw you grow up. I treated you as if you were my own. Your father was my best friend and I treated you like I treat my own son. Don't betray us now."

Lius's smile turned to a cold glare, "Listen here old man! I have had it with your people here. You have until tomorrow morning to pack up and leave. If you do not then I will kill all of you."

The Mightyenas in the room could not believe what they were hearing. They were all friends to the Gallades and Gardevoirs and did not want to go to war with them.

"Lius, think about what you are doing?"

"I refuse to listen to anymore of this. GET OUT! Even if you stay to defend yourselves, you won't stand long."

Illia then said, "You are making a mistake Lius."

"Says the savage queen!"

Illia then glared at him, "You will learn soon enough Lius. That even a queen can best any warrior."

Shadowbane pulsated in red after hearing Illia say that and then a growl was heard from the sword itself.

Illia and Claudius left the Alpha Male's den and returned to their homes for a battle in the morning.

[Present Day]

"So they stayed and in the morning Illia led a small militia of Gallades and Gardevoirs against the Mightyena Alpha Male. They won in a few minutes and did not have to kill any of the Mightyenas. The Mightyenas turned on their leader once the battle began. Illia then fought the leader and killed him with Shadowbane. Once he was dead the Mightyenas appointed his younger brother as the new Alpha Male and he fixed all the problems his brother caused with the Gallades and Gardevoirs. A year later he gave them the land so that the Mightyenas could go settle in what is now Routes 214 and 215. However their friendship didn't end there, it kept going even into the reign of Claudius's and Illia's son, Lear, who sent a large number of Gallade, Gardevoir, and Mightyena pioneers to the Hoenn region and created a new home for them, while the rest stayed here in what would become the Sanctuary. The Chief's Court was actually built over the Alpha Male's den."

"That's a really interesting story...and it explains so much. But I seem to have bad luck with Mightyenas. Hell, I think they've caused more injuries onto me than any other pokemon, well Dark types in general."

"Well the alliance with them ended about 300 years later and they eventually disbanded into different groups. So they are not our allies and most don't even know their history like we do."

"That makes sense. What about the other female Warlords?"

"There was only one more. Ummm...her name was Kyrea Credo, we call her the Sacrifice Warlord."

"I wonder why?"

"Well she was a great Warlord and managed to protect the Sanctuary from human expansion. She's a regular Joan of Arc in the fact that she defeated the humans and died for the Sanctuary."

"She was killed in battle?"

"No, she let herself be captured by the humans and was subsequently executed. She also fought using Shadowbane and she gave the sword to her brother, the next Warlord, before she was killed. She was seventeen years old when she was executed. She became the Warlord at age sixteen."

"How was she executed?"

"Well let's go back to how she got caught though. It was in a battle that took place east of Pastoria City, at a Lake Valor. The Sanctuary's army won a battle there the other day and decided to camp out there for the day. That was the worst mistake they have ever made because human reinforcements arrived in the middle of the night and attacked. Kyrea stayed behind to distract the reinforcements and got herself captured in the process. She was then taken to Pastoria City, well what it was before it was Pastoria City since it was 1,000 years ago. She was imprisoned for four days before she was sentenced to death by the human leaders. She was executed the next day, they hung her. However, before she died she gave the most famous speech in the Sanctuary's history. We call it the Hymn of the Sanctuary and we use it for each Harvest Festival, the same day she was executed. The speech wasn't really a speech as much as it was a poem about the Sanctuary and her final farewell. Also, take note that this was 200 years before the Sanctuary had the psychic barrier and she also was a wielder of Shadowbane."

[1,000 years ago]

Kyrea sat in her cell, wondering if her soldiers were safe and if the Sanctuary was safe. She knew that her life was almost over and knelt down and gave a tearful prayer to Arceus.

"Father Arceus, I know my time is short and my task is done. I just ask for strength and for acceptance...I'm only a child. I have not even lived for a full score of life. However, if it is your will for me to rest, then let it be done. Please protect my home and my people in my absence and let someone right this wrong in the future. I do not ask for vengeance, nor do I ask for tears upon my death. I just want judgment for the sins committed, but please do not hold it against them. Please help my people find peace, and please lead them from danger. You know, I had dreams that I wanted to fulfill. I wanted a family, children of my own. I wanted to retire from being Warlord and become a mother. I wanted to see my nephew grow up and become a powerful Gallade, yet he doesn't need me to become strong, he just needs the determination to do it. Protect him please and bless him, let him know that his aunt loved him very much. I have been faithful to you since I was little girl and I want to know that I will be in peace. For now I part from you and I will walk to my fate without struggle. Forgive me for any wrongdoing I have committed and let me part from this sweet prayer with the solace I asked for. I part from you now sweet prayer and I part from you happily Father Arceus. Let me meet you face to face and let me rest in peace. Goodbye Father Arceus. Amen."

She stood up and held onto the charm on her neck, that let the humans understand her speech. She began to stop crying and put on a brave smile and played with her chains.

Four guards then came into the cell and dragged her out to the gallows outside where a crowd had gathered, however they were protesting her execution. Only in the sunlight were her cuts, bruises, and wounds visible, all from the torturing she received in the days of her captivity.

One human said, "Let her go, she's done nothing wrong!"

Another said, "What evil has she committed? Protecting your life is not a sin!"

A man that looked like an important official of the city walked onto the gallows and said to Kyrea, "I hope you have made your peace. Also, we managed to take your sword as a trophy. It's in the temple."

Kyrea looked at him and frowned, "That's a dumb move. That sword cannot be in a human's possession without my permission. It will place a curse on this city. You held me and tortured me for four day, so no ruler of yours will live for more than four months after obtaining the throne."

The official quickly slapped her, forcing her to wince in pain. "You should learn respect for death."

"And you should learn respect for the dead."

The official placed the noose around her neck and told her, "Do you have any last words?"

Kyrea looked at the crowd and noticed a large number of disguised Gallades and Gardevoirs and the Chief at the time.

"As a matter of fact I do."

"Then say it. You have this time alone."

Kyrea took a deep breath and tears began to fall from her eyes, but she kept smiling.

{Kyrea's Speech: Hymn of the Sanctuary}

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary,

Long have I looked towards you for my protection.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary,

Within your gates I was safe.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary,

Within you I was molded, within you I was born.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary,

Your gates were my hopes, your foundations were my dreams, and your plans were my ambitions.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary,

In you I was taught, in you I grew strong.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary,

From you I have been take, and for you I have suffered greatly.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary,

For you I will give my last breath, and for you I will close my eyes one last time.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary.

I shall part from you now, and one day I shall return.

Sanctuary, my Sanctuary.

I will leave you happily, nothing will stop my joy.

I have fought the good fight and did my part.

May you be the last thing that leaves my lips.

Sanctuary, my dear Sanctuary.

Immediately after she said the last line of her poem the official pulled the lever for the trap door. It made Kyrea fall and hang by her neck, she died a few minutes later and yet tears kept falling from her eyes and the smile never left her face.

[Present Day]

"Her body was taken back by Sanctuary soldiers and the humans lost the war after her brother became Warlord and destroyed, what is now, Pastoria City. Also, Shadowbane's curse came true. The humans didn't return the sword for ten years and the humans lost fifteen rulers, until one was actually smart and returned Shadowbane to the Sanctuary."

"That was a very sad story."

"It gets worse. She had a promised mate. She was going to mate with him when she turned eighteen, but she died a month before eighteenth birthday. He committed suicide on her birthday by drinking poison and lying down on her bed."

"Does it get worse?"

"No, not really. Her body was just placed in a coffin and placed within her statue in her home den, being the 9th den and being the only Warlord from that den. She's one of our most celebrated Warlords and her poetry has been published in the Sanctuary. When she wasn't fighting she was writing poems."

"What really bothers me is that she was still a child."

"She became the Warlord because she defeated the previous Warlord in a fight and Shadowbane chose her as its wielder."

Rick drew Shadowbane and said, "So, you can curse people? What kind of sword are you?"

"It kinda feels like an honor to have that sword around me. It holds so much of our history and so much of our fame."

"I guess you're right. I wonder...do you know if my father's body was recovered and placed in his statue?"

Alara thought for a second, "Yes. His body was recovered by Daedalus after he felt his life end. He also recovered your mother's body and she's also in a coffin within your father's statue."

Rick stood up with an angry look on his face, "And you didn't tell me!? You, nor my uncles, nor your parents!?"

"We thought you knew."

Rick glared at her and saw that he was easily frightening her. He quickly calmed down and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I just...I just always wondered where they were buried and now I know. Provided, I can talk to them whenever I want now, but it just makes me feel better knowing where their bodies are at. But I need to find my sister's body."

"I don't know if we can find it. It's been too long to find body. But I hope you do reunite with her. I want to see you happy, and I want to help you."

"Thanks you Alara. Let's go home. Shall we?"

Alara nodded and then said, "Let me just go to the bathroom first." With that she entered the bathroom to freshen up and Rick teleported to another bathroom to do the same.

Rick soon arrived back into the room and waited for her to be ready. She eventually came out and gave him a nod, signalling that she was ready to leave. Rick grabbed her hand and teleported outside of the facility, where everyone was prepped and ready to go.

"Alright, sorry for the wait. Let's go!" With that he opened a portal and everyone walked through it quickly.

[At the Sanctuary's Gates]

Two guards, Syler and Luan, were at the gate and were taken by surprised when a black mass, the portal, appeared many yards in front of them. They drew their blades and quickly retracted them when they saw the soldiers walking out of the portal. As soon as they saw Rick and Alara they got into salutes, which the soldiers also did themselves.

Syler quickly walked up to Rick and told him, "Sir, my lady, it's good to have both of you back. How did the battle go?"

Rick replied, "It went well. No deaths and the injuries have been tended to. Also, no need to tell me. The Chief wants me to go to the Chief's Court immediately."

"Almost on the dot. He has something else planned. It's been a while since a true battle and...you'll be surprised on how the streets are right now."

"Oh Arceus. Where's the chariot?"

"Chariot?" Syler and Luan started laughing. "Oh there's no chariot. Just Rapidashes."

Rick quickly asked Alara, "Why do we use Rapidashes? Aren't they individuals?"

Alara replied, "Yes, but they are our allies and offer their services as trasportation and warsteeds. They also do a lot of other things too."

"Alright that makes sense. It always surprised me how they can be ridden and they have fire manes and tails. But that's a question for another time. Let's get this over with."

Luan grabbed his communicator and said, "Alright, Warlord Aeruthael and Lady Alara are back with the army. Bring out the Rapidashes."

With the order the gates opened and many Rapidashes, one for every Captain, came outside with four mounted guards. A larger, and more decorated, Rapidash came out and stopped in front of Rick and Alara.

The Rapidash then said, "Well hop on my lady." Alara nodded and Rick helped her onto the saddle. "You too Warlord Aeruthael."

"Excuse me?"

"The Chief asked me to take you to the Chief's Court."

Rick sighed and jumped onto the saddle, behind Alara, and grabbed hold of the reins. Soon everyone took off and rode into the Sanctuary.

Rick told Alara, "Your dad has to stop doing this. I can sense a parade. Note the guards riding next to us."

"Hey there hasn't been a battle since your dad's time. This is a victory march. Also, you rescued me so there's cause to celebrate. Either way it's not like it's going to happen all the time. He's just honoring you as the Warlord."

"Apparently, I'm a parade float now. It's second time we've paraded through the streets."

"Oh hush! Enjoy it while it lasts. Hopefully it lasts for long time, because you're a great Warlord."

"Thanks. I might keep the job for a while. Maybe until Team Rocket is out of the picture."

"Oh keep it longer than that."

"I'll see."

Rick and the others finally arrived in the streets of the first den and were welcomed by the residents cheering at them and welcoming them back. Rick and Alara were waving and Rick took the opportunity to look back and saw Jean riding a Rapidash while wearing a cowboy outfit.

"How does Jean keep finding these costumes?"

"He's your best friend and brother."

"Yes but it never dawned on me on where he gets them on such a short amount of time. I'll ask him later."

"Um Rick...look back."

Rick looked back and saw Jean dressed like Napoleon.

"How!? Nevermind. I think I'll loose myself guessing."

They soon made it near their neighborhood and were cheered even louder and Alara and Rick felt something appearing in front of them. Alara then opened her arms and caught Maiyu as she teleported into her arms.

Maiyu then said, "I'm so happy you two are back. I was so scared."

Alara hugged her and said, "There there little one. We're alright."

Maiyu sank her head into Alara's shoulder and Rick reached over and pet her head. Rick then looked in the crowd and saw his aunt Celenia and her mate. She was smiling and shaking her head when she saw where Maiyu went. She didn't say anything or do anything, she just waved at Rick and Alara.

After a while they made it to the Chief's Court and Rick jumped off the Rapidash and tried to shake off the saddle sores. He then helped Alara off the Rapidash and was surprised that she didn't have saddle sores. He didn't say anything and forced himself to walk normally into the building. Once they entered they were greeted by Alara's parents and the elders.

Alara's parents quickly ran up to her and hugged her. They quickly pulled Rick into the hug as he started to step back.

They eventually let him go and Rick said, "As promised I brought her back. We killed two Projects and destroyed the base without losing any soldiers. Also, was the parade needed?"

Alara's mom said, "That was my idea. I'm so happy to see you guys safe and unscathed." Rick showed her his scars and bruises. "Okay, MOSTLY unscathed."

"So what do you guys have planned now?"

"Excuse me?"

"Everytime I come here you guys have something in store for me and Alara. What is it this time?"

"We actually have nothing for you guys this time. We were worrying too much to plan an awkward situation to plant you guys in."

"KNEW IT!"

Rick immediately got a broadcast on his communicator.

Luan was on the other end and said, "Umm Warlord Aeruthael?"

"This is the Warlord, what's your situation?"

"We have a large army of different pokemon waiting here to meet you. They don't seem to want to fight since they brought a large caravan of gifts."

"Gifts? Anything else?"

"Yeah, you probably get them inside there are some Zangeese and Servipers and I don't know if things will escalate into a fight soon."

"Good call! Send them in and lead them to the Chief's Court. I will meet them there."

"Acknowledged! Sending them now. Luan out!"

Rick looked at the others and said, "We have company. A large group of other pokemon have come to meet me. Soldiers, get ready for anything and everything. Guys, come with me. I might need backup if things go south."

Alara then told him, "I think they were sent by Arceus. Didn't he tell you that the other pokemon civilizations will be notified when the war starts?"

"That he did, but I wasn't expecting them to arrive only a day afterwards. Well this is bound to be interesting and they are most likely the generals and kings of the civilizations."

Alara's dad then said, "Oh so let me go with you. If things get political then you have backup."

Rick then heard another someone in the balconies say, "And I'll go too."

Alara's mom smiled and said, "You want to go dad?"

"Yes, when am I going to have this chance again. As the head of the council I should go with the Chief and aid him in any political situation."

Alara's dad rolled his eyes and whispered to Rick, "You don't know overbearing until you deal with my mate's parents."

Rick and Alara laughed and proceeded to walk into the courtyard to greet the visitors. It took another ten minutes but the visitors arrived in numbers that surprised Rick. There were dozens of different pokemon, not including the ones carrying large packages of gifts. Rick saw Zangeese, Servipers, Weaviles, Alakhazams, Zoroarks, Scizors, Luxrays, Charizards, Kabutops, Aerodactyls, other fossil pokemon, Honchkrows, Hydreigons, Pidgeots, and many other pokemon. Rick's jaw was nearly on the floor and Alara closed it for him.

"I have to talk to all these pokemon?"

Alara looked at him and then at Maiyu, who was still in her arms, "Well Arceus did say that there were many civilizations. But I wasn't aware of them." Soon they were all face to face and Maiyu climbed onto Alara's back in fear.

An older looking Luxray stepped forward and said, "Which one of you is Warlord Aeruthael?"

"That would be me."

The Luxray gave a hearty laugh and said, "Please to finally meet you my boy! I am Raiden, the Alpha male of the Luxrays." A younger Luxray walked besides him, "And this is my son Leo."

"Pleased to meet you both."

Soon every leader of the pokemon civilizations introduced themselves to Rick and Rick was having a hard time remembering names and shaking hands/claws.

Soon the leader of the Zangeese introduced himself, he had a very think Scottish accent, "Hello there Warlord Aeruthael. I am War Chief Tiberius."

"It's a pleasure."

A large Serviper slithered forward and said, "I am Chief Seever."

"Pleased to meet you too."

Tiberius quickly said, "Give him a minute and it won't be much of a pleasure."

Seever quickly hissed at him and the two began to glare/hiss/snarl and each other. Rick quickly intervened, "Okay enough! I will not accept fighting in my city. If you guys can't get along then don't talk to one another. Now then, I will get to know you guys better in the near future."

The Honchkrow leader then said, "Agreed it takes too long and your species cannot get along. Also, my name is Boss, Boss Ike Caloge."

"That sounded so close to Al Capone and you have a thick Sicilian mob accent. Should I be worried?"

Ike let out a laugh, "Me? A mobster? Nah! It's all legitimate and lawful." Jean began to laugh and Ike flew next to him. "What's so funny?"

Jean then sweatdropped, "Umm, nothing sir."

"Something better be funny since you's laughin'. Is it my hat?"

"No sir."

"I know! It's my white crest feathers. Isn't it?"

At this point Jean was terrified, "No sir."

"It better not be! Because if I catch you laughing at me again, I will stab you in the face with an ice pick and use your feathers to make a new coat for my little lady. You understand me!? Now do me a favor and light this cigar for me. Come on , chop chop!" He pulled out a cigar from out of no where and Jean quickly brought a small fire from the tip of his finger and lit the cigar. Ike smoked it for a second, laughed, and place his large wing over Jean's shoulders, "You follow orders quickly. I like that. I like you kid, you have mutts. But remember, next time you make fun of me you will be found at the bottom of a river sleeping with the fishes. And water isn't so kind to your type. I don't want to do that. So be careful. Now scram!" Jean quickly got out of his sight and Rick looked at Ike with a smile.

Rick then said, "That was actually impressive."

"When you lead people you learn to demand respect. If people disrespect me, then things happen to them...horrible things."

"What kind of things?"

"Don't you worry about that. It's never going to happen to you, you're the one leading this operation."

"Alright, but just take it easy."

"Say we still need to give you our gifts." Four Murkrows appeared, "Boys! Bring the goods for our friend here and his little lady. Also, make it snappy. Move it!"

The Murkrows left and returned quickly with boxes full of Cuban cigars, expensive wine, dresses for Alara, and a lot of money/firearms.

Rick said, "Thanks for the gifts, but I don't drink or smoke. Also, where did you get all these guns?"

"Don't worry about it. Also, I know you don't drink or smoke. Arceus sent Darkrai to me and he told me all I needed to know and where to find you. The cigars are for me when I come visit. The wine is for your restaurants. The firearms and money are my true gift. If we're fighting a war, we'll need funds and weapons. You're very welcome."

"Well thank you."

The other leaders gave him their gifts and Rick was left with a staggering amount of gifts. He received 230 tons of gold, 200 tons of silver, 250 tons of weapons of various types, 50 tones of spices, 378 tons of jewels, 200 dresses for Alara, 298 tons of food products, and 500 tons of miscellaneous items. Rick was confused on why they were bringing him gifts and where he was going to place all of these gifts.

Rick said, "Thank you all for all these gifts, but why did you bring me gifts."

Raiden, the Luxray leader said, "It's customary when the leaders of each civilization meet to greet the new War Commander that they should bring him/her gifts to prove their support and loyal."

"This has happened before?"

"Yes, seven times. It's called the Legendary Brotherhood. It's called that because Arceus chooses the War Commander to take down a threat, and each civilization is called to serve him/her. It's the first in 400 years and I never thought I would live to be a part of it."

"I'm honored but this is sudden for me."

"Oh you'll learn how to do your job as best as you can. All the civilization leaders are actually called upon to help guide the War Commander and teach them their morals and skills. There is so much I can teach you and these men and women also have subjects to teach you. Now then, we only came to meet you before returning to our homes. You are welcome to visit our cities whenever you feel like it."

"Oh don't leave yet. Stay and rest for the night at least. I know all of you came from distant lands and you're probably exhausted." Rick looked at Alara's dad, "Sir, is there any place to keep them in?"

Alara's dad nodded, "Yes, the 21st and 22nd dens have been finished being built. So we can house them there for the time being...however, the Zangeese and the Servipers must be in different dens so that they don't fight."

"Agreed. Men! Escort them to the dens. I will see you all tomorrow morning." All the pokemon said their goodbyes and followed the army to the transporters. When they were gone Rick told Alara's dad, "Alright this is what's going to happen. All the gold, silver, and jewels is going to go to the treasury, to be used to for the people and the army...man taxes just died. Also, send the weapons to the military armory. The food, spices, and wine to the restaurants, food shelters, and food vaults. The lumber goes straight to resource stash. I have to go home and think about everything that just happened."

"Very well. Go home and rest. But let me tell you of an event that's coming up."

"I KNEW IT!"

"Here me out. In one month we're having the Harvest Festival and with it Alara's favorite part, the Harvest Ball."

Alara gave a shriek and Rick looked at her, "And I'm guessing you want me to go to it?"

"Of course."

"I'll think about it."

Alara looked at him, "What are you talking about? Go! You'll have fun. Hell you've been to it You have a picture of that day with me in your room."

"You're releasing too much information. Also, I don't know."

Maiyu then said, "You should go Aeru. I always have fun in the festival. I've been to the Harvest Ball before and it's super fun, but it's mainly a couples event. You should go with Alara."

Alara smiled, "Great idea Maiyu! We should go together Rick."

"I'll think about it. Let's move out!"

Rick then concentrated his energy and his Lamborghini teleported to the courtyard.

"I bet you missed that car?"

"A little. Get in, I have to take Maiyu home and then I'll take you home."

With that they got in the car and drove off. It didn't take Rick long to get Maiyu to her house and he then took off for Alara's house.

When they arrived Alara stopped at her door and said, "Please go Rick. It'll be fun and I know you'll enjoy yourself."

"Alara, I'll think about it. I have a bigger issue to deal with."

"This is true but still I hope you decide to go."

"Alright, I'll tell you what I think later. Bye!"

"Goodbye!"

Rick left and arrived at his house and took his time to look around his house for the first time in, what was to him, months. "Home Sweet Home."

**An entire week of writing, a lot of frustration, but it has finally been finished. So yes, the war has begun and the two sides are assembling. It's also nice to learn a bit about the Sanctuary. Keep up you support guys and keep on trying to become a part. I'm still accepting people into my community and I'm still mentoring writers. Well have a memorable day guys. Bye!**


	33. Chapter 33: Affectionate Reunion

**Here's chapter 33. I'm back into my two chapters a week progress and I'm loving it. So here's a very well awaited reunion between two people that you guys have asked me to write about...quite frankly it was going to happen eventually. So I'm happy to announce that I'll also be writing down the Blade and the Embrace fun facts, which explains how this story was created and all the silly little ideas I had before I came out with the current story. Just for you guys to know, I wrote five different drafts before I got to the story I'm writing at the moment. Well, have fun reading guys. Don't forget to vote for your favorite characters on the poll on my profile. You can vote to up to two characters. Keep sending me your reviews, questions, suggestions, and requests. Enjoy! ****View Rankings: ****1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) The Philippines, 4th) Australia, and 5th) Iceland.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

The morning after the arrival of the other pokemon civilization leaders, Rick was still in a deep sleep. Rick was unaware of it, but Alara and Maiyu entered his house and made their way to his room. Maiyu was riding on Alara's shoulder and both of them were trying to be extremely quiet. Maiyu was trying to control her giggles and Alara was standing over Rick.

They both nodded and Maiyu jumped off of Alara's shoulder and onto Rick, making sure she didn't land on his spike, "Good morning Aeru!"

Rick opened his eyes and soon lost all the air in his lungs when Maiyu landed on his gut, waking him up completely. Maiyu kept jumping on his gut and Alara caught her in the air, to stop her.

"Maiyu...I'm awake. Ow!" Rick said while trying to catch his breath and fighting the pain in his gut. "You're small but that still hurts."

Alara then said, "Sorry about that. I didn't know she was going to jump. We just wanted to wake you up."

"It's okay." He gave one more deep breath and said, "Why are you guys in my house?"

"I opened the door with my key."

"Note to self: change the locks to the house. Also, what is Maiyu doing here so early and why is she with you?"

Maiyu then handed Rick a letter from her mom. Rick read the letter.

[Letter]

Dear Aeru,

My mate and I are going to the 13th den on some business for two weeks. Maiyu however wanted to stay with you for the time being and I didn't see anything wrong with that. Sorry for sending her to you on such short notice, but we overslept and really had to go quickly. If anything send her to her grandmother's house, the grandmother you both share, if you're going to be busy. I think this is a great way for both of you two to bond, she already talks about you all the time. You really made an impression on her in the short time you have been here. Well thank you, sorry again for dropping her on you. There are some emergency numbers at the bottom of this letter. They all vary from relatives, her pediatrician, and her school. Speaking of which, she still needs to go to school. It's the elementary school on the 800th block of Woodborough Avenue, you can't miss it. She needs to be there by 8 in the morning and she needs to be picked up by 3 in the afternoon. She has a doctor's appointment this Thursday at 10 in the morning. Once again, sorry Aeru. I hope this isn't too much of a bother for you. Oh, before I forget, make sure she does all her homework and send her to Alara's house in the afternoons until Alara finishes making her Harvest Festival dress. Give her my thanks for doing it. Thank you Aeru.

With love,

Your Aunt Celenia

PS: She needs to take her vitamins every morning. Please make sure she takes them. Also, her bed time is at nine o'clock and give her a bath every day.

[Rick]

Rick finished reading the letter and looked at Maiyu, "So you're staying with me for a few weeks." He looked at Alara, "You're making her festival dress?"

Alara nodded, "Yep. I promised her mom I would make it for her this year. My mom taught me how to make dresses."

"That's good. What time is it?"

"It's 7am."

Rick looked at Maiyu, "Looks like I better get your breakfast ready for you. Are you ready for school?"

Maiyu shook her head, "No, I need to change into my uniform."

"Then go to the bathroom and get ready. I'll go brush my teeth and then head down to make you breakfast."

Alara said, "I'll make breakfast for us three. You two get ready for the day. What do you want for breakfast Maiyu?"

Maiyu looked at her with a smile, "Pancakes!"

Alara giggled, "Alright, pancakes it is. Now go get ready."

Alara teleported to the kitchen and Maiyu ran into the bathroom.

Rick sighed and said, "Can I ever wake up to a normal day? I go from military leader to guardian in a matter of hours. Man I'm never going to hear the end of this."

A few minutes later, Alara was finishing the breakfast for everyone. Two pancakes for Maiyu and toast, eggs, and bacon for her and Rick. Rick eventually came downstairs with Maiyu, in her uniform and backpack, riding on his shoulder.

Alara saw them and smiled while placing the food on the table, "Food's on!"

Maiyu teleported to her sear, Rick sat down next to her, and Alara sat on the other side of her. Rick looked into the bag that Maiyu brought with her and pulled out the vitamins that her mom wanted him to give to Maiyu. Rick handed two vitamins to Maiyu and she quickly chewed on them and drank her Oran Berry juice. Alara handed Maiyu a fork to eat the pancakes, and Maiyu's face nearly disappeared as she opened her mouth and took a giant bite from the pancakes. Rick and Alara laughed at the sight and began to eat their meals.

After Maiyu finished her breakfast she pulled Rick and Alara into hug, "I love you two so much! You guys will make great parents!"

Alara blushed and Rick chuckled, "Now now Maiyu. You're not going to have a baby cousin for a while. I need to find a mate first."

"What about Alara? She's single and you guys are always together."

Alara blushed even brighter and Rick began to tug on Maiyu's pigtails, making her whimper.

"What did I tell you about thinking like that?"

"Not to do it not to do it NOT TO DO IT!"

Rick let go of her pigtails, "Exactly."

"Ow that hurt Aeru!"

"Sorry Maiyu, but you have to stop doing that. It's uncomfortable."

Maiyu then asked him, "Why? Why is it uncomfortable?"

Rick wasn't expecting to give her an answer and he thought for a good answer to tell her.

Alara answered for him, "It's a grown up thing Maiyu. Me and Rick are best friends but we're not in love." Alara thought to herself, *Well for the most part.*

"So why don't you two just fall in love? I want a baby cousin."

"Because it doesn't work that way dear. Falling in love takes time."

"And what about making a baby?"

Rick and Alara blushed and Rick stood up and said, "Well I better start the car. You're on your own here."

Alara quickly dragged him back with **Psychic** and forced him back to his seat.

"If I'm going down then you're going with me." She then looked back at Maiyu. "Well see this is a subject that's for adults only."

Maiyu asked, "Why can't I know?"

"You're too young."

"I ask again, why can't I know?"

"Ummmm...Rick help me out."

Rick looked at her, "What do you want me to tell her?"

"Something!"

"Fine!" He looked at Maiyu. "Hormones. Hormones and the joining of two different cells. A lot of energy loss, sweat, and work on the male's part."

Alara facepalmed and Maiyu said, "That tells me nothing. How does it happen?"

Rick sweatdropped, "Alara, what time is it?"

Alara looked at her Poketch, "7:40"

"Well look at that! We have to go. Now everyone to the Lamborghini."

Maiyu then said, "But I still don't have an answer."

"March and let your curiosity be still!"

"But..."

Rick interrupted, "That's it. Come here!" Rick picked up Maiyu and carried her to the car and strapped her into the back seat.

Alara got into the passenger seat and looked back at Rick and Maiyu and giggled. Rick looked like an actual dad watching over his child. Rick then sat down on his seat and drove off to the school.

While on the way Maiyu asked, "So are you guys telling me or not?"

Both Rick and Alara responded, "NO!"

"Okay okay! Is it that bad?"

"YES!"

"Well you guys are no fun."

Alara responded, "Oh we're fun, we just never thought we would be explaining the facts of life to you."

"You guys didn't explain anything to me."

"And we won't until you're older."

"Why?"

Rick sighed and said, "Oh my Arceus, here we go again."

Alara sighed as well, "There's no way to stop this girl."

"Listen Maiyu can you please hold your questions until later. I'm trying to drive us to your school without going insane."

Maiyu replied, "I just want to know."

"There's things in this world that you're not ready for...this is one of them."

"Why?"

"Good Arceus in heaven, I'm about to lose it."

"Why?"

Rick almost faceplanted but remembered that he was driving. "Alara take over the conversation."

Alara looked back at Maiyu, "Listen Maiyu. Just drop the conversation. When you're older we'll explain everything. We'll answer all your questions at that time. Got it?"

Maiyu gave her a thumbs up, "Okay!"

Rick turned his head with a glare and his eyes glowing red. "What...the...f..."

Alara interrupted him, "Rick!"

Rick turned back around, "We're here." Rick stopped, parked the car outside of the school, got out with Alara, and helped Maiyu out. "Here you Maiyu, I'll pick you up at three. Now march to class."

Maiyu then said, "Umm Aeru, I have to be taken inside. They won't let me in without a grown up. It's the school rules. Parents must take their children inside."

"Seriously? Alright. Come on let's go."

Maiyu smiled and took Rick's hand, Alara took Rick's other arm and walked inside the school to drop off Maiyu. Once inside Maiyu directed Rick to her classroom, where there were children and their parents waiting in the hall for class to start. Rick and Alara stayed in the hall with Maiyu and were greeted by the adults and children, who were surprised to see them.

After about ten minutes the classroom doors opened and a Gardevoir stepped out to greet everyone. As everyone was going in the Gardevoir looked at Rick and Alara and quickly walked up and hugged Alara, who returned the hug with a smile on her face.

Rick then said, "I'm guessing you two know each other?"

Alara said, "Yep! Rick this is my friend Mitsuko, we used to go to high school and college together."

Mitsuko then said, "We were in the same sorority."

Rick looked at Alara, "You were in a sorority?"

"Sure was. It was so much fun, but the fun had to end with graduation."

"I would of guessed. Where's the university?"

"The third den. Oh wait that's right, I never showed you. I'll take you there some other time."

Mitsuko then said to Alara, "What are both of you doing here? It's odd seeing the Warlord and the Chief's daughter in places like these."

"Oh we're here to drop off Maiyu. Aeru's aunt wanted him to watch over her for two weeks, while she's on a business trip. So you'll be seeing him here everyday because of Maiyu."

"Oh that's nice. I'll just take Maiyu from your hands for now."

Rick let go of Maiyu's hand and she skipped into the room.

Rick chuckled, "She sure has a lot of energy in the morning."

"You have no idea."

"How is she in class?"

"She's really intelligent and always wants to participates, but she's so curious about everything."

"Preaching to the choir on that one."

"Either way, she's a joy to have in class. She says that she'll try to bring you in one day to spend the day with the class, she's so talkative."

"Did she really say that? She hasn't talked to me about it at all yet."

"Well I guess she sees that you're so busy."

"If she wanted to then I would of gladly of come and spend a day with her class."

"Would you really?"

"Yes, in fact, I'll come tomorrow. Is that good for you?"

"That would be wonderful! The children will be so excited to meet you tomorrow."

"Then it's settled, I'll pay them a visit tomorrow." He looked at Alara, "Will you come as well?" Alara nodded, "There you have it. We'll both be present."

"I'll see you both here then. Well I have to go tend to the children. Goodbye!"

Rick and Alara dismissed themselves and left the building. They got back into the car and Alara kept looking at Rick with a contempt expression on her face.

"What?"

"That was awfully kind of you."

"Hey if the children want to meet me then what right do I have to deprive them of that?"

"What about work?"

"I'm at work 24/7. This isn't going to make a dent on my work schedule. We need to head to the gates to see the other leaders out. I sure hope they have nothing for me this time."

"Something tells me that they will."

"I know they will, but I can dream, can't I?"

Rick and Alara arrived at the gates and walked out. When they got out they saw all the visitors prepped and ready to go and Rick's team helping them pack. They also saw Alara's parents, her grandfather, and Rick's uncles speaking to the guests. Raiden, the Luxray Alpha Male, spotted Rick and went to see him.

He said to him, "Ah it's good to see you. How was your morning?"

"It was...interesting."

"How?"

"Don't worry about it. So, heading out?"

"Yes, everyone has their things and are ready to go. You have a gigantic task on your hands now. When you call we must answer. You're our leader, in a way."

A voice then appeared behind them, "Indeed you are."

Both of them turned around, and so did everyone else, and they saw Mew and Celebi floating in the air.

Rick and Alara smiled at them and Rick said, "It's good to see you two again. How are you two doing?"

Celebi said, "Oh we've been okay. We came here to take you, you team, Alara's parents, and the civilization leaders to the Hall of Origins to stand before the Legendary Council."

"Legendary Council?"

"It only happens every now and then. It's when all us legendaries come together to discuss things. Usually it only happens a few times a year, maybe once a month. Either way, Arceus wants all of you there within the hour, but the sooner the better. Your subordinates, soldiers, and servants must stay here for the time being."

All the leaders nodded and ordered all their people to stay behind with their possessions. Mew and Celebi quickly opened a portal and the group walked through it.

[In the Hall of Origins]

In the Hall of Origins, the legendaries were all talking among themselves. Some were arguing (Kyogre and Groudon, the bird trio, Dialga and Palkia), some were excited to see who Arceus chose to lead in the war against Team Rocket, and others (like Mewtwo, Cobalion, Latios, and Terrakion) didn't really care as much as they wanted to go back to their homes.

Mewtwo sighed and asked Lugia, who was perched next to him, "Why am I here?"

Lugia responded, "You're here because you're a legendary."

"I'm a clone of a legendary."

"And you inherited the title."

"Also, this is a meeting to appoint the one that will lead a pokemon army against Team Rocket."

"And you're not really with Team Rocket."

"I know I went rogue years ago, but that doesn't mean that I have to be here. It's starting to get really irritating pretending to be on their side."

"Does Giovanni suspect anything?"

"Nope. He has me looking for Project Alpha, but I'm just pretending to look for him. I already know where he is, but I'm not telling that human anything. If Team Rocket is going to be destroyed then I'm going to have to leave him in the dark."

"Well at least we know you're on our side." A portal then opened at the end of the room. "Oh they're here. I wonder who it is."

"You and me both." He then saw Rick step through the portal. "No...fucking...way."

Rick and the group walked into the hall and were amazed at the large number of powerful pokemon standing around them on seats, perches, and bleachers. Alara held onto his arm out of fear and Serenity huddled close to him for the same reason.

Rick immediately said, "It's great to see you all again. It's been a while since I've seen...most of you."

A yell came from the bleachers to his right, "I love you Rick!"

Rick sighed in irritation, "It's good to see you too Meloetta." He then whispered to Alara, "No it's not. She's irritating." Rick quickly pulled Mew near him and whispered to her, "Once this is done, get me out of here immediately." Mew and Alara giggled. Mew quickly floated over to Mewtwo and sat on his shoulder. Rick looked in shock at the sight of Mewtwo's presence. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Mewtwo looked at him, "Let me give you the short version. I'm a mole for the legendaries. I pretend to work for Team Rocket and sabotage and/or ruin their plans and report to the legendaries everything. The only reason Team Rocket hasn't found you is because I've been misleading them."

"I guess I should say thank you then Mewtwo...or should I call you by your codename? Project Zero."

"Don't call me that. I hate Giovanni so much. Pokemon should never be created for the destructive purposes of mankind. One's destiny is set during one's birth and no one has the right to attempt to alter it in any way. For that reason I defected. I will purge Team Rocket and their allies from the face of the Earth. But if I can't then you should be the one to do it."

"Thank you. Why did you never tell me?"

"Do you think I wanted word to return to Giovanni about this?"

"Good point."

They stopped talking when a light appeared in the room and Arceus appeared from the light. Everyone quickly bowed low to the ground in the presence of Arceus.

Arceus then said, "You may rise." Everyone stood up again. The pokemon leaders, Rick's uncles, his friends, and Alara's family were in awe by what they were seeing. "I have summoned you all here for a purpose. Team Rocket is running rampant and I need someone to go and put a stop to them. As I thought about my next course of action an idea came to my mind; why not use one of their own creations against them? So I looked for one that defected. One that harbored ill feelings against them. However, I needed one that had a good heart, was humble, and quick to please. I needed one that could fight with the wrath of a thousand demons, but be so gentle he wouldn't harm the most vulnerable of creatures. He has faced more hardships in his life than most legendaries in their entire existences, but it hasn't brought him down. For this I have chosen Aeruthael Fenrir, Warlord of the Sanctuary, as the first War Master in over 600 years. For the time he spends as the War Master he will be ranked among the legendaries and hold dominion over all pokemon. This will be so until his task has been completed." He looked directly at Rick, "From here on out all pokemon will call you 'master'. Go purge this threat from my domain and send Team Rocket and their allies into oblivion."

"It shall be done, but why give me legendary status. I'm not a god, I don't have the power over beings, nature, or reality itself."

"Maybe not a god of those terms. You may not be a technical god but as long as you are the War Master you will be considered the god of war."

"No."

"Hmmm?"

"I'm no god and I will never be. I'm just a being that wants to set things right and preserve a future for other pokemon. Just so that they don't ever have to go through what I went through by the hands of Team Rocket. You can be certain that they will be gone soon enough. As for the position, I accept."

"And so it has begun. The drums of war echo through the world again. Go do what you were destined to do, but let me tell you. You will not do this alone. For that reason I sent for the civilization leaders, your friends and family, and Alara. You must all fight as one and do not drive Team Rocket away, destroy them."

"Lord Arceus, it is useless to tell you that I will do it. You know I already will. You have given me more than I could of ever of asked for and then some."

"Name anything you want right now. It will be given to you. I will even give you dominion over reality itself if it will help in you cause."

"No! I will not take more power. I have not earned it. What I do ask is for...is courage and confidence. I cannot do anything without it. I cannot win battles without the courage to face my enemies and the confidence to do what I know I need to do to succeed."

"It will be done. Tell me, do you remember that gift I gave you?"

"The blade/sword that comes from my left hand?"

"Yes, it is called Sovereign. As long as it remains in your possession it will protect you from being manipulated or corrupted. It also has the power to drive out darkness. There is an ability within it called Rising Sun. When you have mastered the ability you may face off against Project Omega. The sword will not win the battle for you, but it can still guide you in your path. As for summoning it, you have noticed that it appears when you want to protect someone. Just think about all that you want to protect and the sword will appear. Shadowbane will change when you bring out Sovereign, it's sister sword. Shadowbane will take on its true powers and help you as well. The power of light and darkness in your hands, the sun and the moon at palm of hand."

"Where did these swords come from?"

"They were crafted by my own hand. The secret of their creation must remain as such."

"Very well. Is that all?"

"Yes. You may go and do my bidding."

"As you command." With that Rick bowed down before Arceus and then rose again. Rick took a deep breath and turned around before being met with applause from his friends and the civilization leaders actually bowed down to him. Rick quickly motioned for them to rise. "Why did you bow? I already told you that I am not a god."

Raiden responded, "Because you are now a greater individual than us and you are now out leader until the end of this war. What is your first order?"

Rick smiled and thought about his next move carefully, "Make sure every able soldier is well trained. We'll wait for Team Rocket and their allies to make the first move. Then retaliation is the name of the game."

"So it shall be."

"Mew and Celebi, can you open a portal back to our homes?"

Celebi floated over to Rick, "We already transported all the other men to their homes. We'll send the leaders to their homes as they pass through the portal."

"Very well. Thank you so much. Now hurry before Meloetta gets the idea to come see me."

Celebi giggled, "Alright."

Celebi and Mew quickly opened a portal and everyone left. Once Rick left the room the legendaries began to chatter among themselves. Some were surprised by Arceus's decision, and others were pleased with the decision.

Mewtwo stared into the distance and thought to himself, *So he's the one that will fight Team Rocket? He's going to need a lot of help. I hope Arceus made the right decision...what am I talking about? He's Arceus, he always makes the right decision."

Mewtwo's train of thought was interrupted by Mew sitting on his shoulder again, "Lost in though Mewtwo?"

"Hmmm? Yes. I'm just thinking how all this will play out."

"Most likely for the better. You just have to trust that Aeru know's what he's doing. Also, does it really matter? Arceus finally chose a War Leader, I say we should count out blessings."

"You may be right, but I know things will get crazy with Alpha running around controlling legions of pokemon."

Lugia then said, "If things go awry then Arceus made a mistake and he does not make mistakes. Let's just believe that it will."

"I'm not as optimistic as you are Lugia. However, you do have a point. But you do realize I have to solve some problems."

"You're not alone in that quest Mewtwo."

"Oh?"

"Practice compassion Mewtwo. Your savage heart may need something to open up to."

"We shall see." Mewtwo teleported away.

[Team Rocket HQ]

Theta was writing in her journal and she had a look of frustration on her face. Once she finished writing in her journal she places it down and gave a long sigh. As she gave the sigh, two red eyes appeared from the darkened end of the room and looked at her. Omega was in the room with her.

Omega said, "That was a really long sigh. Is something bothering you Ashlyn?"

"Nothing is bothering me."

"You're a horrible liar. Come on, let me hear it."

Theta sighed again and laid down on her bed, "Well you know how I came into Team Rocket."

"Yes, you were kidnapped from your home."

"Yes well before I was taken I had a best friend. He was named Dartz. We spent every waking moment together from the time we were little until that day. We were both ten years old at the time. We were at a lake that was behind our community, it was our usual hang out spot. It wasn't too big, but it was a beautiful location. It had a lone island in the middle that had a gigantic cherry tree that would never bear the cherries, but it would have flowers blooming all year 'round. Hell that was the place where we first kissed."

"Kissed? So I'm guessing he was more than your best friend?"

"He was my boyfriend at the time. But we were kids, what did we know about relationships? We were still Eevees at the time and we haven't seen each other in sixteen years. I didn't even recognize him when we met again. What makes me feel worse is that he's on the other side. With our enemies."

"And yet you still have feelings for him."

"Don't get me wrong Omega, we were boyfriend and girlfriend at one point but time took its toll. Even if I did want him back in my life, how will it be possible when we're on opposing sides of the battlefield."

"You can find a way. I'm no ally of their's either but if it'll make you happy then I'll keep it as our little secret." Omega chuckled within the darkness.

"I doubt he'll think the same as you."

"How would you know? You ran away from him when he was trying to speak to you."

Theta sunk her face in her hands when she realized what Omega was saying was true. "Damn it! Why must that be true?"

"You didn't want to face him after such a long time that you ran away as fast as you could. However, it looked like he had something to tell you. You left him with his words trapped in his mouth and his heart in shambles. You need to talk to him."

"I will...some other time. Anyways, I'm leaving for now."

"Where to?"

"My old home."

"The ruins? Why?"

"I just need to relax for a bit. Pass me my Shakuhachi (Japanese flute). I'll be back soon. Also, thank you."

Omega brought out a tentacle and grabbed the flute and gave it to Theta. Theta opened a portal and walked through it. Omega's eyes sank into the darkness and an amused laugh could be heard from it.

[In the Sanctuary, 7pm]

Rick and his team were hanging out in the condo building. Rick was joking around with boys in Jean's home and the girls were in Seras's home, with Alara making Maiyu's dress, Maiyu was with her finishing her homework, and the girls helping on the design. In the middle of the evening Dartz excused himself and left the room in a dark spirit. Jean noticed and walked after him, into the hall where Seras was coming out of her room and saw Dartz go into his home.

Jean walked up to Seras and said, "Something is really bothering your brother. He hasn't spoken much in two days and has been alone since his run in with the Projects."

Seras replied, "I don't know what's wrong with him, and it's starting to worry me."

Jean suddenly realized something, "Seras this may be our chance."

"For what?"

"To mate. He's distracted in his mind. Now is our chance to take advantage of all the alone time and his lack of interest."

Surprisingly Seras said, "No. I can't do it, not now."

"What do you mean? I don't think we'll ever get a more perfect chance."

"Jean, I have to worry about family before I worry about mating. Something is bothering my big brother and I can't rest knowing he's in distress."

"It's Dartz, he's always dark and gloomy. I'll admit this is a new low for him, but come on!"

"Back down Jean. Another time but not now." Seras walked away and walked into Dartz's home.

Jean was surprised by what Seras said, "De...nied. Oh well she's right, let's see what's wrong with Captain Cockblock."

They both went inside and saw that Dartz's home was completely dark, which didn't surprise Jean considering that Dartz is a dark type. They also heard the plucking of a shamisen in Dartz's room.

Jean said, "See he's okay. He just wanted to play some music. Also, what's with him and that instrument?"

Seras responded with an irritated look on her face, "Hey that shamisen means a lot to my brother. He's been practicing it since he was a kid."

"Why? It's so...Japanese."

Seras punched him in the gut, "I play the koto and that's a Japanese instrument."

"But I rarely see you play it."

"Shut up!" Seras opened the door to her brother's room. "Dartz? Brother are you alright?"

Dartz stopped playing his shamisen and looked at his little sister, "What do you guys want? Don't you see that I need my time to think?"

"We were just worried...well I was at least. You've been acting strangely lately and I want to know why."

"I'm alright Seras. Just leave me in peace."

"Not until you talk to me. Now let's hear it."

Dartz sighed and plucked his shamisen for a few moments. He then spoke, "Sis do you remember when we were little pups?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Who do you know that was my best friend?"

"Umm...I believe her name was Ashlyn."

"Do you recall what happened to her?"

"Yes, she was kidnapped by Team Rocket in the day of the raid."

"And what did I swear to do after that day?"

"You swore that you would rescue her at all costs. Which is why you joined our team all those years ago."

"Well that's not the only reason. You joined Master's team before me and I wanted to protect you, and doing it from afar wasn't working out. Either way, I don't think I can save her anymore."

"Why not?"

"Who was I fighting the other day?"

"Project Theta..." Seras's eyes shot wide open, "You don't mean..."

"Yes. Ashlyn is not Project Theta. All my efforts have been lost. She's become one of them and now I have no idea how to save her."

Jean asked Seras, "Who's Ashlyn?"

A voice came from the door, "Yes, I would also like to hear this story."

They looked back and saw Rick and Alara standing at the door, listening in.

Seras looked at her brother, who nodded, "Alright. Ashlyn was my brother's best friend and later girlfriend when we were younger. Dartz would spend every waking moment with her, like you and Alara are right now. She was the daughter of a wealthy craftsman in our community. Do you recall there once being an Eeveelution community?"

"Yes, I have heard of it."

"Well it no longer exists. Team Rocket raided it and destroyed everything and killed so many of our friends and family. Our parents being some of them. They even kidnapped her and knocked out Dartz when he tried to save her. Anyways, to continue with the story. She was the daughter of a rich craftsman and we were poor but stable. Ashlyn's father loved us very much and even taught us how to craft. I was too young to pick up much of any skill, but Dartz became a good woodworker and so did Ashlyn. In fact, Ashlyn made him that shamisen as a gift. Dartz made her a Shakuhachi and the two would play them constantly."

"How? You guys didn't receive human forms until you met me? How could you guys play those instruments?"

"We managed. It took time but they learned how."

"I'll just leave it at that."

"Anyways, when the day of the raid came Dartz was so hurt from losing her that he swore to save her at all costs and to eliminate Team Rocket in the process. However, he's conflicted because she became a Project and he seems to still be in love with her."

Rick looked at Dartz, "Is this true?"

Dartz sighed while plucking his shamisen, "Yes, it is. I don't know what to do anymore."

"This is an interesting case. Alara what do you think?"

Alara said, "Well I think it's cute but it is a wrong time to use the phrase. Maybe if he could get a chance to talk to her they might patch up what they can."

"That'll be pretty hard to do. She's a Project and they are not easy to talk to outside of battle."

"Why?"

Rick facepalmed and answered Alara, "Because we're enemies and they'll usually attack us. Did you forget?"

"Well Beta and Theta didn't attack us. We challenged them and they accepted the challenges. Hell, Theta protected me from Epsilon back in the fortress."

"I know but Projects are usually violent in nature."

"Rick, you're a Project."

"This is true, but 'm different and I don't want to risk a battle again. Not yet."

Dartz said to Rick, "Hey Rick. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Can you please take me to my old home? I need to go there. I need to see something."

"Very well. I'll send you there tonight at 9."

"Why 9?"

"Because I need to take Maiyu home put her to sleep for the day."

Seras giggled, "Aww look at Rick playing the guardian role. You're a regular parent now."

"Hey I have to be her legal guardian for the next two weeks. Tomorrow I have to spend the day with her entire class. I am going to be so tired for the next two weeks."

"Welcome to parenthood."

"She's not my daughter. She's my little cousin."

"But you have to treat her like she's your daughter. How do like it?"

"It's a lot of work to take care of her, but I don't mind it. I love that little girl."

He suddenly felt a weight on his head and saw Maiyu on his head, "Love you too Aeru!"

Rick reached up and lifted her off his head, "Come on Maiyu, it's time to go home."

"Aww can't I stay with the girls for a little while longer?"

"Sorry dear but your mom gave me instructions to make you dinner, give you a bath, and put you to sleep. Now that isn't going to take a few minutes, so I need to go now."

"Aww okay. But can Alara come too?"

Alara nodded, "I will. I was already planning to go with Rick, because after babysitting you for years I know how you refuse to take a bath without a fight. He's going to need back up. So Amber is taking your dress to my house. Let's go. Bye guys."

Rick opened a portal to his house and all three of them walked through the portal. Once in the house Rick began making Maiyu macaroni and cheese, what she asked for and Maiyu was playing with Alara in the living room. Rick soon came into the living room with a bowl full of food for Maiyu, and set it on the coffee table for her and handed her a fork.

"Eat up little one." Rick walked up to Alara, who was on the couch, and sat down next to her. "After this it's taking her a bath and tucking her in."

"Get ready for that battle."

"What do you usually do?"

"I used to just paralyze her with **Thunder Wave**. Solves that problem."

"I'm not going to do that. Besides, how hard can it be?"

[15 minutes later]

"Maiyu! Stop fighting!"

Rick was trying to bathe Maiyu but she kept fighting to get out.

She kept yelling, "No!"

"Stop being a baby and take a bath!"

"No!"

With that Maiyu managed to jump out of the tub and started to run. Rick pulled her back with **Psychic** and threw her back in the tub.

"Stop fighting! You're irritating me!"

"No!"

Alara was standing at the door laughing at the sight.

"Alara are you just going to stand there?"

Alara responded, "Sorry, but this is comedy. I haven't laughed this hard in a while."

"I don't think a Project has given me this much trouble." Maiyu then punched Rick and began to run. "That's it!" Rick quickly fired a **Thunder Wave** at Maiyu, paralyzing her and bringing her back with **Psychic**. "Now let's see if I can get you cleaned up."

Alara laughed, "I thought you weren't going to use it?"

"It was a battle to keep her down. She left me with no choice."

After a few minutes Rick finished bathing Maiyu and snapped his fingers and Maiyu came out of her paralysis.

She looked back at Rick as he wrapped her up in a towel, "You're mean!"

"You left me with no choice and Alara was no help."

Alara shrugged her shoulder and took Maiyu from Rick's arms and began to dry her. "Sorry, but I had to see you take care of her by yourself."

"Let's just put her to sleep."

Alara finished changing Maiyu and Rick put her in the bed, which was in his old room.

Maiyu said, "So you guys are leaving?"

"Just for a little while. Don't worry, you're safe. I'll have the alarm system on, there's a phone right next to the bed with a list of numbers, and there is a panic button that will summon a bunch of guards to protect you. Do you want me to put up a monitor so that we can keep an eye on you?" Maiyu nodded and Rick put a camera on top of the tv in the room, and pointed it at the bed. "There you go baby girl. I can keep an eye on you with my Poketch. So sleep tight, I'll be back really soon. Goodnight baby girl." Rick kissed her forehead and pulled the sheets over her.

Alara went over and said to Maiyu, "You have a great cousin that cares about you a lot. Don't give him a hard time now. Goodnight Maiyu."

Maiyu responded, "Goodnight Rick, goodnight Alara. Love you guys."

They both responded, "Love you too."

"You guys still haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"How are babies made?"

Rick responded, "OKAY! Goodnight Maiyu!" Maiyu giggled and got comfortable in the bed. "Do you want me to turn off the lights?"

"Leave the lamp on please and don't close the door completely."

"Alright. Sleep tight!"

Rick turned on the lamp that was at the corner of the room and Alara turned off the lights before they walked out. Rick closed the door but left it slightly open for Maiyu. Maiyu closed her eyes, got comfortable, and quickly fell asleep.

Five minutes later, Rick and Alara arrived back at the condos and got everyone that was going to the Hoenn region with them. After that time Rick opened a portal and Rick, Alara, Jean, Seras, Dartz, Serenity, and Amber walked through it. They immediately arrived at the location, a cluster of ruins around a lake, reflecting the moon.

Jean immediately said, "You guys are from here? This place is dead...oh wait, dick thing to say, sorry!"

Dartz walked ahead with Seras and they walked to the burnt down ruins of what used to be a house. Rick and Alara could pick up that they were sad about something.

Alara then asked, "That was your house, wasn't it?"

Seras responded, "Yes. I haven't been here since I was a pup. It breaks my heart to see this place like this."

Dartz didn't say anything but he opened the door to the building and stepped inside. All he could see was charcoal, ashes, and other things of no value. He walked down a hallway and stopped in front of a door and opened it. Once he opened it he walked in and saw two charred beds, where he and Seras used to sleep on as pups. Seras followed him into the room and almost cried when she saw it.

Dartz walked further into the room and found a small burned doll in the debris. Dartz gave the doll to Seras who almost cried again.

Seras said, "The doll that mom made for me."

Dartz responded, "Yeah. I've seen all I wanted to see from this place."

Dartz saw a giant hole in the wall and walked through it and found himself outside on the main road again. He soon walked a many yards until he arrived at a larger house and stopped at the door, with the others following him closely.

Rick was looking at everything and said, "This is interesting. I see no sign of any humans ever passing through here. How well hidden was this place?"

Dartz responded, "It was extremely well hidden. The only time it was found was when Team Rocket came in and destroyed everything. I'm not surprised that there was no human expansion here, but that might change if they continue to spread. They will soon whip this place out."

"Not if I can help it. I'll get Silph Co. to preserve this place immediately."

"I would like that thank you."

"What is this house?"

"This was Ashlyn's house, or Project Theta." Dartz suddenly stared at the door. "This is strange. Someone has opened this door recently."

"How can you tell?"

"The door handle is still warm. This is odd, or maybe I'm just over-thinking this." Dartz stopped when he heard what sounded like someone playing a flute. "Hmmm? A shakuhachi?"

"A Japanese flute? I hear it too."

"I have to see what that is." Dartz went off running towards the lake.

"Jean stay here with the girls. If anything happens then I'll call for you. Keep them safe if anything happens." Jean nodded and Rick ran after Dartz."

Dartz kept running towards the location of the sound the flute being played, which led straight to the lake. He suddenly stopped and hid in some bushes. What he saw surprised him. Ashlyn was on the shore of the lake and was playing a shakuhachi, the one he made for her many years prior.

Rick arrived at the bush and saw Ashlyn and smiled, "You're on your own here."

"What?"

"You have to talk to her. I'm only going to be back up in case I sense anything happening. I'm going back to the team." Rick quickly teleported away. Leaving Dartz in the bush watching Ashlyn play.

(Music: **Shakuhachi - The Japanese Flute** (Sorry, I don't have the actual name but if you search this up on youtube then it should be the first video.))

Rick returned to the team and told them, "You are not going to believe this. The person playing the flute is Project Theta. She's here and I left Dartz alone so that he can talk to her."

Seras said, "Didn't you say that it was pointless to try to talk to a Project?"

"I took some time to think about it. If it'll help him out then I'll let him talk to her. I just have to stay vigilant for anything."

"Very well. I hope they can talk. I want my old brother back already."

[Dartz]

Dartz was watching Ashlyn play her flute and was almost entranced by her playing. She looked so beautiful to him while she played and he began to smile at the sight. Ashlyn then stopped playing and knelt down on shore and looked at the moon being reflected on the lake's surface. Dartz suddenly put a foot forward, stepping on a branch and making it snap. Ashlyn heard it and jumped onto her feet and pulled out her spear.

Ashlyn then said, "Come out already. I know you're here. What are you doing in my home?"

Dartz stepped out of the bush, "It's my home too you know."

Ashlyn's eyes immediately shot open and she turned to run, but stopped before she could. "Dartz, what do you want?"

"I just want to talk. Can we?"

Ashlyn looked at him and sighed, "Fine! What do you want to talk about?"

"How have you been?"

"What kind of question is that? I'm a Project! There hasn't been a lot of good things to happen to me in the last fifteen years. Other than that I've been okay. How about you?"

"I've been alright. Mainly with my sister and her mate."

"Well that's good. Nice conversation, bye!"

Theta turned to leave but Dartz stopped her, "Wait! Don't go. I haven't spoken to you in over fifteen years. Can you please bear with me?"

"We spoke the other day Dartz."

"Yes, but I didn't speak to Ashlyn. I spoke to Project Theta. Please, just give me a minute. Let's catch up."

"Dartz, there isn't much I can tell you. My life after the raid has been full of violence and pain. I lost my family and I lost..." She stopped, trying to hold back a tear.

"Lost what?"

"I lost a piece of myself."

"You weren't the only one."

Theta turned herself away from him, "Oh, really?"

"My family died that day too Ashley."

"Don't call me Ashley. That pet name died long ago."

"Please listen. "I lost my entire family. Seras is the only family I have left. I lost my family and that was bad. I lost you..." Dartz stopped and thought about what he was about to say. "I lost you...and I was never the same."

Theta began to turn around, "Huh?"

"Before that day I was such a happy person. I used to enjoy life as best as I could, and I never thought that something bad could ever happen to me. You were there with me everyday and kept my spirits high. We would play from dawn to dusk, we spent every minute together, and I saw you like I saw myself...a piece of me. Then came that day. I saw then catch you in a cage and take you away. I tried to save you but they used their pokemon against me. They knocked me out before I could save you. I was so angry at them and at myself for failing to save you. I swore from that day on that I would save you...but I never knew that they turned you into a Project. I joined the team my sister joined because they were fighting against Team Rocket. I raided so many facilities, killed so many Rockets just looking for you. You can only imagine my disappointment when I couldn't find you. After a few years I knew that you probably didn't look the same and that you probably evolved, making it so much harder to find you. I would know, I evolved a few months after joining my trainer's team, so I knew you might not recognize me." Dartz stopped talking for a few moments and they were both left silent. He then started again, "It's impossible to forget a good friend or a great love. Hell, if you have to live your life in a memory, make sure it's a damn good one. That's all I wanted to say."

"So you are still in love with me?"

"In a way. I promised you something and I wanted to make sure I lived up to my promise. But yeah, I guess I still am. Well goodbye Ashlyn...sorry, I mean Project Theta."

Dartz turned to leave but Ashlyn caught his arm, "You can call me by my name. Also, you haven't even let me talk."

Dartz smiled and turned back around to look at her. "When you lived with Jean for so long, you kinda forget that other people have opinions that you want to listen to."

"Then start listening." Ashlyn quickly turned into her pokemon form, which Dartz did the same. "Dartz, do you remember our childhood?"

"Of course! How could I forget?"

"If so then I suppose that you remember this place. This lake and that tree. It never dies and it stays in a perpetual state of blooming. The cherry blossoms are always blooming all year 'round. They are bright in the morning, and they glow with the moon at night. We used to love coming here when were kids. We shared so many stories, secrets, and laughs here. This was also the place where we first kissed, right there on the island with the cherry tree. I remember that day vividly, like if it happened yesterday. We swam to the island like we always did. We would climb the tree for hours and play in it. We stayed there from noon until our parents called us back home. We talked that day, I remember that. You made me feel happy when I was with you, I longed to stay in that same place with you forever. It was the greatest time of my life, having to wake up and you waiting for me outside to go play at the tree. I guess my emotions ran a bit wild that day because I went straight for you and kissed you. I was surprised when you returned it, but it made me happy. Now as an adult I look back at it like if it was child's play, what did we know about love? I think we knew a damn well more than we do now. It's about happiness and wanting, not about perception. If someone makes you happy then can you help but fall in love with them?"

Dartz gave an amused chuckled, "I guess you're right, but that was a long time ago."

"Do things have to change?"

"What are you implying?"

As soon as he said that Ashlyn formed a trail of ice on the lake, leading to the island. "Follow me." She began to walk on the trail and Dartz followed closely behind.

[Rick and company]

Rick and his friends were still in the middle of the town talking among one another. Serenity, Amber, and Seras were having one conversation while Rick and Alara were watching over a sleeping Maiyu through Rick's Poketch.

Rick suddenly got up, "I'll be right back. There's something I need to go see."

Alara said, "I'll go with you."

"No, that won't be necessary. I want to do this alone."

"What's going on?"

"Oh nothing, something just caught my attention. I'll be right back."

"Very well, but please come right back."

"Will do."

Rick then walked towards the lake where he was Dartz and Ashlyn walking towards the island. He suddenly turned and walked into the nearby woods and stopped at a clearing.

"Okay, I know you're here. Come on out. I picked up your presence a while ago."

With that Omega came out from behind a number of trees and looked at Rick in the eyes, "So I guess you finally lost your fear of me?"

"Oh no! I know that I still don't stand a chance against you, but I know you won't do anything to me tonight."

"Oh and why is that?"

"Because you're not going to ruin your best friend's special moment. I know that it's the reason you came here to begin with. Am I wrong or not?"

"You are correct. You're lucky that I care about Theta or this conversation wouldn't be happening."

"Tell me, why do you hunt me down?"

"It's what I was made to do. I hunt you down because it's my job."

"And if you manage to kill me, then what?"

"I will leave that to chance. Most likely I'll just be used for combat."

"Well that's an exciting existence." Rick said sarcastically.

"I know of nothing else. I will speak no more to you. Leave Alpha!"

"Very well. I had to go anyways, otherwise Alara would panic because I've been gone for more than two minutes. Ciao!"

Rick quickly left and returned to the others, not telling them of Omega's presence.

[Dartz and Ashlyn]

Dartz and Ashlyn were sitting on the island's shore, looking up at the tree that towered over them.

Ashlyn looked at the water crash onto the shore, "Time that flows in its wake. It's unique for everyone, but everyone experiences it differently. It does not hold biases, it does not favor, or hate. How I wish I can turn back the hands of time and change everything, but no one has power over their own fates. I was destined to become a Project and you were destined to oppose them."

Dartz looked at her and said, "Time doesn't only work to punish or bless individuals."

"What do you mean?"

"Time also helps friendships grow and sometimes it makes two hearts reunite. It's a cruel joke that I'm happy that it happened."

Theta giggled and looked up in time to see the cherry blossom petals fly across the sky and land onto the lake. She then moved her tail around Dartz, which got his attention.

Dartz said, "What are your intentions right now?"

He looked back at Theta and was met by a kiss from her. Dartz was taken by surprise but he returned the kiss and closed his eyes with her. After a few moments she disconnected from him.

"I missed that feeling so much. Sorry, I just had to do it."

"Well there's no objections here. This was faster than I expected. I found you just the other day and we got to this point already."

"In truth this was many years in the making."

"I just didn't expect us kissing already."

"Oh shut up and enjoy it."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ashlyn quickly kissed him again, but Dartz quickly disconnected and blew out a stream of icy wind.

"Sorry, must of gotten excited."

"I don't mind."

Dartz started the kiss this time and surprised Ashlyn by shoving his tongue in, which she permitted and returned, making their tongues dance in their mouths. Ashlyn was surprised to be kissing him like this. They belonged to opposing sides and she was running away from him recently, and now she found herself kissing him so passionately. Her thinking was then interrupted by Dartz suddenly, albeit accidentally moving forward, and making her roll onto her back. The innocent little act only excited Dartz more as he disconnected from the kiss and trailed kisses down her neck.

Ashlyn couldn't lie that it felt good, but she knew that she would have to stop him eventually. She then saw him stepping over her and hover directly above her body. She knowing what he was going for quickly stopped him.

"Hold on there! Down boy! Not yet."

"Dartz seemed to of snapped back into reality, "Huh?" He looked down and even managed to surprise himself. He quickly jumped off of her, "Oh I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me."

"Heat of the moment I suppose."

"Yeah, I got excited. I think I know how Jean feels now." He said embarrassed.

"Don't be embarrassed it's natural. However I'm going to tell you this, as long as I'm in Team Rocket I can't mate with you."

"Why not defect and leave. Rick did it."

"It's harder for me to do that. I want to leave but I don't want to leave Omega alone. I'll tell you what, if somehow Omega defects from Team Rocket, then I will follow."

"Why Omega? Rick left his friends behind when he defected."

"Yes, they were his friends, but I have been watching over Omega since they were little. Omega is a part of me I can't abandon. Omega still needs me."

"What if Omega never leaves Team Rocket?"

"Then it will be near to impossible for me to leave. I can't mate with you until then. I do not want to risk getting pregnant while I'm still a Project. They will most likely try to find out who the father is, and if they do then that could spell trouble for me and the pup. I don't want that to happen."

"I understand. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me. Also, I wasn't planning to mate. It's just that I kinda lost myself for a moment there."

"It's okay. Anyways, I have to go before Team Rocket realizes I was gone."

"They keep tabs on you guys?"

"No, but if something happens I have to be present. So I'll see you at another time maybe?"

"Most likely in battle."

"Then let's meet here."

"Huh? Ash, I can't make a portal like you and Rick can. I don't have that gift. Also, I don't want to bother Rick with opening too many portals at multiple times."

"Tell Alpha to give you the serum then."

"I though that only works for Projects?"

"It does but you're one of his Remnants. It should work for you."

"Alright, so we'll see each other here? When?"

"Do you have a Poketch?" Dartz turned into his human form and showed her his Poketch. She turned into her human form and then took his arm and typed her number onto the Poketch. She then pulled out a bright powder blue Poketch. "I have two of them. Team Rocket doesn't know about the second one, so they can't trace it."

"Good idea. I take it you don't like them very much?"

"Dartz, think about what has happened in the last fifteen years. Do you really think I'll be their friend? I hate them, but I have no choice but to stay."

"Good point. So I guess you're leaving?"

"Yeah and I suppose that you should be going too. I know that you have the others waiting in the town."

"I forgot all about them. Yes, I have to leave. So I guess this is goodbye?"

"Yes and you ask too many questions. Well bye." She kisses him again, "I love you."

"I love you two bye."

With that Theta opened a portal and stepped through it while waving goodbye. Dartz immediately turned around and used **Psychic** to allow himself to walk on the water towards the shore and quickly ran towards the other in the town.

Once he got there he was met by Jean, "Well look who decided to show up. What took you?"

"Nothing that you should concern yourself with."

Seras asked Dartz, "What did you do there?"

"What I needed to."

Seras quickly noticed the smile on his face, "Oh you didn't? Oh Arceus! You did!"

Dartz chuckled and Jean asked Seras, "Did what?" Seras whispered the answer into his ear. "No way!"

"We were there for a good while and almost went all the way, but we stopped once we realized what we were doing. So don't get pissed off now Jean."

"I'm still going to get pissed. You and your tendency to be overprotective of Seras has stopped us from even going to third base, and yet you went there and almost went to home plate with no obstacles. Equality is a bitch!"

Seras quickly punched Jean in the gut for talking about their intimacy. "Jean, do me a favor and shut up! You are talking to much."

Everyone laughed and Rick shook his head with a smile. He then opened a portal. "Let's go home already. We'll worry about this at another time. Now move!" Everyone went through the portal and disappeared from sight.

[At Team Rocket HQ]

Ashlyn arrived back to her room and laid down on her bed, trying to collect her memories of the day. Suddenly a tentacle tapped her on the shoulder.

"So Theta how was your trip?"

"It was good. I enjoyed my time."

"What did you do?"

"Oh I visited my old home and then played my flute at the lake."

Omega's eyes then gave her a quizzical look, "Is that all?"

"Umm...yes?"

"So why is your fur all wet around your neck?"

Ashlyn noticed it and her eyes grew wide as she tried to think of an explanation. "Um...I...uh...uh oh."

"Don't worry. I was there looking after you. I ran into Alpha but I left him alone. I saw everything, but I left after I saw you roll on your back...So did you do it?"

"No! Who told you to be spying on me?"

"I got bored here."

"Oh forget it! Either way, no I didn't mate with him. We almost mated but I stopped him before we could."

"Why?"

"Where am I currently allied in?"

"Good point. Things could get ugly if Team rocket found out about that."

"Not to mention I might be in trouble now for being involved with him."

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks Omega. If Team Rocket found out that I'm romantically involved with him I could be purged."

"I don't want you gone. So I'll stay quiet about it."

"Thanks again!"

"No problem. Now, I'm getting some sleep. You should try to get some sleep as well."

"You're right. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

[In Rick's House]

Rick arrived home after dropping Alara and Amber at their house. He quickly went to the room Maiyu was at and sat at the end of her bed. He began to pet her head and pulled the sheets on top of her again.

"This has been a very interesting day."

**And there you have it! I wrote this chapter as best as I could. Rick is apparently learning the hardships of a legal guardian and Dartz is learning how to get that stick out of his ass. Not to sure how this might affect Jean and Seras's relationship, but it might be hilarious. Anyways, enjoy your day guys. Bye!**


	34. Chapter 34: Pep Talk

**Well it took way too long to write this one, but I managed to finish it. I'm going to warn all of you, you will love the next chapter after this one, the Harvest Festival. It'll take me a while to write it since my finals are still on next week, they are the reason why it took too long to write this one. I want to finish it by Monday, but I have to be realistic. Anyways, continue to review, sending me suggestions, requests, and questions. If you want to read another story that is really entertaining then read the stories by EmeraldDragon1. Don't forget to vote for your favorite characters on the poll located on my profile, you can vote for two characters, and if a character you want to vote for isn't on there then tell me and I'll put them in. Well enjoy the chapter guys. View Rankings: 1st) The Philippines(wow), 2nd) Singapore (this is delightfully weird), 3rd) Canada, 4th) Iceland, 5th)UK (wtf!?)**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Alara woke up early the next morning and got ready to go to Rick's house. She looked at her clock and saw that it was six in the morning, so she got up and went to the bathroom before heading to Rick's manor. When she arrived at Rick's house she immediately saw him in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

Rick noticed her walking into the kitchen, "Mornin' Alara! How are you?"

"Tired. Any coffee?"

"You're in luck. I just finished making some."

Rick handed Alara a cup of coffee. "Thanks. I'm surprised you're awake so early. It's 6:15, you don't wake Maiyu up for another thirty minutes."

"I wanted to prepare for today. It's going to be long again. I just wish Team Rocket will do something for once. I want to battle already, but hey I guess I should enjoy the peace right now. Why try to push through the storm if the wind isn't even blowing?"

"True. So what do you think we'll do with the children today?"

"Beats me. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what we can do with them. There's no way of telling."

"I guess you're right. So we're just staying here until Maiyu wakes up?"

"No, I'm headed to my balcony. Want to join me?"

Alara nodded and followed Rick to the balcony outside of the kitchen. They sat down and watched as the sun began to rise on the horizon, making Rick smile at the sight.

Alara noticed and asked, "I'm guessing you like seeing the sun rise?"

"Yeah. It helps me believe that there is hope for a new day. It also tells me that I managed to survive one more day. More things to me thankful for."

Alara looked at him and bit her lip before saying, "Rick?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever thought about your future?"

"Haven't you asked me this before?"

"Yes, but last time you weren't here and we weren't so close. I think you probably had some time to think about your future."

"Well I have given it some thought. Since I got here I pretty much changed my way of thinking for the sake of our people. I no longer see myself as alone so I do somehow believe that I have a future. Arceus has helped me believe that too and to plan for tomorrow."

"So what do you want in the future?"

"Well...I guess I do want to stay here since it is my home, my family is here, and my parents are buried here. I would like to continue living here. Serve as the Warlord for as long as I can and lead my men. I also would like to...find a mate soon."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Maiyu has grown on me a lot. I would like to have children of my own one day, but I would need a mate first for that."

"How soon would you like to find a mate?"

"I don't know. I have a lot on my hands right now, but Arceus tells me that I shouldn't let that stop me from finding a mate. He, my parents, and your parents would like to see me mated soon."

"Anyone in mind?"

"Not really. I mean, the only Gardevoir I'm close to is you...Hell, you're the only Gardevoir I really know. I want a mate but love isn't something I've actually experienced."

"Why not?"

"I've never been in love, romantically, with someone. I kinda suppressed that emotion for so long that I don't think I don't feel it much, yet I know it's there. The only female I have ever been emotional about is you and Seras."

Alara smiled at him, "So you're saying that I'm actually your best option?"

"Maybe, but you're my best friend. You're not my girlfriend."

"We're as close as such. I mean we practically live together."

Rick looked at her suspiciously, "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"No. I'm just saying."

"Alright. If you say so."

Alara gave a nervous smile, "Umm...what did you think about Dartz and Theta? Did you expect that to happen?"

"Yeah. I knew it would happen."

"How?"

Rick chuckled, "I've seen everything and knew how things will and can turn out. I felt both of their emotions and knew how they would react around one another. They're two best friends that were separated, they rejoined many years later, and then they decided that they wanted to become mates. Problem being, they are on opposing sides in this war."

"We're best friends that were separated."

"True, but we're on the same side."

As soon as he finished he got a ring from his Poketch. The camera in Maiyu's room was picking up motion and he saw Maiyu waking up from her sleep.

Alara asked, "Is Maiyu awake?"

"Yeah. I better go see her."

Rick got up from his seat and walked inside and headed to Maiyu's room, Alara followed him. Rick entered the room and saw Maiyu sitting up on her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Rick stood next to the bed and said, "Good morning Maiyu. Are you still sleepy baby girl?" Maiyu nodded and gave a drowsy groan. Rick quickly picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. "Alright, get ready for today. I'll be downstairs with Alara if you need me. Also, breakfast is ready."

Maiyu nodded and woke herself up before washing up. Rick and Alara went back downstairs and down to eat their breakfast. Alara became curious about what Rick knew about his time being locked in a room with the voice in his head. She didn't know, however, how to ask him, or if she should ask him at all.

She took a deep breath and asked him, "Rick?"

"Yes Ally?"

"What was it like as a Project?"

"Hell. I would do brutal missions and then go back to my room. Just to repeat the process the next day."

"Do you remember how the experimentation was? If you don't mind me asking that is."

"I don't mind. The experimentation was horrible, painful, and then some."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Besides, it's nothing you should worry about. It's all in the past."

Alara took a deep breath, "Yes it is and I read all the files and saw the research videos."

Rick's voice quickly turned serious, "What files and research videos?"

"I picked up some files and videos from a library in Epsilon's fortress. It was all about Project Archangel and I found there files about you. The videos alarmed me so much when I saw them, and I didn't tell you because I thought you would of gotten mad. I know how you hate it when people dabble in your past."

She showed him the videos on her Poketch and looked away, afraid on what he would do. Rick however sunk his face in his hands and shook his head.

"Don't worry Alara. I'm not mad. I'm didn't expect anyone else to see these videos. But now you know my darkest secret."

"So you're two people in one?"

"No. I'm still Aeru and I'm still Project Alpha. However, there was another being in my head. It was called Project Alpha. Me and him were exact opposites. I had a generous heart, he loved to torture. Team Rocket codenamed Alpha as the Demon. That's exactly what he was created to emulate. He has no remorse, he has a savage heart, and no limit to power."

"Then how did you beat him?"

"There's something in Max Elixirs that seem to repel him. I began to take some everyday for a few years and he lost most of his control over me. However, when I used my powers he would return. Usually he did nothing but talk to me when I would do anything. However, he would go berserk against anyone that I actually cared about."

"I know. Seras showed me the scars on her back. She also told me that you got rid of him for good by giving up your powers. You never told me how you did it?"

"Well, I knew how to make a potion that could eradicate my powers. I managed to make it a few days before I attacked Seras. I didn't drink it immediately because I wanted to save it, just in case I went berserk. However, when I attacked Seras I immediately drank it and got rid of Alpha, for good after Jean and Gloria got me back to normal. I drank it and it knocked me out immediately. Note, when I was a Project my hair was black and red because of my experimentation. When I woke up I returned to my original green and white coloration. I also couldn't use any of my old powers. I was actually happy, but I quickly went to check on Seras. I was happy that she was still alive. I could start a new life and live for once."

"So you never heard of Alpha again?"

"No, I was happy not to hear his demonic voice again. I haven't heard of him since and I'm glad."

"So you're really not mad at me?"

Rick smiled, "Nah! You were going to find out eventually. I should of told you a long time ago, but even I was scared that this would push you away. I just don't like what they turned me into."

"Rick, after everything I've seen while being around you, nothing will be able to push me away. I don't think you formerly having another being in your head and body would affect me."

"You wouldn't know."

They stopped talking when they heard Maiyu walking down the stair. She then said, "Hi guys!"

Both Rick and Alara responded, "Hi Maiyu."

"Rick continued, "Come on down and eat. We have a long day ahead of us today."

She nodded and teleported to her seat and began to eat her breakfast. She soon finished and looked at both the adults that were in her presence. "So what's up with both of you?"

Alara asked, "Oh nothing. We're just wondering what to do with your class today. We didn't really plan this out."

"Well Mrs. Reeba told us that we were supposed to ask questions. So that's something to work with."

"That's actually really helpful. I guess we'll just work with what we have. Right Rick?"

Rick nodded and picked Maiyu up before going to the car and buckling her in. Alara got into her seat and Rick took off. Once at the school, Rick help Maiyu out of the car, she jumped onto his shoulder, Alara took his arm, and they walked inside.

Inside the school, Rick and Alara were, as usual, greeted by the adults and Maiyu was talking to her friends. At eight o'clock, the door to the room opened, Mitsuko walked out, the children walked in, and Rick and Alara joined them.

Mitsuko greeted them, "Glad to see you both again. Thank you so much for doing this. The children are all waiting to ask you two so many different questions."

Rick replied, "Well let's not disappoint them."

"Indeed. Just go inside, they're waiting."

Rick and Alara did as Mitsuko told them and walked in. As soon as they stepped in they were met with dozens of little eyes on them.

All the children then said in unison, "Hello Warlord Aeruthael! Hello Lady Alara!"

Maiyu said, "Hi Aeru! Hi Ally!"

Rick and Alara waved at them and Rick said, "Hello children! Hi Maiyu! No need for you to say hello Maiyu, you live with me at the moment."

Both of them walked to the front of the classroom, suddenly two soldiers came out of thin air and brought two thrones for them, surprising Rick. "Where did you two come from?"

One of the soldiers said, "Sir! We have to protect you at all times."

"I get that but these are children not enemies."

"Oh we're also here to provide both of you with anything you need at a moments notice."

"At ease soldier! Now as both you were."

Both the soldiers disappeared and Rick sat down, followed by Alara. Rick sighed and rolled his eyes. The children however saw it as cool and stood there amazed.

Alara giggled, "Yep, that's our royal treatment. So I understand that you guys have questions. Who wants to ask first?" Maiyu quickly raised her hand. "Yes Maiyu?"

"Were you guys like us when you were our age?"

"An interesting question. When I was your age I was just like most of you. I actually came to this school when I was five years old, like you. It was different though. But I guess that's what happens after sixteen years."

Rick gave his reply, "Well I actually lived in the Hoenn region, but I was born here. I never had a school life like you guys did. I was home schooled for my entire life, but it was still fun in its own right. Anyone else?" A little male Kirlia raised his hand and Rick pointed at him, "Yes?"

"Where's the Hoenn region?"

"The Hoenn region is actually on the other end of the map, thousands of miles away." The two soldiers then appeared with a map. "Convenient!" One of the soldiers passed him a baton. "Thank you! Well the Hoenn region is right here. You have to pass these two other regions called Johto and Kanto." The soldiers then pulled up a picture of the Hoenn region. "Umm...thank you again." Rick pointed at a point in the map. "I lived right here in this placed called Route 123."

Another Kirlia raised their hand, "How long have you been here in the Sanctuary?"

"Good question. Alara how long has it been?"

Alara responded, "We got here in June and it's the beginning of October. So it's been about four months."

"So yes, it's been about four months."

The Kirlia quickly said, "Wow, you became the Warlord so quickly. How did you become the Warlord?"

"Well I beat my uncle, Warlord Daedalus. Because of that I got the cause to become the Warlord and then I decided to take the job about a few weeks later."

"It was that easy?"

Rick and Alara looked at one another, "Oh no. It is not easy at all. It was a battle. Okay, anyone else."

The Maiyu raised her hand again, "Oh, Alara how long have you known Aeru?"

Alara responded, "I've known your cousin since I was born. So 21 years in the making. We've known each other the moment I was born. He was in the same room with my mom at the time when I was born."

"Aww!"

"It is a cute little story. Next question? Anyone?"

Another Kirlia raised their hand, "Are you two married?"

Rick, Alara, and Maiyu laughed, "No. We're not. So many people think that, but we're just best friends."

"It just seems that way by the way Maiyu explains it."

Rick and Alara looked at Maiyu, who was giggling. Rick immediately asked her, "Maiyu, what have I told you?"

Maiyu responded, "Not to think like that or assume things."

"Exactly. Anyways, anything else children? Or do we just go on with the day?"

Mitsuko walked up, "That's actually enough questions for now. We need to get to our school work. Warlord Aeruthael and Alara will be here to join us today." She turned to Rick and Alara. "We're just going to work on some math and then read some stories to them."

"Alright. Let's see how this goes."

Rick and Alara sat down with the children and began to help them with their work. To them it was a charm to spend time with them.

Suddenly Maiyu told Rick and Alara, "Okay this is just too hard. I hate multiplication."

"Maiyu, it can get worse."

"How?"

"Wait until you get to high school and take algebra and calculus. Then talk to me about difficulty."

"How hard is it?"

Rick chuckled, got up, walked to the chalk board, and wrote a formula down: 7(x-7)+12(2x-8). "I challenge you to solve it. This to us is child's play."

All the children looked at the math problem with shock. One shouted, "What madness is this!?"

"Alara, if you may?"

Alara answered, "7x-49+24x-96. So the answer is 31x-145."

All the children nearly fainted and Rick began to chuckle again, "So enjoy what you have now. This is easy math and I don't want to make all you heads explode with harder math. Calculus can nearly kill you because it's so hard. I gave you Algebra. So what would you rather do? Algebra or your times tables?"

All the children quickly said, "Times tables!"

"Good children. Now let's get to work."

The children diligently got back to work and Rick helped Maiyu solve all her problems.

About three hours later, around noon, all the children went outside to the playground for recess. Rick and Alara walked outside with them and sat down on a bench, watching the children on the playground and some children playing kickball, including Maiyu.

Alara told Rick, "I love children. They can be so adorable sometimes."

Rick smiled at her, "Yeah, I love them too. I always wanted kids, but I'll leave that to its own time. Maiyu is enough right now. Call it practice, if you will."

"For both of us apparently."

"Oh? How?"

Alara smiled at him, "We've both have been taking care of her. I'm in this too you know."

"Yes, I know. You've been doing a good job...I think, helping me take care of Maiyu. "

"What do you mean by 'I think'?"

"You seem to just watch from the sidelines as Maiyu gives me a hard time."

"Oh my Arceus, this again. I was watching because it was hilarious."

"I wasn't judging you. But please help me today, just in case she becomes hostile again."

"I will don't worry." Alara giggled and then sighed before saying, "You'll make a great dad Rick."

"You think? Well you'll make a great mom."

"Thanks. I know you'll make a great dad because on how you are with Maiyu. Also, I know what you did last night after you got home. You put the monitor on my Poketch as well. You went into her room and checked on her. You stayed there for a long time, to be precise. You were sitting on her bed and and began to sing something to her as she slept."

"Yeah, I was singing my sister's lullaby to her. For some reason she reminded me of my baby sister."

"How?"

"Well they act so similar. Except my sister took her baths without incident. But still, watching Maiyu sleep reminded me of her. Mainly when I would put her to sleep. Why do you think that it's always a joy for me to have Maiyu around?"

"She reminds you of her."

"I just makes me feel like I have one more chance to be an older sibling. I failed before...I'm not going to fail again. A have a second chance. I don't want to ruin it. I do wish I had Harmony back but...I can't control fate."

Alara laid her head on his shoulder, "Rick, I know you loved your sister more than you loved yourself, but you have to accept that things happen for a reason."

"And I have. I just can't forget what happened."

"You maybe never will, but don't let that change you. To be honest, I like you just the way you. Please don't change."

Rick chuckled, "I won't, don't worry. This 'me' is here to stay."

"Thanks. So what do you want to do? Just sit here and watch the children play?"

"You tell me."

"We can go for a walk on the picnic path behind the school. That is if you want."

"Let go."

Rick and Alara got up and walked down a path that led through a lightly wooded area and eventually led to a clearing with a small field. Rick quickly laid down and looked at the clouds in the sky. Alara joined him in his cloud gazing, she couldn't tell why Rick loved looking into the sky, even when there was nothing to see.

"Rick?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you love to gaze up at the sky?"

"It just makes me feel at piece. Let me tell you something, there is no sight more beautiful than a sunset when you're in a field of green. In my travels I would only stop when I found a field during sunset. I would sit on the ground and watch as the sun disappeared on the horizon. The orange glow in the sky, turning into various shades of purple. Nothing calms me down more. It's a beauty that almost wants to bring a tear to your eye. I know it's not sunset and these trees block the horizon, but I just look up, knowing that the sunset will soon come. It's the joy of knowing that the day is ending, but a new one will come. The day leaves in a spectacle of beauty and gives way to a curtain of stars that illuminate the sky. Have you ever seen a perfect sunset?"

"Maybe once, but I've never given it much thought."

"My mother passed down her love for the sunset to me since I was little. She would follow it with a poem that she loved to recite when she looked at the sun disappearing into the horizon.

[18 years earlier, ?]

Rick, a Kirlia at this point was walking on a field with his mother holding his hand. They seemed to be alone and Rick's mother sat down on the field. Rick went running through the field while his mother watched him. She was so happy for her little child and just to see him run around, frolic, and play reminded her why she loved him so much.

After a few moments she called him back to her, "Aeru, sweetie! Come back here, don't you want to watch the sunset with me."

Rick quickly responded, "Coming mamma!

Rick ran back to her with a smile on his face. His mom smiled back at him and opened her arms to catch her son as he ran into her embrace. She kissed his forehead and he turned around to sit on her lap, so he could watch the sunset with her.

"Aeru, you make me proud to be a mother. You listen to my words closely and you never forget them. Make sure you never do. Hold on to what I tell you and don't part from them. Have I ever told you why the sunset is so important to me?"

"No mamma."

"Well, you see time is like a precious gem. You can have it, but when it's gone, it's gone for good. However, a sunset is like a mine of precious gem. One may disappear but another can come to take its place. The sunset signals the end of the day and the farewell to the sun until morning."

"But isn't the end of something usually sad?"

She looked down on him and gave a small laugh, "Yes, but sunset gives us the promise of a new day for tomorrow. A fresh start. Nothing can last forever, it all has to end one day. But does that mean that it's true gone forever? The sun disappears but we know it will be back here the following day. Now I understand that we might not see the sun everyday. It rains sometimes, it snows sometimes, sometimes it might just be cloudy, but the sun is still there. Somewhere, but it's there."

Rick looked up at his mother and thought about what she just said, "So the sunset is a promise?"

"Yes, a promise of something new. A gift of another day. We might not be there with you to enjoy it forever, but that doesn't mean that you can't be joyful about it."

"What do you mean mamma?"

"It's just a form of speech. It's the truth too. One day you won't be with us and you'll have to learn how to live by yourself."

"But why?"

His mom looked down at him and looked at him with a concerned smile, "Oh sweetie it's just part of growing up. You need to make your own life apart from us. When you're an adult you'll know that it needs to happen."

Rick looked at her with desperation, "But I don't want to leave you. Or daddy, or Harmony."

"And you don't have to. You're still little, so you don't have to worry about that."

"I'm only four, I still need you."

"And I'll be here. Don't worry." (If she only knew lol)

"Alright."

Rick's mom smiled wider at him and cradled him closer to her. "Now let's just watch the sunset. Don't worry, your father knows where we are at." She gave a small sigh, "I remember a poem that your father told me when we were teenagers. It was during a sunset and he says that it was written by a human named David Harris:

Just beyond the sunset

Someone waits for me

Just beyond the sunset

Lies my destiny

Where the purple mountains

Lie in deep tranquillity

There I'll find the treasure

Of love eternally

Just beyond the sunset

Waits someone so fair

Just beyond the sunset

All alone they wait there

Their hair is golden

The colour of the sand

Their eyes sparkle in the night

Like diamonds in your hand

Just beyond the sunset

Lies a home for me

Where the world is peaceful

Like a paradise should be

Just beyond the sunset

Someday is where you'll find me

"I love that poem so much. Your father knew I loved the sunset so he decided to find a poem for me while he was courting me."

"I like it mamma."

"I'm glad you do. I know you'll make me very proud when you're older. Remember, I'm always going to be there when you need me."

"Thanks mamma."

Rick's mom snuggled him and rocked him as they saw the sun disappear over the horizon. After the sun disappeared Rick's mother stood up, while carrying Rick. "Time to go back home." Rick nodded, but before they could leave his dad teleported to their position with a crying baby Harmony in his hands.

He said, "Okay Aldira, where's the off switch on this kid?"

Rick's mom smiled at him and shook her head slowly, "Can't make her stop crying?"

"If I knew how I wouldn't be here. What do you do to make her stop crying? How do you take the batteries out of this kid?"

"I think my I.Q just lowered by listening to you. She's just hungry. Hand her over and I'll give you Aeru."

Xeron handed her Harmony and Rick jumped onto his shoulder. His mom held Harmony in her hands and teleported back to their home.

Rick asked his dad, "Why do you guys always act like that with one another?"

His dad replied, "Son, marriage does things to two people. But it's not bad. When you're older you might enjoy it. But it's too early to speak about this. Let's go home and eat."

"Alright!"

They teleported back to their home and enjoyed the remainder of their day.

[Present Day]

"And that's why I have such a love for sunsets."

"Because of your mother?"

"Everytime I look at one it reminds me of her. I miss her a lot. Don't get me wrong, I miss my dad just as much, but my mom taught me about life. My dad taught me about morals. They were great parents, albeit my dad was a warrior trying to be a great parent, but he succeeded. I know I can see my mom whenever I want now, but I just want to see one more sunset with her. Just for old time sake."

Alara smiled and looked up at the clouds, she then turned her head towards Rick and saw Rick's mom laying next to him on the grass. She was smiling at him and winked at Alara.

"Rick, look to your right."

Rick turned his head to his right but saw nothing there. "What? I don't see anything. What do you see?"

Alara looked at Rick's mom and she brought her finger to her mouth and did the hush signal. Alara easily got the message, "Oh it's nothing." She looked at her Poketch, "It's almost time for the children to go back inside. I guess we should go."

"Yeah, you're right." He got up and offered Alara his hand, which she took.

They soon began to walk towards the school again and Alara asked Rick, "I know what you'll probably say, but did you make up your mind about the Harvest Festival?"

Rick sighed and smiled, "Alright. I'll tell you what, I'll go with you, if that's what you want."

"Don't go if you don't want to Rick. I'm not forcing you."

"I'll go. Don't worry."

Alara smiled wide at his response and held onto his arm.

[Team Rocket HQ]

Theta was in a room with Omega and a few other Projects. In front of her there was a Luxray, in his human form, toying with a combat knife.

He then said to Theta, "So, what's the news about our friend Alpha?"

"I couldn't really tell you. I didn't talk to him in the battle."

"Is that so? Strange that he made it out alive."

"I didn't fight him. I fought one of his Remnants. Omega and Nu dealt with him, but weren't successful in killing him. Alpha eventually killed Nu and Omega was pushed back by two of Alpha's allies. Other than that I have nothing on him."

"Hmmm...interesting. He's getting strong again. Should we be worried?"

"Not at the moment. Well I have to go. So long Omicron. Let's go Omega!"

The two Projects got up to leave and stopped when they heard Omicron say, "You know, something is up with you. You seem different Theta."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"Have you smelled yourself lately? You have the stench of a male on you."

Theta held her breath but quickly responded confidently, "I have a life outside of Team Rocket you know. I'm sure you have one too. If I want some companionship, then I find it."

Omicron gave a dry laugh, "How do you think Giovanni will feel about that?"

"He doesn't need to know and I'm certain that you won't tell him."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Because I'm your superior. Besides, it's not like it's even a serious problem. Giovanni told us that we can have lives outside of Team Rocket."

"Yes, but he also states that the females are forbidden to become pregnant."

"And who said I was going to get pregnant? Stand down and go on with your day."

"Just remember that if you do anything that is unfavorable to us, then I will be the one to kill you myself."

Omega quickly growled at Omicron, who growled back. Theta quickly controlled Omega and her eyes began to glow light blue. With that the combat knife in Omicron's hands turned into a block of ice, causing him to drop it.

"Yeah right. In case you've forgotten, I'm stronger than you."

"We'll see who's the strongest eventually."

Theta then said with a sigh, "Yeah...we'll see." With that Theta and Omega left the room. Omicron picked up his frozen knife and broke the ice off of it.

He began to chuckle, "Wait until I find out what you're up to."

Theta and Omega were walking down the hallway and were talking to each other.

Omega said to Theta, "That was too close for comfort. He's not someone you want to piss off."

"I know, but he has to get that stick out of his ass. All that muscle and not enough brains."

"But he has a point, you can't get pregnant while you're a Project and you have his musk on you."

Theta sighed, "Then I'm going to go shower."

"That would be a good idea. Tell me something though, are you planning to mate with Dartz?"

Theta thought about what she would say next, "Yes...yes I am. But not while I'm in Team Rocket."

"Oh and when will that be."

"I don't know. I don't want to be here anymore, but I told him that I can't leave without you."

"Well there's a problem. I'm not leaving until I fight Alpha."

"I knew you would say that. For that reason I'm not going to try to convince you. I just want you to know that."

Omega gave an apologetic growl, "Theta listen. You're my greatest friend and I want the best for you. I want you to one day have a family, even if it is with Dartz. But my priorities are somewhere else."

"I understand. But maybe something might work out in the end."

"Maybe. We'll just have to see."

As they arrived at their room, an angry Epsilon walked by wearing a brace on her leg.

She stopped at the door frame and said, "Theta? Omega? What the hell was that just the other day?"

Omega responded, "What was what?"

"Why did you attack me?"

"Because you wouldn't leave even when there was no reason to fight anymore. You endangered all of us and it resulted in the death of two other Projects. I say you deserved it."

"Oh forget it! Giovanni really laid it on me."

"What's the punishment?"

"I can't leave this facility until further notice, my scythe was confiscated, and I can't open portals anymore until the punishment is lifted. I hate Alpha!"

Theta immediately responded, "It was your fault. No one told you to attack him. This could of been easily avoided, but you decided to go rouge and attack him without Giovanni's permission."

"I have nothing to say to you Theta..." She suddenly stopped talking and began to sniff the air. "Why do you smell like male musk?"

"What? I have my own life outside of this place."

"Looks more like your life is pretty exciting. Who's the guy?"

Theta glared at her, "No one you know."

Epsilon giggled, "Gee! Sorry Theta! I didn't think that would of been a sensitive subject for you. Anyways, I have to go. Beta wants to talk to me. If I know that old man, then he is going to scold me. Fucking jackass!"

"Watch what you say about him. He is the leader of us Projects since Alpha defected. You should show him some respect."

"Oh please. Since when did I care about authority? Anyways, bye!"

Epsilon left and Theta sighed, "She isn't going to last very long if she keeps going like that."

Omega chuckled, "I think it's for the best if she's gone. It'll be more calm here."

"Maybe. Anyways, I'm taking my shower. I'll talk to you later." With that she went into the bathroom and shut the door.

Omega began to glow purple and began to shrunk, turning back into their original form. Omega walked to their side of the room and their side got covered in darkness. Two glowing red eyes appeared within the darkness along with a sigh.

"And so the drama begins."

[The Sanctuary]

It was the middle of the afternoon and Rick was in the Chief's Court after dropping Maiyu off at his grandmother's house. He was summoned by the Council to discuss his decision of attacking Epsilon's Fortress. Rick was quickly becoming irritated by the old councilors and so were Alara, her grandfather, and her parents.

One councilor said, "What were you thinking in battling Team Rocket? What made you think that you had the right to do it?"

Rick quickly said, "I'm the Warlord! If I go into battle I don't have to give any of you a reason. As the Warlord, I had to learn your laws. You have no jurisdiction in my actions. Besides, I sent by Arceus himself to do it."

"If Arceus really sent you, then where is your proof?"

Rick held out his left hand and showed them the mark. "Arceus placed this on me as proof of my authority. You can even as the Chief, his mate, your Council leader, and my uncles. They went to the Hall of Origins with me."

Alara's grandfather quickly said, "He speaks the truth. We have no reason for having him here."

The councilor responded, "He made an important decision for the Sanctuary without our permission."

"He can do that! He's the Warlord and right now he has more power than we do...even more than the Chief. I have already explained this to you."

"The point is that he should of consulted the Council before attacking."

"The Warlord and Chief do not need to consult anything to us. They need us for civil affairs and keeping the peace within the Sanctuary. As far as I'm concerned Warlord Aeruthael has done everything within Sanctuary law...not that he has to abide by it anymore."

Rick responded, "I may of been appointed to lead all the pokemon civilizations into war, but I choose to abide by the laws of my home. Anyways, may I leave now? I have to go help prepare for the Harvest Festival."

Alara's dad quickly asked him, "Oh so you decided to go after all?"

"Yeah, your daughter convinced me."

"What about the Harvest Ball?"

"I still don't know if I'll do that."

Alara gently pushed Rick's arm to get his attention. Rick looked at her and she smiled and nodded.

She then said, "Come on. You'll enjoy it. Besides, I want to dance again. Also, if you're going with me to the festival you might as well take me to the ball."

"Alara, I don't know. I really don't know what to choose."

Alara's dad, Daedalus, and Zant looked at one another. Alara's dad then said, "Dae grab the other arm, Zant get his legs."

Rick heard it and said, "Wait...what?"

He was immediately grabbed by the three Gallades and carried to a room on the other side of the Chief's Court. Alara and her mom were watching this unfold and couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

The three Gallades carried Rick into a room and threw him inside before walking in and locking the door behind them. Rick stood up and glared at them. The three older Gallades just looked at him with almost annoyed faces.

Daedalus then said, "Boy, explain to me why you just can't open up?"

"The hell are you talking about? I've been opening up. Alara knows nearly everything about me."

Zant said, "He doesn't mean that type of opening up dumbass!"

They stopped talking when they heard someone chopping their way into the room. Rick immediately knew who it was while the older Gallades took their battle positions. After a while they saw the head of an axe burst through the door until a sizable hole appeared. Before they knew it Xeron's head popped through the door and he gave them a creepy smile.

The three Gallades withdrew their blades with their jaws wide open. Alara's dad said, "Xeron? I have to stop eating my wife's cooking, I think that woman is trying to poison me."

Zant replied, "We ate at your house so I think you may be on to something."

Xeron chuckled and said to Rick, "Here's Daddy!" He then simply phased through the door.

Rick quickly said, "If you were going to phase through the door, why chop up the door?"

"Because the Shining is one of my favorite movies, Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors, and I always wanted to do that." He turned to the others. "Calm down, be happy I'm here to help you talk some sense into my son. Also, don't worry...he'll pay for the door."

Rick facepalmed and the other Gallades quickly hugged him. They soon huddled together and whispered among themselves. Rick stood at the other end of the room, waiting for them to finish.

They soon turned around and Xeron said, "So you have been spending all this time with Alara and you have stayed dense."

"I'm not dense. I just don't let my emotions dictate my actions like you guys do."

"In other word, let me translate, 'I am dense'."

"Okay listen dad are you going to do this all day."

"I'm dead. What the hell do I care? Listen, you talk and I'll anger translate."

"Anger translate?"

"You'll see."

Rick sweatdropped but kept talking, "Alright, now see I know where you guys are going with this."

His dad anger translated, "You motherfuckers have to stop assuming shit!"

Rick looked at him but continued to talk, "Anyways, listen I love Alara but I have a hard time expressing powerful emotions."

"Chill the fuck out! Let a brother think!"

"DAD! I don't need you translating!"

"Damn Xeron get the fuck off my business, damn!"

Rick quickly glared at his dad. "You are so lucky that you're dead. Otherwise you would be dead or dying."

"I'm either going to make you my bitch or bury you in a shallow grave motherfucker!"

"Okay that's it! Dad, shut up and listen!"

"I'm just playing around. I've been dead for a decade and a half, and it's not everyday that I'm around my friends."

Alara's dad said, "He hasn't changed much. He's still goofy."

"I may be goofy, but I'll still kick your ass."

"What do you know, good old Xeron is back."

"At least only for a while."

"Huh?"

Rick's eyes shot open when he realized what his dad was saying, "Don't tell me...please don't tell me..."

Xeron smiled, "Yep, Arceus is letting me and you mother come back for the festival."

"Why?"

"He wanted to give you a chance to spend time with us. So be happy Aeru, we're going to be with you for the next few weeks."

The other males in the room were celebrating the news while Rick looked at his dad with a slight smile. "I can already see you guys whenever I want."

"Not true. You only saw us in the Hall of Origin because Arceus would pull us out of the land of the dead. We appeared to you at the house because Arceus let us. You couldn't see us whenever you wanted, just when Arceus allowed it. So let's get back to the matter at hand, silliness aside for now. So you feel nothing for Alara?"

"I don't know. I would tell you if I knew."

"Now that is bullshit! You should know your own feelings, or has Team Rocket really dulled your emotions that much?"

"I just don't know what to think."

Xeron was about to yell at him, but he stopped and though for a second. It soon dawned on him, "Aeru, I think I know what's wrong with your expression of emotion."

"Enlighten me."

"You don't know what love is. You never experienced it."

Rick sweatdropped and arched an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Let me explain, you are used to sibling or parental love, but you never had a romantic love or even experienced a crush. I could say that it was our fault for leaving without you making friendships with females besides Alara. That's your problem, you never learned the meaning of a romantic love. I guess that's why you can't channel it or admit to have it."

Alara's dad asked, "Wait, so Aeruthael does have interest in my daughter but he doesn't know how to process it?"

"Exactly!"

Rick asked, "And you think this is the correct answer?"

"Do you have a better theory?" Rick didn't answer. "Exactly. Son, you need to talk to Alara and soon. Get it all out of your chest and we'll see how things turn out."

"Are you insane!?"

"Why do you say that?"

"That's not my forte."

"It doesn't have to be. Just try it. Stop being so bashful all the time."

"Maybe."

Zant then asked Rick, "So what do you want to do? Just wait until something happens?"

"That's usually my strategy. I work with what I'm given."

Xeron gave an evil grin, "Oh is that so? Alright, do what you think is best."

"May I leave now?"

"Go ahead."

Rick quickly left and disappear from sight. Xeron began to give an evil chuckle, alarming the other males in the room.

Alara's dad asked, "What are you planning Xeron?"

"Well my son said that he works with what he is given. So I'm going to have a little fun."

"I'm scared on what you have planned."

"Don't worry...where does your daughter live?"

"Why?"

"It involves her."

"Tell me your plan first and then I'll tell you where she lives."

Xeron sighed and whispered the plan into Saifer's ear.

"Oh...very well. She lives in my old house."

"Well that's convenient. Well I'll see you all later."

"Before you go. You and you wife better come to my house today for dinner. That is only if you ARE going to be alive today."

"I'm in front of you aren't I. I'll admit, my body is still in the process of becoming solid, but I'm very much 'alive' for the moment. I'll see you all tonight."

With that he teleported away to put his twisted little plan into motion.

[Alara]

Alara and her mother were sitting down in the throne room, chatting about the upcoming festival.

Alara mother told her, "So, have you picked your gown for the ball and your kimono for the festival itself?"

"No, the kimono was easy to find. I found one I really loved. However, the gown is becoming a pain to find. I can't find one that suits me to go in."

"Maybe we should send you to a tailor to make you a custom dress."

"Maybe, but that would require a lot of time."

"It'll be alright Alara. We have about two and a half weeks before the festival."

A voice then came from the doorway, "Or you can just use one of my gowns again."

Both females looked at the location of the voice, and were shocked by the sight of Rick's mother phasing through the ground and standing in the center of the room.

Rick's mom smiled at them and said, "It's so great to see both of you again."

Alara's mom quickly stood up from her throne and walked up to Rick's mom, "Aldira?"

"Yes Keera, it's me. It's good to see you again. Queen now eh? I guess it suits you."

Keera quickly hugged her best friend, "You're real! But how?"

"Arceus gave me and Xeron permission to return to life for the festival. Mainly to help Aeru but also to enjoy ourselves. As you can see I'm not completely flesh yet, since I just phased through the floor, but I can still hug you back." She looked at Alara. "Well get in this too dear." Alara complied and hugged Rick's mother. "Oh look at you. You're all grown up now and you are very beautiful. Your mother must be proud of you."

"Oh I am. My daughter has made me very proud." She began to tear up. "I can't believe it's really you. After so many years...you didn't age too much."

"When you die, time has no power over you."

"Oh how have you been?...wait, stupid question."

"It kinda is, but I was going to ask you that. However, I want to talk to Alara about Aeru."

"Oh go ahead! I want to hear this."

Alara's mom teleported a seat for Aldira, but she instead sat laid down in the middle of the air, like she used to do when she was younger.

"Did you forget that I like to rest like this? I like using my powers."

"I kinda did. Go ahead and talk to Alara."

Rick's mom looked at Alara and asked her, "So...you're in love with my son?"

Alara caught her breath and blushed while her mom looked at her with a surprised smile.

"Are you Ally?"

Alara hesitated, "Ummm...maybe."

Rick's mom quickly said, "I could hear everything you would tell Arceus. Oh yeah, I know it all."

Alara nearly fainted out of embarrassment and her mom gave a small happy shriek. Rick's mom giggled at the sight and she floated over to her.

Alara looked up at her and said, "Couldn't you say that when my mom wasn't here?"

"Sorry, but she has to know too. So, you're in love with him but you don't know how to tell him. I guess that's about right. Am I wrong?"

Alara looked at her mom and then back at Aldira, "Yes." She said shyly.

"Very well, so let's see how I can help you with that." She thought for a second. "All I know is that you have to tell him soon."

"Why?"

"Because I know my son. He can be difficult at times when you bring emotions into the mix of a conversation, but you need to be direct with him. And by what I've seen so far, you have learned how to speak to him."

"Well that's because I spend all my time with him. It's only natural."

"My dear, before I was courted by my husband, he would be difficult to talk to as well."

"So what did you do?"

"I beat the shit out of him and forced him to listen to me. But the point is that you know how to deal with him better than anyone here...maybe not Seras, but that's because she raised him. So go talk to Seras about how to get through to him."

"I am so confused."

"Maybe I said something oddly."

"Listen, I appreciate the help, but I would rather just open up to him. If he chooses not to listen then so be it."

"Alright, but don't forget what I said."

"I won't."

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and Rick stepped in.

He looked at his mom and said, "I knew I would find you here mom. I'm happy to see you."

"I'm guessing you ran into your father."

"More like he chopped his way into the room I was in...literally."

She sighed, "Excuse me, I have to go kill my husband."

She teleported away and soon screams could be heard. Rick's dad was then seen flying across the hallway and hit a support beam, sliding down onto the floor in pain and was hit by a **Dark Pulse**.

Rick looked at the two females with him and said, "And I thought our early relationship was abusive. Let's go home."

Alara nodded and both of them dismissed themselves and teleported away.

Rick and Alara teleported in front of Alara's house, where they were surprised in seeing it covered by a tarp. They were confused as to why it was like that, but they soon saw Rick's dad walking around the corner of the house.

Rick walked up to him and asked, "What the hell is this?"

"Fumigation."

"Fumigating what?"

"Spinaraks and Ariados."

Alara walked up to them and said, "And where's my sister?"

"Who's your sister?"

"She's a Lopunny."

Xeron's face quickly went from amused to concerned. "Wait...that was your sister?...uh oh."

Alara almost yelled at him, "Where is she?"

"I kinda thought she was another house pest and locked her in there with the bugs."

"You did what!? Get her out of there."

Rick's dad quickly opened the door and the sight on the inside almost made Rick breakdown in laughter. Amber was wrapped in a web and had Ariadors still wrapping her in the web.

Rick's dad quickly went inside and cut Amber off the web and ran outside, accidentally forgetting her.

Rick quickly yelled, "DAD! YOU FORGOT SOMETHING!"

"OH SHIT! The rabbit!" He ran back inside and carried Amber out.

Once outside Rick cut Amber out of the web ball, and she quickly tried to catch her breath, from the pesticide.

Rick quickly grabbed his dad and dragged him to the side of the house. "Dad, you are insolent!"

"No, I just don't think everything through. However, if it needs planning, I do it."

"You planted the spider pokemon in the house, didn't you?"

"Of course not! Why would I?"

"I'm not going to say anything. I'll let mom kick your ass...Also, how did you get away from here and made it here before us?"

"You don't know me very well, do you? I'm kinda crazy at times."

"I'm starting to believe that."

His dad began to laugh, "Boy, you make me proud, but you need to lighten up sometimes."

Rick and his dad walked back to Alara and Amber, and Rick asked Alara, "So what are you two going to do?"

Alara responded, "Well Amber is going to stay with Serenity, and I guess I'm staying with you."

Xeron quickly said, "A great decision."

Rick glared at his dad, "You know you're staying with me, right dad?"

"Umm...no I'm not. Me and your mother are going to stay with Saifer and Keera. You're on your own son...bye!" He quickly teleported away.

Rick sighed and looked back at Alara, "So now what?"

She replied, "Well I have to buy clothes now. I can't go into my house."

"Alright, come on. Amber get to Serenity's house."

Amber replied, "Will do! That was your dad?"

"Yeah, surprise surprise!"

"But he's dead."

"I'll explain later, just go."

Amber quickly got in her car and headed to Serenity's house. Rick and Alara went to Rick's house and got ready to head straight to bed.

Once in the house, and after picking up Maiyu from his grandmother's house, Rick sat down to rest for the first time in hours. It was 10pm and he had already put Maiyu to sleep. He was laying down on his bed, waiting for Alara to come out of the bathroom. He took her shopping for a few hours so that she could have clothes until the spider problem was fixed in her house.

She eventually came out of the bathroom and laid down next to him, they were both exhausted and wanted to sleep.

"Well Ally we had quite the day."

"Indeed. How do you feel about your parents being back, at least for a while? You must be happy."

Rick smiled, "I am...but it's not complete. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I get to be with them again, but my sister is not with them."

Alara's smile quickly faded and she snuggled up to Rick, "I know you ache and bleed to see her again, but you have to be patient. Arceus said that she will appear to you in time. Just give her that time."

"I am. Thanks."

She smiled at him again, "You're welcome. I'm always here for you."

"Likewise."

"But you proved that to me. I haven't yet."

"What did I do?"

"You led an army to go save me. You nearly starved yourself and broke yourself training. You earned every inch of my trust."

Rick chuckled, "Well I guess I have."

Alara giggled and looked at him as he closed his eyes to gather himself. She wanted to kiss him, but she knew that she still had to wait.

She thought to herself, *Just a bit longer. I guess I should tell him.* She got his attention, "Rick?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her, "Yeah? What is it Ally?"

Alara was close to telling him, but couldn't work up the courage to tell him, "Oh nothing. I kinda forgot already what I was going to say." She lied to him, feeling like a coward.

"Maybe you'll remember in the morning. Get some sleep now. Goodnight Ally. Love you!"

Alara always loved when he said that at night. It would always made her happy and gave her a bit of hope of being with him someday.

"I love you too. Goodnight."

They then set their heads down and drifted off to a much needed sleep. Hopeful that everything will be great the next day.

[Dartz's House]

Dartz was at home, in his bed, talking to Ashlyn through his Poketch. Dartz had recently finished telling her the events of the day, as he heard them.

She responded to the story, "Wow, that sounds like a crazy day. Poor Alpha. So how was your day?"

"Pretty average. Just tending to the army and my usual day with my sister. How was your day?"

"Oh same as you. I didn't really do anything today. I just spent time with Omega today. I'm actually worried Dartz."

"About?"

"Well Omega doesn't want to leave yet. I don't think Omega will ever want to leave until they fight Alpha."

"Can ask? Why do you use the word 'they' when referring to Omega."

"Omega doesn't like it when I tell people their gender or species. So I announce them as 'they' for that reason."

"Alright. Say I have something I want to ask you before I call it a night."

"What is it?"

"There's a festival here called the Harvest Festival. I want to know if you can go with me."

"I don't know Dartz. If Team Rocket finds out then I'll be in big trouble. They'll most likely trace my location."

"Don't worry about that. This place is protected from that. the festival is in two and a half weeks. If you want to come then go to Pastoria City and I'll pick you up there."

"Alright, but ask Alpha for permission. I don't want him to think that I'll be giving information to Team Rocket."

"I will. Well think it over. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you. Goodbye!"

"I love you too. Bye!"

[Team Rocket HQ]

Ashlyn finished her talk with Dartz and put her Poketch away. After she did that two red eyes appeared at the other end of the room.

Omega then said, "Oh good Arceus! You finally finished talking! You guys have been talking like high school lovebirds for an hour now. It surprised me that it took that long for you guys to ask each other how you were."

"Well we had a lot to say."

"I thought I was going to hurl if I heard more of that. I am tired and the last thing I expected was a conversation like that. Goodnight sis!"

Ashlyn giggled, "Alright, goodnight Omega."

**Well there you have it. The next chapter will be a course changer for the story. So I hope you guys are as excited about it as I am for it. I know what I want to do, but I have to write it down. Alright guys continue with the reviews, suggestions, requests, and questions. Have a great day! Ciao!**


	35. Chapter 35: The Start of Something New

**Here it is guys. This one is probably my latest posted chapter but it was all worth it. I really hope that you guys really like this one. So send me your thoughts in the reviews. Please show your support by reviewing, sending me questions, suggestions, and requests. Well that's all I have for now. I wrote this chapter during college finals weeks so it was hard to even write it. Anyways, enjoy! Help out one of my friends, EmeraldDragon1 by reviewing their work. View Ranking: 1st) The Philippines, 2nd) U.K, 3rd)Canada, 4th) Singapore, 5th) Trinidad and Tobago. **

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick slowly woke up in the morning and began to look around. He looked at the clock next to the bed and saw that it was 6:30 in the morning. He looked towards Alara and saw her sleeping on his chest with his arm around her. He set his head back on the pillow and looked at the ceiling. He was no longer tired, and couldn't go to sleep. So he thought about what his dad and the other males told him, and tried to piece together his thoughts/feelings about Alara. He knew how lucky he felt to have her back in his life, but he wondered why it was so hard for him to pin point his feelings. The feeling of love for a female was so foreign to him that he just didn't know how to feel it.

Rick sighed and made sure that Alara was still asleep, "Good, you're still fast asleep. I don't know if I do have feelings for you. I hope I do, but I've been too dulled out to know."

Rick looked at her and then forced his head back as he felt a sharp but short headache hit him. Rick grabbed his head with his free hand, but as soon as it began it disappeared.

Rick immediately realized what was happening, "It all makes sense now. Team Rocket wanted me to not feel affectionate emotions because it could of hindered my progress. So they tried to suppress them. How am I remembering all of this now?" He immediately received another headache and a memory flashed into his head.

[Memory]

In the memory there was nothing shown, just an empty black void. However, a voice could be heard and Rick could recognize it as Delta's voice.

"Alpha, listen to my voice. Don't let Team Rocket control your emotions. You can fight it, I did it and so did Gamma. I don't want you to have a savage heart. I want you to one day forget about Team Rocket and us if you have to, but don't become a monster for their own personal gain. They may of suppressed some of your emotions, but you have to unlock them yourself. It's not hard, just swim in the pool of your emotions and release them. I know it makes no sense to you right now, but it will in the future. Don't forget what I just told you Alpha."

[Present]

Rick finished seeing the memory and thought about it what he just heard. He remembered Delta's voice and how much he missed it, he also knew that she might of been right on what he should do. So Rick closed his eyes and relaxed himself, placing himself in a more meditative-like state. He soon fell into a trance and began to dwell in his own mind, his Project symbol glowing the entire time. It took a few minutes but Rick finally woke up and felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

He looked around his room and felt something he did not feel for a long time, pride and he also felt merry. He looked at Alara and smiled at her sleeping figure. He began to think again and he didn't feel limited to thoughts that dulled him. He wondered how it all happened and how he suddenly got the ability to break free.

[Johto Region]

Projects Delta and Gamma were sitting on a cliff. Gamma was laying down on the ground, visibly tired. Delta was sitting near the edge of of the cliff with her eyes closed and her nine tails swaying in the wind.

Gamma stood up and asked Delta, "So did you channel him yet?"

Delta opened her eyes, "Yeah. I made him remember what I told him."

"Tell me again why you had to do that."

"He has a female with him, I don't want him to miss out on the enjoyment of romantic love. I want him to be happy with her, not just pleased and amused to have her around."

"You females are always a mystery to me, but hey as long as you help the kid. Now that you're done, shall we go home?"

Delta turned around to look at him and nodded. Gamma smiled and opened a portal for both of them and they walked into it."

[Rick]

Rick was still laying down on his bed, holding onto Alara. He kept looking at his ceiling, lost in thought. His thinking was quickly interrupted by Alara beginning to wake up. Rick held his breath, knowing that his restrictions were lifted. However, he didn't know what to think of her yet.

Alara slowly woke up and opened her eyes, trying to get adjusted to the light in the room. Once her eyes adjusted she looked at the already awake Rick.

She smiled and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning."

She looked at him and said, "You seem lively." Her eyes shot open and she had the look of fear on her face. "Did I do something in my sleep again!?"

Rick looked at her and laughed, "No, you were quiet and motionless this time."

Alara breathed a sigh of relief, "Good...but now it's bothering me. Hell, that laugh was weird for you."

"I can't be happy in the morning?"

"I never said that. It's just that you're not really a jolly person in the morning...or much of any time at all. You're happy, but not jolly. Did you have a good dream?"

Rick smiled, "You can say that."

They stopped when they felt something in between them. They looked and saw Maiyu sleeping tight in between them.

Alara said, "When did she get here?"

"This kid scares me. I didn't even see her when I woke up. I guess you covered her when you slept on my chest."

"Maybe. I wonder when she got in between of us. I recall sleeping on your chest all night."

"She probably moved your hear with **Confusion** and got in the crack between us. Come on let's get up and get ready for today. Try not to wake her up. She doesn't have to go to school today. She has a doctor's appointment later today, so she can sleep a bit longer."

Alara nodded and both of them slowly got out of bed and went to freshen up for the day. Alara went into Rick's bathroom and Rick went to the downstairs bathroom to get ready. Rick finished before Alara and felt like he wanted to head for the piano to play a little to start his day.

Rick sat down at the piano and cracked his fingers so he could play. He then began to play, while Alara was beginning to come downstairs.

(Music: **Sonata 16 by Mozart** (otherwise known as **Sonata Facile**))

Rick played fast and Alara began to walk down the stairs astonish that Rick woke up to play the piano.

Alara asked him, "Well you really are lively today."

"I haven't played the piano in a while. I wanted to play a bit. So what do you want to do today after I take Maiyu to the pediatrician?"

Alara thought for a second while still listening to Rick play, "I don't know. We could help decorate for the festival."

"Oh yeah, I've seen some of that. It amazes me how much effort the people put into preparing for the festival."

"It's almost like an independence day for us. It's our most treasured holiday."

"What about Christmas?"

"That's our second most anticipated holiday. The fact that they're exactly two months apart gives us a countdown. The Harvest Festival is on October 25th and Christmas is on December 25th. So we party now and we party then...it's not rocket science."

"I understood it already. Anyways, is that all you want to do today?"

"Well I have to get a gown for the festival. If I get to a tailor today then the gown might be finished before the festival."

"Then you should hop to it. I'll take you to a tailor once I get back from the pediatrician."

"Alright. I'll go get breakfast ready."

"Go ahead. I'm finishing up here. I'll be in the living room if you need me."

Alara nodded and walked into the kitchen. Rick finished playing and went into the living room, where he turned on the tv. As he watched tv he felt something getting close to his house and looked at the door. At that moment, his mom and dad phased through the door and entered the house.

Rick's dad yelled, "Aeru! We're home!"

"I noticed! Announce yourselves every now and then."

Alara walked into the room and saw Rick's parents, "Oh hi Warlord Xeron and Lady Aldira."

Aldira quickly smiled and replied to her, "Hi Alara! It's good to see you again child. How are you and Aeru doing?"

"Oh we're doing great. We woke up a few minutes ago and I'm preparing breakfast. Rick immediately woke up and went straight to the piano."

Aldira looked at Rick, "So you can play the piano? I don't remember teaching you that."

Rick replied, "I taught myself how to. I still have your violin and it's in my room...or your old room."

"Play me something."

Rick teleported to the piano and began to play again the same song he played prior.

He soon finished, "There you go."

"That was great dear. You've yet to seize to amaze me. I'll go get my violin."

"Alright, it's on a stand near the bed."

"Gotcha!"

She then went upstairs and Rick was left alone with his dad, after Alara returned to the kitchen. Xeron sat down at the couch and quickly got comfortable.

Rick sat down on the couch next to him and said, "So, what brings you guys here so early in the morning?"

Xeron looked at him and said, "Well we wanted to walk down memory lane. We also wanted to spend some time with our son."

"Well dad I love seeing you and mom, and I'm happy that you guys are back. However, I have to leave later on today. Besides I have to go to work for a while. I need to check up on how the army is handling themselves. I've been there everyday and each day it's a surprise."

"Yeah that happens. Want me to tag along? I can help you out."

"That would be great! Thanks dad!"

Xeron chuckled, "No problem. So tell me how they have been doing...the army, that is."

"Oh well they are quick to learn and please. You've seen them in the Hall of Origin."

"Yes, I have. It made me proud to see my son following in my footsteps. But remember boy, those men and women are your charge now. Train them right and there is no obstacle they cannot overcome. That was my reasoning when I was the Warlord. Tell me, what is your plan for the war? How will you proceed from here?"

"Well I'm waiting for Team Rocket to make the next move."

"Oh the defensive game? Interesting course of action. When you declare war you usually go on the offensive."

"Well I play safe, but I know that I can't keep playing the defensive game. Eventually I have to go on the offenses. I'm just waiting for an opening."

"So what are the key locations in this war?"

"The two capitals: Team Rocket HQ in Kanto and here in the Sanctuary. It would be easier if humans decided to help us, but the only allies I know I have in humans is Silph Co. They'll help me no matter the circumstance."

"Who are your main allies there?"

"Mr. Silph, Dr. Emerald, and Dr. Esper Emerald...I don't know if she actually got married though, so I'm still going to call her that. Then there are the partners of Silph Co. but I don't have the time to name them all."

"Well make sure you keep all your allies close. They will be crucial to winning any war."

"Amen to that!"

They stopped talking when Aldira walked downstairs cradling a sleeping Maiyu and levitating the violin.

She looked at Rick and said, "Umm Aeru, I found this little in your room."

"Oh yeah, that's Maiyu. Your niece."

"My niece? Who's daughter is she?"

"Dad's sister Celenia. She's five years old."

"Oh she's adorable!"

After she finished saying that, Maiyu began to wake up. She groaned as she rubbed her head on Aldira's chest and yawned.

She then said, "Aeru, I don't want to wake up yet."

Rick heard her say that and chuckled, "Well you don't have to wake up yet Maiyu. Go back to sleep."

She yawned again and replied, "So why did Alara go get m..." She stopped when she looked at Aldira. "You're not Alara." She then looked at Xeron. "And who are you?"

Rick chuckled, "These are my parents Maiyu. Your aunt Aldira and your uncle Xeron."

"I thought they were..." Her eyes shot open and she began to scream. "GHOSTS!" She quickly teleported onto Rick's back.

Alara walked into the room, only to see Maiyu hiding behind Rick. "Should I ask?"

Rick quickly grabbed Maiyu and carried her, "Maiyu. Yes, they are dead, but they are not ghosts...mostly. Arceus let them return to life until after the festival."

Maiyu asked, "So are they safe to be around?"

"Yeah! They're great people. My mom is very loving and my dad is pretty goofy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, go meet them."

Aldira walked up and took Maiyu from Rick, while Alara walked up to Rick.

Alara said to Rick, "So do you think they'll be okay?"

"Yeah. Give Maiyu a little while to get to know them. Anyways, how is breakfast coming along?"

"Oh it's almost ready. You can come to the dining room if you want and leave these three alone."

"Lead the way."

They left the room and left Maiyu and Rick's parents alone for a while.

Not too long later, Rick, Maiyu, and Xeron left the house and left Aldira and Alara at home. Alara was finishing some cleaning when she noticed that Aldira wasn't in the house. She looked for her throughout the house.

"Lady Aldira? Are you here?" She soon made her way to the porch and called one more time. "Lady Aldira?"

A reply soon came from the garden, "I'm in the garden dear!"

"Oh!" Alara teleported to her location and saw Aldira tending to the garden.

"I should thank your parents for taking care of my garden. This was my pride and joy when I was your age, dear."

"My mom didn't want your garden to be forgotten. I also don't think that the residents of this den would of wanted this garden to disappear. It's so beautiful."

"I have been planting this garden since I was fifteen, even before Xeron moved into this house. It was still being constructed by your grandfather...your father's father, the old chief. He loved me like a daughter, so he let me plant the garden. Xeron helped by planning out how it will look like. It was his gift to me and it came out beautiful. Saifer and Keera played a role in the construction as well. They put the fountain and the statues, while Xeron formed the gates, arches, and the maze itself. Me and him were the only ones that knew how to navigate this maze. Mainly because we spent almost all our time here until your grandfather gave the house to Xeron as a gift for becoming the Warlord. It took five years to build the house and two more years to finish the garden. I was twenty one years old when it was finally finished completely and Xeron moved in. By that time we were actually engaged and I moved in with him when the garden was finally finished. To be exact, we were married in the garden. It was a beautiful day. Your grandfather, your mother's father, married us. May 24th, what a beautiful day in this garden's history."

"I can understand why love this garden so much and why my parents love it as well. I had no idea you two were married here in the garden."

"We could of been married in the church. The one that towers over this den, but we chose the garden since it holds so much sentimental feeling to both of us. The chief still made sure that the church bells rang when we were married."

"Of course! You married the Warlord. I wouldn't of been surprised that they rang the bells for you. The people loved you and Warlord Xeron."

Aldira smiled at her and asked her, "Can I ask you something? Why do you always call us while using our titles?"

"It's how I was taught to address members of high honor. If I'm related to you then I don't use it."

"Yet."

"Yet?"

"Oh you already know that I believe that you'll marry my son. It's just a matter of time." She giggled and turned to tend to a flower patch. Alara blushed and remained silent. Aldira noticed, "Oh wipe that embarrassed look off your face. It's nothing to be ashamed of really. I'm guessing you didn't talk to him last night?"

Alara's face sank, "Umm...no. I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"Point is to not be afraid of him. Aeru won't hurt you. He loves you too much to do that anyways. Besides, I'm sure he feels the same."

"I hope he does. You know, he woke up different today."

Aldira arched an eyebrow, "How so?"

"He woke up pretty jolly. He was very happy and seemed to of had a weight lifted off his shoulders."

"Oooooooh. That's right. Delta."

"Delta? Project Delta?"

"Yep. She's one of the few 'good' Projects. She must of played a memory in his head to get him to unseal his emotions. Team Rocket tried to seal up all his powerful emotions, but Delta made them fail and managed to release a few of his emotions. He learned to emulate many emotions so that he can live normally."

"Wait...he emulates emotions? He acts like he has certain emotions?"

"Yeah. Arceus told us. He only really emulated strong emotions. Mainly excitement, pride, sadness, and, namely, love."

"But I've seen him cry."

"You saw tears coming from his eyes, but you didn't hear weeping. His body cries, he doesn't. He couldn't feel sorrow or sadness. He could only pretend to have it. However, now he doesn't have to do it, he can express himself freely."

"I should thank Project Delta."

"You'll get your chance soon. You guys running into her is inevitable."

"Maybe. We have to face Team Rocket."

"Oh Project Delta is not part of Team Rocket. She defected not long after Aeru defected. She left with Project Gamma. They are not a threat to you like the other Projects. They are actually here to help. Anyways, enough of this. Want to help me?"

"Sure."

"Great! Grab some gloves and start helping."

The two females soon began to cultivate the garden, while talking about various other subject, mainly the upcoming festival.

[Twelve hours later]

Rick and his dad were at the Military District, in Rick's office. Rick dropped off Maiyu at his grandmother's house and let Xeron see his mother again. Rick was sitting at his desk, reading various progress reports from each team. His dad was walking around the room, examining what was different since his time. As they were in the office Dartz walked into the room.

Rick quickly greeted him, "Dartz! What's up brother? Can I help you with something?"

Dartz responded, "Yes. I have something I want to ask of you. However, may I speak to you alone?"

Rick looked at his dad, who nodded and left the room.

"So what's on your mind Dartz?"

Dartz sat down on a chair, "Well you know that me and Ashlyn kicked up our relationship again."

"I am aware and you have my support."

"Well, I wanted your permission on something. Mainly because you're the only one that can give it to me, if you accept."

"I'm listening. Ask me for anything."

"Well, I want Ashlyn to attend the festival with me. Now hear me out before you say anything. I am well aware that she's part of Team Rocket and she would be within our lines, but I trust her."

Rick nodded for Dartz to continue.

"I want to go with her, and you're the only one that can make it happen."

Rick sat back and thought about Dartz request. He then looked at Dartz, making him nervous.

Rick then replied to him, "Very well. She has my permission to enter."

Dartz was surprised but very excited, "Really!?"

"Of course! Ashlyn is not a malevolent individual. If she is willing to defect from Team Rocket, then I have reason to believe that she can be trusted."

"Also, who am I to deny that to you? Go get your girl, but don't tell her where the Sanctuary is. I trust her, but I cannot risk her being interrogated if something happens. Just make sure she can come here safely. I don't want to risk her safety or her well being. However, when she's here she shall be your problem."

"Of course! Thank you!"

"Don't worry about it. Now go back to your station, or if your finished, go home and tell her the news."

"She calls me so that she doesn't risk being caught."

"Good call! As you were! I'll talk to you and the others later."

"Alright, bye Rick!"

"Bye! Dad get back in here!"

Dartz left and Rick's dad came back in. He looked at Rick and asked, "Girl trouble?"

"Quite the opposite really. He wants his girl here, but he needed my permission. So I gave it to him without a problem. I had to think about it, but I regret nothing."

"So you're helping him get lucky?"

"Dad! What the hell did I just finish saying to you?"

"I know, I know. I'm just being silly. So his girl is a Project, but luckily it's a good one. It's always an amazing advantage when you have allies on the other side."

"I'm not going to use her to destroy Team Rocket. I can't betray Dartz's trust like that, so I don't want to endanger her in any way."

"I see your point. Anyways, I'm leaving."

"Where are you going?"

"Saifer's house, it's Halo night."

As he left Rick looked on with the look of 'you are fucking kidding me', "He comes back for two and he turned into a teenager. Anyways, back to work."

As he began to type into his computer he heard his Poketch ring. He sighed and looked at it and saw it was a call from Alara.

"Hey Ally!"

"Hi Rick! Just checking up on you."

Rick chuckled, "That's normally my job."

"Yeah, well I was kinda lonely."

"Where's my mom?"

"She left with my mom just now. They're going to my parents' place."

"I don't like leaving you alone. Should I call it a day for today?"

"Don't do that! I'm sure you have a lot of work left."

"Not really. I trained them, read all their progress reports, and am now just making some notes."

"Well if you're not busy then come on home. Don't you need to go get Maiyu?"

"Yeah, but that's later. How is her dress coming along?"

"I finished it already. She'll love it, but I need to have her get in it before I can say it for sure. I need to buy her festival kimono. The dress is for the Harvest Ball. Anyways, so are you coming?"

"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Bye!"

"Bye. I'll see you later."

Rick quickly turned off his computer and walked out of his office. He then ran into Wayland and told him, "Way, I'm leaving for today. Tell Winston that he's in charge for the time being."

Wayland replied, "Gotcha! Have a nice day Rick!"

"You too. I have to go back home. Alara's waiting for me."

"Tell her I said 'hi'."

"Will do, bye!"

Rick left, got into his car, and drove off.

[Alara's Parents' House]

In Alara's parents' house, Xeron and Saifer were playing video games and Aldira and Keera were using Saifer's laptop. Not too long after the males got up, with Saifer clearly victorious in the game.

"Hell yeah! Suck it Xeron!"

"I don't know how to play this damn game! When I was alive, the last console I played was a Playstation. Play me in Tekken right now!"

Keera stopped them, "Boys calm down! It's a game! Anyways, I have some iced tea for you guys."

The males quickly took their glasses and stood behind the girls, who were still using Saifer's laptop.

Saifer took a sip and looked at the girls, "It's great to have you guys back. I miss the good old days and..." He suddenly noticed the girls on the laptop. "Is that my laptop?"

Keera looked back at him, "Yep."

"What are you doing?"

"Just going through its content."

"Why?"

"Aldira tells me that it could be a great way for us to bond and know what we both like."

He was suddenly nervous by this point, "We've been married for twenty two years. I think we know all that there is to know about each other."

"But this can also be fun. I'll let you go through my laptop later."

Both males looked at each other and nodded. They then spilled their iced tea onto the laptop, short circuiting it. The girls gave short screams as it nearly exploded.

Keera looked back at her husband and said, "Why the hell did you do that!?"

Both guys smiled at each other, "Did what?"

"Spilled your iced tea all over the laptop."

"We didn't do that. We really need to fix that leaky roof."

Aldira looked at them with an angry look on her face and asked, "Your roof leaks iced tea?"

"The roof has preferences. It's that high class. I'm surprised it isn't leaking wine."

A vein appeared on Keera's head, "It can't be a leaky roof if we're on the first floor. Also, there is no leak."

Both males looked at each other and said, "REMATCH!"

They quickly went back to their game, while the girls cracked their knuckles. A choir of screams of pain could then be heard emanating through the halls of the house.

[Rick]

Rick was driving home and noticed that he was driving by Alara's parents' house. As he was driving by he could hear painful screams coming from inside.

He sweatdropped and said, "I really don't want to know. Just drive off Rick and leave your father and the Chief to their misery."

He drove off again and soon arrived at his house. When he entered he found Alara playing her harp on the balcony. He walked onto the balcony, trying not to let her know that he was home. She soon finished and looked back and saw Rick standing behind her.

"You need to play your harp more. I love the sound of it."

"I didn't even know that you were back home. Well hi anyways."

Rick laughed quietly, "Hi! So what have you been doing?"

"Oh nothing. I've just been finishing Maiyu's dress and relaxing. I was gardening with your mom earlier, and she told me so much about the garden."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Alara turned around and leaned on the railing of the balcony, overlooking the garden. "Well she told me that the garden was finished two years after the house was finished. She also told me that your dad made it look like it does now and that they got married in there."

"Is that so?"

"I never knew that."

"Neither did I. This entire house is not too familiar to me. I may of lived in the Sanctuary all my life and have been to this house multiple times as a kid, but I don't know much about it."

"And now you're here everyday and are temporarily living in it with me and Maiyu."

"And I learned to love this house. So much that I prefer this house to my own. But it doesn't last. I'm not family so I can't live here permanently."

"I still need to ask my folks about that. Now I have the chance since they're here for a while."

They stopped talking for a second and sat down to star gaze for a little while. Alara broke the silence by saying, "Are you going to pick up Maiyu? It's almost 8pm."

"Well I didn't tell you this, but she's staying with her grandmother today. I don't know why, but she's staying over for tonight."

"So we have the house to ourselves?"

"Yep. That means no bathroom battles and no uncomfortable questions. But it's not all that bad."

Alara looked over to him and smiled, "We still love that little girl. I wish my daughter would be like her...except for the bathroom battles. But Maiyu is smart and so adorable."

"Me too."

"You know, I know all about your emotion release."

"Excuse me?"

"You used to have your emotions suppressed by Team Rocket and Project Delta released them for you this morning. That explains why you're so much more lively than you usually are."

"Yeah, it's true. I never felt better. I don't have to pretend to have my strong emotions anymore. I can feel so many things that I haven't felt in years...but my face hurts from smiling too much."

Alara giggled, "I guess that would happen. It doesn't mean that you have to smile twenty-four seven."

"I'd rather be happy."

"I'd rather you would be happy too, but you can frown every once and a while."

Rick laughed, "Alright. But I don't have something that will make me do that."

"Oh well, let's watch some tv. We're doing nothing out here."

Alara got up, "Okay. Let's go!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the house. Rick gladly took her hand and let her guide him into the living room. They sat down on the couch and indulged in the entertainment. Both of them feeling closer than ever with Rick unrestrained.

[Two weeks later, Harvest Festival]

Rick, Alara, and Maiyu (who was riding on Rick's shoulder) were walking into the center of town, watching all the decorations and the festivities. The entire den looked like a gigantic carnival with performers, games, food, and people in costumes. Maiyu was eating a caramel apple and Rick and Alara were eating cotton candy.

All the females in the den were all wearing fall kimonos and Rick took a second to look at Alara. She was wearing a white and pink kimono, her hair was pinned back, and she was wearing a circlet that let people recognize her as the Chief's daughter. Rick had his Warlord attire on, with a cape that had the Warlord emblem on it. Maiyu looked like a little Alara, being dressed similar to her, which Rick swore they planned out.

Rick then said to Alara, "I hate wearing capes."

"Why?"

"I just don't like wearing them. They make me feel pompous and high class."

"Well you are high class."

"My family line comes from the lower class. Your family line comes from nobility."

"That is true but you have to keep up your appearance as the Warlord. The festival is only for one day."

"And how much of it do I have to be a part of?"

Alara then gave Rick an irritated look, "All of it."

"Seriously? You know I'm always the first to jet from events."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Please try to enjoy it. Besides, you HAVE to be there for the Harvest Ball. Now come on! Let's play some games until the sun disappears."

"It's three in the afternoon."

"So you better get ready to not go home for a few hours."

"Fine! What do you want to do first?"

"Anything! There's so much to do during the festival."

"This is my first festival...well aside from when I was one years old. So walk me through it please."

Alara then grabbed his hand, "Then let's go."

She quickly pulled him through the crowd and went straight for the many games in the square. She made Rick participate in an archery game.

"Okay Alara, what are the rules to this game? Just hit the target in the bull's eye with the arrow and that's it?"

"Yep. You get three five tries and you win better prizes if you manage to hit the bull's eye multiple times, or split the arrow."

"Sound easy enough."

The the game referee then told Rick, "Well Warlord Aeruthael, if you're up to the challenge then give it a try. Come on, first try is free."

Rick chuckled and took a quiver of five arrows and a bow. Maiyu was cheering him on, "Go Aeru!"

Rick drew one arrow and aimed it at a target which was about 150 feet away.

The referee asked him, "Which target are you going for my lord?"

"The furthest one."

The ref sweatdropped, "Well I rarely get anyone that can even scratch that one, but good luck regardless."

Alara giggled and said, "He'll always find a way to surprise you. Just watch."

Rick took careful aim, took a deep breath, held it and fire away. The air cut through the air and hit the target perfectly in the middle. The act surprised the ref and the people that were watching.

"Told you guys. He'll always find a way to surprise you. Also, he still has four arrows left."

Rick put his hand back and Maiyu passed him another arrow. He took it and fired it at the target again. The arrow went on the same route as the first and split the first arrow, landing dead center on the target. He did the same with the other arrows, shocking everyone, even Alara.

He turned and said, "That was easy. If your wondering, yes, I know how to use a bow...really well. Just part of my training. You can keep the prize. I just wanted to play."

Rick and Alara soon walked to other games and eventually found Wayland, Jean, Seras, Dartz, and, to Alara's surprise, Ashlyn. They were all at the test of strength game. Obviously no one was going to compete with Wayland. The group noticed Rick and Alara walking up to them and went to meet them halfway.

Rick quickly hugged Seras and got challenged by Wayland, "Hey Rick, want to try me at the test of strength?"

"Are you insane!? You can bench press a planet. I don't stand a chance."

"How about all you guys?"

Rick turned to look at Jean and Dartz who nodded. All the girls went to watch what would happen. Wayland took the mallet first and hit the pressure board. The computer next to him then read a 11900 lbs, surprising the boys, who huddled together to come up with a plan.

Jean said, "Okay we're fucked beyond belief. What do we do?"

Dartz looked at him, "You're asking me? I have no idea. Combined we might scratch 1000 lb. We're not going to hit over a five and a half tons."

Rick said, "Well let's try. Guys grab that mallet and bring it down as hard as you can."

The boys grabbed hold of the mallet and swung it down at the pressure board. After a second the computer read 3027 lbs. The boys clearly lost, but were satisfied with the fact that they actually hit over 3000 lbs.

Jean then asked Rick, "Rick, can't you go all Alpha and beat Wayland?"

"I could, but that would be cheating."

"Who cares!?"

"Jean, I can't do that...not here."

"Fine!"

They quickly looked back at Wayland and saw him celebrating, doing his usual victory dance. Once he finished everyone laughed and went off to eat for the day. They all, including the rest of the gang, went to Rick's porch to see the festivities from the comfort of the house.

Ashlyn then asked Rick, "So this is your home Alpha?"

"Yeah. This is my house and this is my home."

"Thank you for allowing me to join in on the festival."

"I wasn't going to let Dartz come alone. What better than his own mate?"

"Oh we're not mates yet."

"Well here you're considered as his mate since you guys have the intentions on mating. Here the Gallades and Gardevoirs get married. I know, it surprised me too. I thought that we just mate and that would be the end of it."

"So how was your wedding?"

Rick and Alara sighed, "Ashlyn, I am not married. Alara here is not my wife or mate. We're just close friends."

"Well that clears that up. Dartz didn't tell me anything about that. However, it's good to see that you trust me enough to be here Alpha."

"Call me Rick. I don't like my Project name."

"Alright...Rick."

Everyone laughed and Maiyu walked out of the house with cotton candy.

Rick looked at her and asked her, "Maiyu, where did you get that?"

"Oh I actually teleported back to the town square and bought some."

Rick gave her a faint smile, "Maiyu, I told you not to go out by yourself. Couldn't you of asked me?"

"Sorry Aeru."

Rick picked her up and sat her on his lap, "It's okay dear. Are your parents coming to pick you up?"

A voice then came from in front of him, "No need we're here."

An older, yet muscular, Gallade was coming up the steps. Rick identified him as his Uncle Rile, Maiyu's father.

"Oh hi! I thought you were going to call when you were going to pick Maiyu up."

"I was but I was already in the neighborhood. Anyways, I can't talk my wife is waiting for me at the Chief's house."

Rick nodded and handed Maiyu to him, "Here you go. When are you going to let Maiyu stay over again? I missed her here for the past week."

Maiyu hopped onto her dad's shoulder and waved goodbye to Rick and his friends. Her dad then replied, "I don't know. Maybe in a few weeks. Anyways, I better go before the wife gets worried."

"Alright, bye guys!"

"Bye Aeru."

Maiyu waved goodbye again and disappeared with her father, when they got in a car.

All the girls soon got up and left, confusing Rick. "Where are they going?"

Winston replied, "They're going to get ready for the ball."

"But that's not for a few more hours."

"They're females. I think we should of given them more time to prepare."

Jean said, "I think a week is needed."

All the guys laughed and socialized for a while, until returning to the square to participate in more games.

[At Alara's House]

The girls were all getting dolled up for the ball. All of them were getting into their gowns, that they chose really carefully. They did their hair, makeup, and accessories.

Everyone had their appointed dates: Rick and Alara, Winston and Gloria, Wayland and a number of Gardevoirs, Jean and Seras, Dartz and Ashlyn, Bolt and Anna, Lucian and Miranda, Allen and Amber, Sage and Serenity, Celand and Amari, Richter and Aleerah, Claw and Fang, Shadow didn't have a date because he was the DJ for the night, by request of Alara's parents.

Alara was in her room finishing her touches on her outfit. She was wearing a flowing white and green gown, that Rick's mother ordered for her a few weeks back, without her knowing. It complemented her perfectly and didn't look like a renaissance gown, yet it almost resembled a Gardevoir's usual dress, but fancier. She had white and green ballroom gloves, a green silk ribbon wrapped around her waist, her hair was layered and wavy, compliments of Seras. She was putting on her necklace and her circlet.

Once she finished she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wondering to herself, *Am I beautiful? I'm pretty sure I am. I want to turn Rick's attention to me, but how am I supposed to do that.*

She looked into her mirror and saw X staring back at her. She quickly turned around and looked at him.

X sighed and said, "You have got to stop torturing yourself like this. I've been listening in on your moping and it is getting tiring."

"Well hello to you too X. I haven't seen you or heard you in a while."

"Listen, I'm going to tell you my honest opinion."

"And that is?"

"You're getting more and more pathetic as your emotions rise. Just tell the damn guy!"

"It's not that easy. Why do you, Arceus, my parents, and Rick's parents keep insisting that it's easy."

"We never said it was easy, but you should go for it. I'm tired of manipulating the timeline to fix all the crap you guys do. Dialga is going to kill me. Anyways, listen to what I have to tell you. When I was alive, I made the most of the life I had. I didn't fear what could happen, but I braced myself for the worst if it was to happen."

"Oh yeah, I forgot! You used to be a living Gallade. Did you have a mate?"

"I did, but that was a long time ago. I don't think she's alive anymore."

"Wait, how long have you been dead?"

"That's not important. What IS important is that you have a chance to get the person you want as a significant other. You know Rick loves you as well...but his emotions were suppressed...so that explains a lot."

"So you think that he will accept me?"

X facepalmed, "Of course! He's probably not expecting it, but he isn't closer to another Gardevoir. Now don't hesitate and go do what you have to do." He suddenly vanished, leaving Alara alone in her room.

Alara got up and walked up to her bed, she sat down and pulled her journal out and began to write in it. She kept writing until she heard someone opening her door. She tried to hide the journal until she saw Ashlyn opening the door.

"Oh Ashlyn it's just you."

Ashlyn smiled and walked in, "Sorry for intruding. I just felt like something was up here. Something...dead. Anyways, I see that you've taken a liking to the journal I gave you."

"Yes, thank you! It helps me let loose after a long day. Want to read some out of it?"

"Oh no! Journals are supposed to be private. I couldn't possibly do that."

"But I'm giving you permission. Go ahead."

Ashlyn took the journal and read a few pages quickly and then looked at Alara, "You really are in love with Rick...why not just tell him? I didn't hesitate to tell Dartz how I felt."

"You guys have known each other for..."

Ashlyn interrupted her, "Finish that sentence and think about what you just said. You two have been best friends since your birth. I'm not surprised that you're in love with him."

"It's true, but I can't tell him."

Ashlyn sighed, "Listen, when me and Dartz were best friends we didn't hide anything from each other. When I felt something for him I made hints about it. It's true that rejection is scary, but it's good to try. Anyways, when my feelings for him came to a head, I just kissed him and waited to see his reaction. It did surprise me that he did return my feelings, but that was to be expected."

"But how am I going to get the words out. I don't know how to tell him."

"Sometimes, it's not about what you say, but its about what you do. If he loves you back then he'll return the feeling. If he doesn't then you know that you have nothing left to hide. Also, you know that it won't change anything between you two if you two really are the best of friends."

"So what do I do?"

"When the time comes just act. Don't think...too much."

"Alright, I'll try."

"What better time then when your wrapped in his arms tonight?"

"Wait, tonight?"

"Yes, I'll be watching and something better be happening."

"But..."

Ashlyn put her hand over her mouth, "Please, stop doing that. I may be a friend but I'm still a Project. So I can get really irritable." She then let go of Alara.

"Sorry...wait, I need to know. How are you keeping this a secret from Team Rocket?"

"Omega has that covered for me."

[Team Rocket HQ]

Omega was in their room and sighed, "Ashlyn, you owe me big time. Shapeshifting, commencing." Omega was then enveloped in a purple light and emerged from the darkness of the room in the form of Ashlyn. "You owe me A LOT." Omega said as their voice emulated Ashlyn's.

[Alara's Room]

Ashlyn said, "I'm sure Omega can think of something. Omega has yet to disappoint me. However, back to the subject at hand. You need to tell him and get it off your chest. At least you'll feel...free."

"Okay, I'll try. Thank you Ashlyn."

"You're welcome."

"Come on...hug me."

Ashlyn smiled and hugged Alara before getting up and leaving the room. Alara stayed on her bed and looked up at her ceiling.

She thought to herself, *She's right. I have to do it. Mainly for myself, but also because I need to know how Rick feels about me."

[8pm, Chief's Court]

Rick and the guys were in the Chief's Court, waiting for the girls to arrive. Rick was sitting down on a throne that his soldiers brought for him to sit on. He was sitting next to Alara's parents and his parents.

Aldira asked Rick, "So dear are you excited?"

"I really don't know what to think mom. I am a little excited, but the emotions are still foreign to me. Give me a minute to adapt to them first."

"Alright. You should of gotten them back sooner so that this wouldn't be weird to you."

"I'm learning to adapt to them, but it's hard to concentrate."

"Well there's your problem. Just let them flow. You no longer have to concentrate on them because you don't have to pretend."

"I don't?"

Aldira smiled, "No, you don't. Emotions flow. You don't have to filter them."

"I'll try."

"Don't try. Just do nothing."

"Alright, alright."

Alara's dad then got a message from a stealth soldier and got up, "Open the doors for the girls!"

Two guards quickly opened the doors and the girls began to walk in. Rick quickly looked at Alara and stayed frozen in place. He was immediately mesmerized and he couldn't figure out what emotions were going through his body. Alara walked up to Rick and the adults and stopped in front of them. Rick got up and walked next to her, unable to mouth words.

Alara looked at her parents and asked, "What do you guys think? Too much?"

Rick responded involuntarily, "No!" He quickly put his hand to his mouth, to keep himself quiet.

"Really Rick?"

Rick took his hand off his mouth, "Yeah. Y-y-yo..." Rick slapped himself to mouth the words. "You look great."

Seras quickly said to the guys, "And so it begins."

Alara smiled at Rick, "Thank you." She turned to her parents, "Well?"

Her mom replied, "You look amazing dear. Aldira's ballroom gown looks beautiful on you."

Alara arched her eyebrow, "Wait, this one of her dresses?"

Aldira replied to her with a smile on her face, "Yes, but I never got to wear it. Mainly because I became pregnant with Rick and it wouldn't fit on me. I had it made a few months before the festival, but I got pregnant. I think it looks better on you."

"Does it really?"

"Yep. Also, I have something for all the girls." Aldira suddenly pulled out a bundle of flowers from her garden. "My special flowers. You girls should wear them on your outfits. They will look beautiful with them."

Alara quickly walked up to her and took a flower and placed it in her hair. She turned around and asked Rick, "What do you think?"

Rick froze, "Ummmmmmm...I'll be right back." Rick suddenly vanished.

"I wonder where he went." A loud roar was immediately heard from across the Sanctuary. "I think I found him."

Rick teleported back into the room, "I'm back and I'm composed."

Jean asked Rick, "What did you do?"

"Nothing." Rick suddenly snapped one of his fingers back in place, cringing in the pain .

"Whatever you say psycho."

Seras then told Jean, "I think this how he's coping with the emotions."

"Yeah, but snapping your fingers and snapping them back in place is a little too extreme."

"He doesn't know how to deal with it. So I guess that he can compose himself as long as he feels some sort of pain."

Rick said to Alara, "It looks great on you."

Alara gave a concerned smiled, "Good to know. Umm stop hurting yourself."

"Okay. Now let's get this over with." He offered Alara his arm, which she took.

Everyone soon left the room and stopped at the curtains that covered the entryway to the outdoor ballroom. They all began to enter as their names were called. Soon Rick and Alara, his parents, and Alara's parents were left in the room.

Shadow, who was at the DJ booth at the time, then announced, "Up next is a special pair. Twenty one years in the making. Once dead, now alive...for the day at least. Let's welcome one of our former Warlords and his wife, Warlord Xeron and Lady Aldira." With that Xeron and Aldira walked through the opened curtain and walked into a sea of cheers and applause.

Shadow continued, "Alright, this next pair is very well known to both of us. They lead our people and they keep us safe twenty four hours a day. Now give a big round of applause for Chief Saifer and Queen Keera...it's Queen, right? Sorry everybody, I'm still getting used to this society. Anyways, let them have that applause." Saifer and Keera left in the same manner as Rick's parents and once again Rick was left alone with Alara.

Alara asked him, "Ready for a great night? You look handsome."

Rick smiled at her, "Thanks and yes I am. You look very beautiful. Best outfit I've ever seen you in, so far."

"Thank you." She smiled at him with a wider smile and just stared at him.

Rick noticed and asked her, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Alara flinched and sighed, "Yes, but I'll tell you later. While we dance."

"Alright. I'm looking forward to the dance myself and I'm curious on what you want to tell me."

Alara blushed, "You'll find out."

They then heard Shadow announcing them, "Well time for the final couple. Two people that will be our leaders in the future...well one is a leader and the other is our future Chief if they stay single. Probably the cutest couple I have yet to see so far. No offense Sayer and Leta. Alrighty then! Let's give it up for Warlord Aeruthael and Lady Alara and get this party started."

Rick and Alara took deep breaths and walked outside, where they were met with loud cheers and applause. Rick looked up and saw a perfect full moon, it put his spirits up and he walked to the main area with Alara. Alara looked at Rick and smiled again while they took their places on the dance floor.

Shadow immediately said, "Hold on ladies and gents, we're doing it this way. First, it's married couples and then we'll work our way to couple's dance."

Amari yelled at Shadow, "You've got to be kidding me Shadow!"

"Hey I don't make the rules...okay I do for tonight."

"There's a **Bullet Punch** with your name on it after all this is over!

"Anyways, men and wives hit the floor."

Rick and Alara walked off the dance floor and sat down on thrones that two soldiers brought for them. Rick sat down and got comfortable while Alara sighed. They stayed in the seats and watched their parents dance with each other.

Alara was growing anxious but she had to control herself for a bit longer. She sat back on her seat and ate a bit of the food that was brought to her.

Rick sensed her growing unrest and asked her, "Are you alright Ally?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking."

"Can I ask about what?"

"You can but I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"Very well. I won't push the matter. But please try to eat something at least. You haven't eaten much today and I've been worried since this afternoon."

She smiled at him, "I'm fine Rick. Thank you for your concern though."

"Well eat up. We're dancing next."

"How do you know?"

"Because I got Amari to threaten Shadow for me. We'll be dancing in no time."

"Great!"

They both ate their meals and waited for the final song to play. Once it finished Rick and Alara got up, ready to dance together.

Shadow soon announced, "And that concludes Spouses' Dance, now onto Couple's Dance. So all none married couples hit the floor."

Rick quickly took Alara's hand, surprising her but got a smile from her. He then led her to the center of the dance floor and they got in their dance position.

Alara looked around and saw Ashlyn and Seras, with their respective dates. Ashlyn smiled and nodded at her, which Alara understood perfectly. She looked back at Rick and saw him smiling back at her.

"Looks like you and Ashlyn struck up a friendship."

"Yeah. She's really kind. It pains me that she's with Team Rocket at the moment."

"Only for a little while longer. I heard that she'll only defect if Omega goes with her. So to help Dartz and her, I'm willing to face Omega and convince it to join us...that will be hard. But it will be so worth it in the end. My job is to eliminate the Rocket threat, not to eliminate all the Projects. She is safe as long as she remains as one of our friends."

"That's really nice of you."

"I've been thinking a lot today. I've been feeling a lot as well. It's a lot but it feels so much better than being restricted."

"I'm happy about that too."

Shadow soon announced, "Alright, let's start this dance with a little bit of Nickleback. If the Warlord Aeruthael and Alara were a real couple this song would ring all to well for them."

(Music: **Far Away by Nickleback**)

Rick quickly put his arm around Alara's waist and she put her arms around his neck for the slow dance. They began to dance, with many eyes on them, but at the moment Alara and Rick didn't care. Alara made sure to get as close as she could to Rick as possible, without getting impaled by his spike. She rested her head on his chest, avoiding the spike. She didn't understand why but she always felt so happy when they danced. Rick feeling happy as well, but he couldn't pin point the feeling, nor did he care.

Rick then said to Alara, "You know, this feels great."

She lifted her head off his chest and looked up at him, "What does?"

"I don't know. Being too happy is a weird feeling for me. But I like it. I haven't felt like this in many years."

"Now you know how I felt when we first danced a few months ago."

"I guess I do." Alara giggled and placed her head back on his chest. "You know, you never told me what you wanted to tell me."

Alara looked back at him, "Oh yeah. I forgot."

"Well what was it?"

"Umm..." She looked away for a second and looked at Ashlyn who almost glared at her, but nodded. She then looked at where her parents were and saw X standing next to them, with his arms crossed and also nodded. She looked back at Rick and sighed. "You know, I could say what I wanted to tell you." She placed her head back on his chest. "Or I can just show you."

"Show me what? I'm still in the dark here Ally."

"Tell me something Rick. What do you feel about me? Now that your emotions are unleashed. And don't lie to me."

"I'll never lie to you. I'm still getting my emotions straight, but they're falling in their right places. Ally, you know I love you since you're the closest person to me. I need to get this off my chest right now. It's a heavy load and it needs to disappear." He took a deep breath. "I don't know how to say this any cornier, but I do think I've been in love with your for a while, but was unable to express it."

Alara's eyes shot open at the sound of him saying that. She couldn't believe that he was actually in love with her. She barely stopped herself from crying and looked up at Rick. "Rick? Is that true?"

"Yep. Every word. There's nothing to stop me now."

"Rick..."

She was interrupted by a voice in her head, which she identified as Arceus, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? DO IT!"

Alara did as she was told and quickly pulled Rick's head into a kiss, catching him off guard. She held him there for a few second and then let him go, astonished by what she just did.

She looked at Rick, who had a surprised look on his face, "Rick...I'm sorry. I kinda lost it there."

Rick smiled at her and said to her, "What are you apologizing about?"

She looked back up at him and was met from a kiss from him. She closed her eyes and melted into the kiss, unaware of Seras and Jean becoming ecstatic at the sight. Rick's dad was taking pictures and high fived Alara's dad, who said, "Mission accomplished...yet it took a Project to get them together."

Rick and Alara disconnected and soon became aware of their surroundings and the people in it. They soon looked at everyone and blushed. Amber and Seras quickly pulled whistled to get their attention and Seras handed them a picture that Xeron took, increasing the blush on their faces.

Their parents quickly walked up to them and hugged them joyfully.

Aldira then told Rick, "Finally you opened that heart of yours to someone."

"I don't think it was every really closed, but I'm not going to argue. Don't tell me, you guys planned this out, didn't you?"

"It wasn't completely us."

A voice soon came from the center of the room, "I had a lot to do with that too."

Everyone looked at the location of the voice and they saw Arceus appearing in the center of the room. Everyone bowed, even Rick and Alara. Arceus then walked up to Rick and Alara and gave a hearty laugh.

Arceus then said, "That took forever, but it was worth it. I hope you are all happy with the results." He then told Rick and Alara, "Get up, I need to speak specifically to both of you now." Rick and Alara stood up and looked at Arceus. "Tell me, what happens now?"

Alara looked at Rick and back at Arceus before answering, "I guess we're starting our relationship as mates now."

"Mates yes, but I want you two to go further."

Rick asked, "What are you implying?"

"I told you that you can't fight this war alone. So the next step...which I want both of you to go through is..."

Alara interrupted and said, "Sorry for interrupting, but the next step is marriage, isn't it?"

"Right on the money."

Rick and Alara's mothers, and the other girls began to shriek in joy. Jean and Rick's dad were laughing.

"When are we supposed to get married? This is way to fast."

"I didn't say your getting married today, not tomorrow, maybe not even a year from now. It's yours and Rick's decision on when that will happen. I still want it to be your own free will, so there has to be a proposal. If Rick decides to do it soon then more power to you, but I want you guys to progress in this new relationship."

Alara and Rick's mothers then yelled, "Do it fast! We want grandchildren!"

Rick and Alara blushed while everyone, even Arceus, laughed.

Rick asked Arceus, "So this was going to happen regardless?" Arceus nodded. "Well thank you. I love how this happened."

"You're welcome. Also, here's a quick gift. Xeron, Aldira, you're staying until after New Year's Day."

Rick smiled wider, "You're leaving them with me until then?"

"They should get to know their future daughter in law better. Whatever you and Alara do now is on you. Well that's all I came to say. Farewell everyone!" He suddenly disappeared.

Everyone quickly turned and looked at Rick and Alara, who felt even more awkward.

Wayland quickly yelled, "Group hug"

Rick and Alara were immediately swarmed by their friends. They managed to get away but were met with Maiyu teleporting onto Rick's shoulder.

She then said, "I'm so happy! I AM going to have a new cousin."

Rick smiled at Maiyu, "Yes, yes you are."

They were uninterrupted by Sayer and Leta walking by casually and passing them a bottle of cider.

Rick looked at Alara and said, "Want to pop it?"

Alara responded, "Yep. Might as well as celebration."

Rick tried to work the cork, but couldn't pop it off. Alara quickly helped them and they managed to pop it. The cork went flying through the air and ricocheted off the walls and it hit Alara's dad in the crotch, forcing him to the ground in pain.

He then yelled, "NO WAY!"

Rick's dad grabbed both of them and said, "You know, I'm happy for both of you and the weird part is that both of you are staying in the same house. Let's see how things get." He then walked back to help Alara's dad off the ground.

Rick and Alara looked at each other and laughed. She then pulled him into another kiss and he held her close.

[Three Hours Later, Dartz House]

Dartz was in his bed, while Ashlyn was coming out of the bathroom. Ashlyn decided to stay for the night and leave early in the morning. She got into the bed with Dartz and snuggled up to him.

Dartz asked her, "So what did you think about the festival?"

"I loved it! The ball was the best though. I'm so happy for Rick and Alara."

"I hope they get far in their relationship."

"Me too. I wish I was on your side. I'm so going to talk to Omega when I go back to Rocket HQ. So are we going to bed?"

"What else are we going to do? We can't mate."

"I never said mate." She said seductively.

"What are you thinking?"

"Come here!" She kissed Dartz and rolled on top of him.

[Rick's House]

Rick was laying down on his bed, thinking about everything that just happened in the day. He smiled through all of it and thought about the kiss that Alara gave him and everything Arceus said. His thoughts were interrupted by Alara walking into the room. She had a wide smile on her face and she teleported her night gown on. She quickly laid down next to Rick.

She said to him, "This has been quite the day."

"Yes it has. Best day of my life though. I love this festival now."

"I'm happy about it too. We both got what we wanted."

"And what might that be?"

"We're together now." She quickly kissed him and he laughed in between.

"You really love doing that. Every few moments you kiss me."

Alara giggled, "I'm happy, don't ruin the moment."

"I never said I didn't like it." He returned the kiss.

"I'm happy you got your emotions back."

"I might of accepted the kiss even if I was still restricted. So do you want to go to sleep or do what we're doing?"

Alara gave him a seductive look, "What do you think?"

"Make out session. We're not mating, are we?"

"If you want, we can."

"I'd rather wait until we get married."

"When is that going to be?"

"Soon, just be patient."

"Alright, I'll wait."

Rick turned her body to face her, "Don't start thinking that it will be a long time until then. If it's needed to win the war then it will happen fast. I'll plan the wedding as well...and it will be incredible."

Alara smiled at him and stared at him, "I love you."

"I love you too."

They soon kissed again, more passionate then their last. One the table next to the bed, the picture of them as babies in the festival next to the one of them kissing a few hour earlier.

**There you have it. Rick and Alara are officially a couple. Now things can start getting interesting. I haven't forgotten the war so I'm cutting so much of the crap and getting to the action. So tell me what you guys think. Review please and do the usual thing guys. Bye!**


	36. Chapter 36: Love Decisions

**Well it's finally here. Chapter 36, the first chapter with Rick and Alara as a couple. This one was hit and miss for me, since it deals with content I don't normally write about. So tell me what you guys think about this chapter. Send me your reviews, questions, suggestions, and requests. I do read everything you guys send me and you guys have a lot of great ideas. So please enjoy the chapter and I'll try to have the next one up later this week. Keep voting on the poll on my profile about your favorite characters, Rick is currently winning in the polls. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) The Philippines, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Singapore, 5th) Trinidad and Tobago.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

The sun was beginning to rise over the Sanctuary, and the sunlight was emanating through Rick's room, waking him up. Rick rolled over and wrapped his arms around Alara, who woke up with the gesture. She moaned in drowsiness and in happiness and held his arm in place. She was happy that they were finally together, and wanted to know what to do with him now. There was no way her parents were going to leave her alone about it, so going to their house was completely out of the question for the day.

Rick was also feeling the same as Alara, even the fact of avoiding her parents...as well as his own for the day. He felt Alara wake up and smiled at her, besides the fact that he was looking at her back. She suddenly rolled over and looked at him and smiled back.

Rick said to her, "Good morning."

While still trying to wake up she said, "Yes, it is." Rick leaned forward and kissed her. "And it just got better."

"I'm actually happy to have you here."

"Want me to move in with you?"

"Nah! Too fast Ally. Wait a while, or wait until we're engaged. Besides, you live with your sister."

"True, we've been living together since I was eighteen. I moved out of my parent's house when I was sixteen. Not because I wanted, but because they wanted me to do so. They wanted me to learn to live on my own, but I still live near them."

"Well you came out alright. Also, my dad sent me a message that something happened in your house. apparently the infestation is back."

"Again? How long do you think I'll be here? Also, what happened this time?"

"I don't know. My dad told me that he accidentally didn't use pesticide...rather he accidentally used a steroid...so imagine what has to be done to rid your house of those spiders."

[ Alara's House]

Xeron was in Alara's house and putting a magazine into an assault rifle, brandishing two handguns, a katana, grenades, and a grenade launcher. Alara's dad, Zant, Daedalus, and a small number of soldiers were with him as well and finished stocking their weapons.

Xeron then yelled out, "Come and get us you eight legged freaks!"

As soon as he finished a horde of giant Spinaraks and Ariados stormed at them and were quickly cut down.

They killed a gigantic number of them and Alara's dad said, "I don't remember Alara's house being a dungeon. Somehow it got way bigger than it usually is."

"Saifer, breakfast menu for today: Dead spiders with a delicious side of guts." Xeron said as he pounced on an Ariados and killed it.

After they killed all the spiders on the current floor they felt the house shake and soon a gigantic mutant Ariados came crashing through the floor. Xeron looked at it and fired a grenade from his grenade launcher, which barely phased the monster.

"Alright! Come at me you giant, ugly son of a bitch."

[Back to Rick]

"Yeah, I'm sure our dads will think of something."

"I guess you're right."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I'm going to get up and cook us up some breakfast. Then I guess I'll go with you to the Military District."

"If you want to then okay. I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes. I need to call Mr. Silph."

"Alright. Tell him that I said 'hello'."

Rick chuckled, "Okay. I will."

Alara got up and left the room. Rick grabbed his Poketch and dialed Mr. Silph's private number.

Mr. Silph answered the phone, "Hello Rick, how was your night?"

"Oh it was great."

Mr. Silph chuckled, "I can tell. Your tone is surprisingly cheerful. What did you and Alara do?"

"Nothing really."

"Well I have to be honest with you. Winston sent pictures of the festival to Arthur, and Arthur sent them to me. Congratulations my boy!"

"Thank you very much sir. It was a great night for me and Alara."

"Well onto something that I want to know. When is the wedding?"

"I'm guessing you heard about that too?"

"Yes, Winston told Arthur what Arceus told you in complete detail. So when is it?"

"Ummm...I'm not sure sir. He told us that we will choose the date when I decide to propose to Alara. It's weird for me, but I'm all for it at the moment. However I do have to ask, why are you so interested sir?"

"Why else? So that I can go attend the wedding. How are you going to get married and not invite your dear Mr. Silph."

"I wouldn't dream of it sir. You would of gotten one of the first invitations."

Mr. Silph gave a hearty laugh, "Well I'm glad to hear that. Anyways, I have something that I need to tell you."

"I'm listening sir."

"I need you to go to Goldenrod City and participate in a tournament."

"Go to Goldenrod City? Johto? Sir, just to participate in a tournament?"

"Hear me out. This tournament is going to involve one of Giovanni's officers. He's participating."

"First the contest, and now a tournament? What is he up to?"

"The contest was sponsored by Silph Co., and Giovanni has had his eyes on destroying us. Mainly because we've been against them since the beginning."

"So why participate if they're trying to destroy Silph Co.?"

"Last time it was because Giovanni wanted to get some publicity. Now he has his eyes on our newest invention, which happens to be the tournament's prize."

"Should I be worried?"

"Yes, the prize is a pokemon locator. Whatever pokemon you want to find, you can find it. If he uses it to track you down then I fear for the Sanctuary as a whole."

"I don't think that it will be able to find me here."

"No, I meant that I fear for the Sanctuary because it will give Giovanni an idea of where it is. I doubt they'll be able to enter though. However, I'm more concerned about your safety. If he knows where you are then he will continue to attack you. You can only survive so many attack, especially from Projects. I fear for the Sanctuary as well because they might lose their Warlord. How can I face Alara then if I unintentionally got her mate killed."

"Speaking of which she sends her greetings."

"Send her mines please. But at the matter at hand. I cannot take back the locator, I already gave it as the prize for the tournament. I need you to enter, not as a competitor but as a combatant. You need to choose one friend to use you guys as a their own pokemon."

"When is the tournament?"

"Wednesday morning."

"That's three days from now."

"Yes, I wanted to tell you last night, but you didn't pick up. I eventually found out why. Anyways, knowing Team Rocket, they will not only be interested on the prize. They might want to attack the closest Silph Co. location and take it over. So I'm making sure to be on high alert."

"Good call. So what do you want me to do? Head over there today?"

"Not yet. You can hold off for another two days. Do take Alara with you. Your friends should come too."

"We'll be going tonight. I'm going to make a call to an old friend so they can help us."

"Very well then. I will talk to you when you arrive here. Until then, peace be with you. Goodbye my boy."

"Goodbye sir."

They both hung up and Rick stretched and dialed another number on his Poketch.

It began to ring and someone eventually picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Hi Cynthia! It's me Rick."

"Rick? Really? It's been a while."

"Yes it has. How are you deary?"

"I've been great. Just exploring the world and doing my job as the Sinnoh League Champion. How have you been doing by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself anymore, and I kinda stopped adventuring. I found my species's homeland and I settled down here. It's in Sinnoh."

"Really? That's good to hear. You're moving on with your life. I'm guessing that you didn't just call me to chat, did you?"

"You're smart, I always loved that about you. Anyways, you know about my human life."

"Yes I do. You're one of Silph Co.'s co-owners."

"Exactly, but I'm also at war...with Team Rocket."

"You always have been."

"Yes, but this is real. As in two armies and the world as the battlefield. There is going to be bloodshed."

Cynthia's voice didn't sound too surprised, "Well I kinda saw that coming. Need some help."

"You know I would never endanger you like that. None of my friends, that are not soldiers, should be put in the crossfire. I just need you to help me. You're a master strategist in pokemon battles, so I need your help to help me beat Team Rocket in a tournament. Apparently, I'm going to be going up against a Team Rocket executive. Mr. Silph wants me to make sure that they do not win the prize, which could jeopardize my safety and my friends' safety. The prize is a pokemon locator that can find any pokemon, anywhere in the world...except for legendaries. I'm safe from being located where I am, but I'll be in danger if I leave."

"No need to ask anymore. I'll do it. It could be fun."

"Good. However, where are you?"

"Visiting a friend in Pallet Town, Kanto. Where's the tournament and when?"

"The tournament is being held in Goldenrod City, Johto. It going to start in three days to the date."

"Alright, I'm willing to go. I'm headed to visit another one of my friends, but in Johto this time. Are you familiar with an individual named Jasmine?"

"Of course. I've met every gym leader in Johto, Kanto, and Hoenn."

"Well I'm going to go see her. I can head over to Goldenrod from there."

"Alright. Thank you for helping Cynthia."

"No problem. Goodbye Rick!"

"Goodbye!"

Rick hung up the call and went into the bathroom to get ready. He stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes and then left and went downstairs. He could already smell the breakfast that Alara was preparing and he moved silently into the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen he saw Alara cooking, humming to herself. Rick steered his emotions away from her detection and creeped up behind her. He almost teleported away when she almost turned her head. Once she looked back at the food he tiptoed behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Scaring her, but she calmed down when she noticed that it was Rick.

"Rick! Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry for scaring you. I just wanted to surprise you."

Alara giggled, "Well mission accomplished. I'm surprised."

Rick smiled and chuckled at her before kissing the side of her neck, getting her to turn her head. When she turned her head she returned his kiss and pressed her lips to his. She turned her head back to the food and placed a hand on the side of Rick's face, playing with the spikes on the side of his face.

Rick soon said, "So I think we have to change our plans for today."

"Oh? Why?"

"I'll explain later. So, what's on the menu?"

"A special omelette that my mom taught me to make. It has meat in it, peppers, cheese, and of course it has eggs. I also seasoned it a bit for an added kick."

"Mind if I taste some of it?"

Alara smiled at him, took a fork, and gave him a sample of the omelette. Rick ate it and liked the flavor.

"My compliments to the chef."

Alara and Rick laughed and Rick held her close.

Alara giggled at him again, "How long do you intend on holding me like this?"

"I don't know. Want me to let you go?"

Alara closed one eye, "Noooooooo. I'd rather you didn't, but it will be hard to eat like this."

"Alright." Rick let her go, but she turned around and wrapped her arms around him. "Okay, so you pulled the old switch-aroo. Why?"

"Just wanted to do it. I'm just so happy, more than I've ever been."

Rick chuckled, "You know this is my happiest point."

"Oh yeah! How are you doing with your emotions?"

Rick thought for a second, "Ummm...I think all the emotions have fallen into place."

"How do you feel if I do this?" She quickly kissed him.

"The same way you feel right now. I can sense that."

Alara smiled wider at him, "Correct! Well, I better tend to the food. I'm amazed that it's not burning."

"Alright, call me when it's done...Oh and Mr. Silph says 'hello'."

"Did you greet him for me?"

"Of course!"

"Thanks. Well breakfast is almost ready."

"Alright, I'll wait in the living room."

Alara nodded and Rick left the room and entered the living room.

After five minutes Alara came into the living room with two plates full of food. She handed one to Rick and they began to eat the meal.

Rick then began to tell Alara what Mr. Silph told him, "I was going to tell you earlier that Mr. Silph wants us and the gang to compete in a tournament in the Johto region. Let's just say that we have to battle Team Rocket and make sure they do not win. My friend Cynthia is going to use us in the tournament as her own pokemon. Mainly we're just making sure that nothing bad happens. So call this a vacation if nothing happens."

"What city?"

"Goldenrod City. I've been there a few times. It's a nice city, in a very beautiful area."

"Ooooooh. Like what?"

"Well there's the pier, which is a nice place to be at. To the north there's a park, but it's full of bug types. However, it's a nice place to walk in. The Illex Forest is south of there, so we can visit Celebi in our free time. There's also the beach, I don't think I have to describe that one."

"Sounds like a nice town. Also, is the Cynthia that you're talking about the same Cynthia I'm thinking about?"

"Yep. The Cynthia who's the current Sinnoh League Champion. I've known her for many years and she was willing to help me out."

"Well at least this will be interesting. So when do we leave?"

"Later today. My men are probably already reserving many rooms in a fancy hotel for us and the team."

"I'll never understand how they are that efficient but I accept it. I should probably go pack."

"Yep. Also, WE'RE leaving today. The gang is going probably in the next two days."

Alara then gave him a fiendish smile, "So we're going to be alone for a day and a half?"

"Yes." Rick looked at her suspiciously. "Why? What are you thinking about?" She gave him a smile and a looked him over, seeing if he would take the hint. "Alara, please don't become the second horniest girl I've ever met."

Her smile turned to a look of confusion and curiosity, "Second?"

Rick quickly said, "Nothing happened, Jean's fault, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

"I don't want to know, all you had to say was Jean."

"Anyways, I know what you want, and no we can't mate."

"Aww why not?"

"We...are...not...married...yet."

Alara mocked him, "Who...gives...a...shit?

Rick gave her an amused smile, "Ally, why would we do that?"

"Because we can. Why aren't you all for this?"

"You tell me, what the hell do I tell your parents if you get pregnant?"

"You give my dad a cigar and you celebrate. You've been around humans for too long. Abstinence doesn't really exist here. That's why we are called mates. We can mate whenever we want...but we can't break up if we do so."

"I wasn't planning on that. I just don't want to end up as a dad before I'm married, or you being pregnant before that."

"We'll be careful. I promise."

"Ally, it's too soon."

Alara looked almost ashamed, "Sorry, I just don't want to lose you."

Rick quickly put his plate on the coffee table and did the same to Alara's. He then grabbed her and pulled her close. He laid down on the couch and Alara laid down next to him while he held her.

"Ally, why would you think that you'll lose me?"

"Because you're a warrior, and worse, you're Team Rocket's target. I'm afraid of them getting to you and taking you away. Or worse, killing you. I just wanted one special memory with you."

Rick thought about what she said and took some time to think. He could understand why she felt that way, but he didn't know if he should. It felt odd to him, Alara wanted to mate and he didn't know what to think. Should he give in or should he wait until they're married.

"Ally, don't worry about that. You won't lose me. I can take care of myself. I won't leave you Ally, you can count on that."

Alara rolled on top of him and trailed her finger over his chest, while she thought about what to say to him. Rick could tell that she was taking into consideration, but he could tell that she wanted to mate.

"Rick, I understand that the feeling is foreign to you. Trust me, I'm no more familiar with it than you are. You're the one true person I've ever been with. So yeah, you gave me my first kiss."

"Your parents kept telling me on how hard it is to conquer you romantically. So many have tried and failed. What made me any different?"

"You weren't chasing after me. Hell, you left me well enough alone romantically."

Rick smiled at her, "Well I wasn't trying to be romantic at all. I wasn't even trying to get into a relationship. I was just trying to reignite our old friendship."

Alara began to quietly laugh, "It's funny."

"What is?"

"We were best friends since we were babies and now we're mates. So much changed for the better. And to think, I was a bitch to you when we reunited."

"I don't blame you. I was quite the ass to you. So when did you begin to fall in love with me?"

Alara began to think, "Ummm...I think it was that night in Hearthome. The night of the storm. You actually went from ass to sweetheart to me quickly. You were so gentle. When did you begin to fall in love with me?"

"Well it was suppressed but I think it was one of those days when we hung out for the day. I don't remember when exactly."

"Well Rick, I know I might not be able to convince you to do so, but eventually we will mate."

Rick chuckled, "I never said I wouldn't, but I didn't expect this to be a request after just a day of being a couple."

"Well it was bound to happen eventually. Or parents wanted it to happen as well. Also, you heard our mothers. They want grandchildren and your parents aren't going to be here forever."

"Nor will you be pregnant during the period of them being here. It's almost November and it won't take two months to have kids. Also, I'm not too sure that I'm ready for that. I don't know if I'll be able to be a good dad during this war." He looked away from her almost out of shame.

Alara kissed him to get his attention, "Rick, you'll make a great dad. You took care of Maiyu really well. I say you're ready. Don't think of the war as an obstacle to stop you from having a family. Besides, don't you want something to continue your family line. I don't think you want it to end with you."

"I don't, but...I don't know."

"It's okay Rick. I know that this is too fast for you, but take your time to think about it."

"I will."

"You do know that we CAN mate without me getting pregnant?"

Rick chuckled, "I'm not a complete idiot now."

"We can do that. Besides my body isn't in its season, so my chances of getting pregnant are really low at this point. So there's no true harm in it...unless we scratch that small percentage."

"Do you really want to risk that?"

"...um...yes! What have we been talking about for the last few minutes? Obviously we weren't talking about interior decorating Comundus!" She said mockingly.

"Okay I get it! You're horny and I'm not. Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"I know, I guy who doesn't want sex. What kind of world is this?"

"Would you want it to change?"

Alara sighed, "No, I prefer this world where we're together." She then looked as if she realized something. She gave Rick a fiendish smile.

Rick noticed this and said, "What are you planning Ally?"

Alara giggled at him and kissed him. Rick was now curious on what she was planning. He then got an idea when she began to run her finger up and down his chest. She then began to rub his spike, catching him off guard and made him hunch back.

Alara began to giggle and ended their kiss, "I knew it would do that to you."

Rick said in between his pants, "Ally...what the...hell!?"

"Our species' spike is a sensitive thing. It can detect emotions and amplifies them to their mates. The spike isn't only for detection purposes, but also for mating. The slightest stimulating touch can make pleasure surge through their bodies. The pleasure can also be transferred to their mates."

"So what are you intending? To keep doing this until I give in?"

"That's the point."

"Good luck, I have a strong will."

"Then we'll just have to crack it. I can tell that you can't move while I still have your spike in my hand."

"And I guess that you knew that too."

Alara giggled and kissed him to keep him quiet. Rick tried to stay adamant, but Alara was making that near impossible. He was enjoying the feeling but he wanted to stop Alara from going any further. He was caught off guard when Alara shoved her tongue into his mouth. He quickly fought for control and managed to grab the spike on her back and pulled it, making her let him go. Rick made her sit up and he let her go.

Alara looked at Rick with a scared look on her face. Rick looked at her and said, "You have to control yourself." Alara looked more scared. "But that was hot." He began to laugh.

Alara laughed with him, "I thought you were mad at me."

"I can't say I'm entirely happy with what you did, but I understand...somewhat. Am I going to have to worry about this everyday?"

"No, you can count on that. I still want to mate though."

"In time Alara, in time. I'm just unsure and a bit nervous about that."

"Why?"

"I don't understand emotions yet. It's ironic because of our species, but it's true."

"You'll learn eventually. So should I go pack?"

"In a second. To relieve your hormones for a second..." He quickly kissed her and stayed locked with her for a few moments before separating.

Alara giggled, "That worked."

"Come on, let's go. I swear, I get out of work way too much, but I'm leaving to beat Team Rocket at something. Also, we WILL have some alone time. I might take you out on the town, or we just stay in the room."

"I like both. We either go out as a couple for the first time, or we stay in our room and 'enjoy' each other's company."

Rick looked at her with a smile and chuckled, "There's no shaking the thought out of your head, is there?"

"Nope!"

"Well I guess there's no way around it. Go pack, I'll join you later."

Alara nodded and teleported back to the room. Rick took the plates back to the kitchen and washed all the dishes for Alara. He suddenly heard a knock at the door. He dropped everything he was doing and opened the door. When he opened it he was met by his dad kneeing him in the stomach and walking in. Alara's dad walked behind him and rushed to check on Rick.

"You okay Aeru?"

Rick said in between the pain, "No, that hurt." He turned to look at his dad, "What the hell dad!?"

His dad looked back at him and told him, "I can't have you going soft on me now. Just because you have your emotions back and Alara is your mate doesn't mean that you have to soften up."

"Dad, I'm as strong as I was prior. Just because Alara is my mate doesn't mean that I'm disregarding everything. Man, I have to kill you for that...on second thought, I'll just let mom do it for me."

"How is she going to know...she's standing right behind me, isn't she?"

Rick nodded and then stopped to wonder how his mom got their so quickly. His mom quickly punched his dad and hit him with a medley of **Shadow Balls**.

She then yelled at him, "Xeron, stop attacking our son!"

Xeron got up and glared at his wife, "This is the first time I've hit him. Also, he's a grown ass Gallade, he'll be fine."

"I still don't like it. Anyways, he's probably has a lot on his mind from a long night, which I'm sure he had."

Rick looked at him mom with a quizzical look, "What do you mean by that mom?"

"You know Aeru. You and Alara fell in love, slept in the same house. I'm sure something happened."

"Nope, we came home and fell asleep."

"Crap! And I wanted grandchildren. You're hopeless dear."

Rick quickly glared at him mom while blushing, "Mom! Not your call! First you guys try to get us together, and now you guys want us to mate. What the hell!?"

"Sorry, but parents await the day when they learn that they're going to have grandchildren. I want to know that I'm going to be a grandmother before I have to go back to being dead. You have two months."

"Not going to happen. I want to get married first. But if the time comes before that then I'll do it. But once again, it's not your call."

Aldira sighed, "Oh well, you're right. But do keep an open mind on your situation. You're living with your mate for a while."

"While on that subject, " He looked at his dad, "How is the pest problem in Alara's house?"

Xeron smiled and told him, "You'll find out in three, two, and a one." A huge explosion could be heard in the distance. "They have all been eradicated and construction of the house will begin as soon as we confirm all hostile deaths."

Rick looked at his dad with a shocked expression, "DAD! Couldn't you just hit them with pesticide like normal people do!?"

"Nope, these things were HUGE! I killed a big one by putting a propane tank in the stove, throwing a grenade in there, and making it swallow the stove. That was only one of them."

Rick facepalmed, "Dad...I have nothing to say to you. Anyways, now it looks like Alara is moving in here for a few months or a year because of you."

Alara quickly ran downstairs, "I was upstairs and heard an explosion, what happened? Also, hi guys!"

Rick gave her a reply, "My dad blew up your house."

"WHY THE HELL!?"

"To kill giant mutant spiders. Which was his fault to begin with."

"I'm not going to say anything. At least I get to stay with Rick for a while longer. So I'm guessing I lost all my stuff?"

Xeron smiled and said, "Nope, we managed to get all the things from your room and Amber's room. We also saved some things from the living room."

Alara breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank Arceus, so it wasn't a complete loss."

"Nope. Anyways I came here to check up on you two."

Rick then told him, "Well me and Alara are leaving today. We have business to attend to in the Johto region."

"Really? How long will both of you be gone this time?"

"We'll be back in a few days. We're packing right now."

"Alright, should I start working on a nursery upstairs for when you return."

Rick looked at his dad with an unamused expression and then punched him in the face. "Enough jokes dad! I already told you guys that I don't think that we'll mate until after the wedding."

"Why? There's no harm in doing it now."

"That's just what I want to do dad! Get off my back. Anyways, we have to go soon so please tell us what you guys want to say before we go."

Alara's mom suddenly appeared in the house with her husband and said, "Oh this is where Aldira ran off to. So I heard that you two are leaving on some business for a few days."

"Yes, we are."

"Well have fun you two. We'll take care of everything while you're gone."

"Thank you."

Alara quickly walked down the stairs and hugged her parents goodbye, "Bye guys! We'll be back soon."

"Alright Ally goodbye. Also, try to behave yourself. You two may be together now, but try to give Rick a bit of breathing room every now and then. I would know, I virtually suffocated your father when we got together."

Alara giggled, "I'll keep that in mind mom." She turned to Rick, "So are we going or not?"

"Yeah, let's go." He threw a key at his dad. "The house is yours for the time I'm gone. It better be standing by the time I return."

His dad chuckled, "It was my house first. There's no way I'm damaging it. Have fun kids."

Rick and Alara waved goodbye and teleported away to Pastoria City, where Rick's private jet was waiting for them. They changed into their human forms and were met by Arthur when they approached the jet.

He said to them, "Ah Master Rick, Lady Alara! It's good to see you two again. Where's little Maiyu?"

Alara waved hello to him and Rick said, "It's good to see you too Arthur. Maiyu is back home with her mother and father. She won't be joining us this time. So shall we be off?"

"Of course! Everything is set up for you. Your hotel room is also ready for you. The flight will take about six and a half hours."

"Thank you Arthur. Remind me to give you a raise after this."

"No need sir. I'm quite happy with my current income. So let's be off!"

"Aye aye!"

They got onto the jet and soon took off west towards Goldenrod City. In the jet Arthur was in his own private quarters in the jet, sleeping. Rick and Alara were in the master suite watching tv and laying down on a couch. Alara snuggled up to Rick while they watched the tv.

She then asked Rick, "So what are we going to do when we get there?"

Rick looked at her, "I don't know. I already know what you want to do."

Alara giggled, "You know me all to well now."

"I kinda learned after this morning. It's only 12:30 so we had quite the morning."

"I'm just happy to be with you now."

Rick smiled at her, "I am too, but try to control yourself. I never said that my decision was final. I just want to be sure. If we mate then that means that I'm entirely sure that we'll stay together."

Alara looked at him curiously, "How do you have doubts?"

Rick's smile subsided and he had a worried look on his face, "It's not doubt, it's nervousness. My life is always in danger and I don't know how long it will stay like that."

Alara quickly held his hand and sat up. "More of a reason for us to do it. If anything happens to you then I know I have something to remind me of you. Whether it be a memory of your companionship and/or our intimacy, or something more special."

"And what might that be?"

"It's a small chance but maybe a child of our own."

Rick chuckled, "That's wishful thinking, but I guess you have a point. Let's just see how things go."

"Alright. I know we've only been together for a day, but it feels like we've been together all our lives."

Rick hugged her and held her close, "We've been really close. We've know each other all our lives. I'm not surprised that we feel like this." He then kissed her forehead and rested his head back down.

"What if, hypothetically of course, you do change your mind and I end up pregnant. What would you do?"

"Start building a nursery and getting you the best maternity care I can find. If I'm going to have a family then I'm going to make sure that they will be cared for properly. It'll be my child and I'm going to take up my role as the father as I should. War or no war."

Alara smiled and kissed him, "I'm happy to know that I have a great mate."

"You're a great mate too. Albeit, you seem to want to mate badly. Can I ask you a similar question?"

"Go ahead."

"What would you do if you end up pregnant?"

"Besides cry out of happiness, I would prepare myself to be a mother. I'll have to wait, take my maternity, and be a good mother and wife."

"Just wait a while. When we are sure we're ready to be parents, then we can plan on having children."

"You don't feel like you'll make a good father, do you?"

Rick's smiled faded and he looked sad, "No, I don't. I was too young to take up an adult role model. I never really learned what being a father was all about."

"It's not as complicated as you think Rick. Sure you'll be the Warlord, but all you really have to do is be there for your child, show them your love for them, and provide for them. But mainly you have to be their friend."

"It's not that that I'm worried about Ally. I'm the Warlord in the middle of a war. I can die at any moment and if I leave my child without a father then I can never forgive myself."

Alara grabbed the sides of his head and pulled his head close to her's, "Listen Rick. We have no control over our fates. You can't blame yourself about anything like that. Even if you die while we do have children, at least they'll know that their father was their for them when he was alive. They will also know that their father loved them very much."

Rick gave a quiet laugh, "We'll see how things go. But for now let's think about what we're going to do about the war. I have yet to master the Rising Sun ability, so fighting Omega is completely out of the question. I can bring the light sword, Sovereign, out now, voluntarily."

"Can you?"

Rick stuck out his left arm and the sword materialized in his hand. "Yep. I'm learning how to start the rising sun ability, but I can't hold it for more than a few seconds."

"Then again Arceus never told you in full detail how it works. He just told you that once you master it you can fight Omega."

"The Rising Sun ability is just a ball of light that this sword can summon onto a battlefield. It doesn't seem to do any damage though. But considering that Omega was affected by Sovereign tells me that light is its weakness."

"So do you intend on killing Omega?"

"As long as Ashlyn is our friend, no. I can't break her heart like that. Besides, Omega could be a great weapon in this war. Both the Alpha and Omega Projects in the same team. Sounds like quite the opposing force."

"Well don't get yourself killed in the process. Omega IS trying to kill you, you know? I don't want to see Ashlyn lose her best friend, so I see your point."

"I can't practice Rising Sun here. I'll have to wait until after we get back home. It's really bright, easy to cast, but hard to hold."

"I want to see it, so will you show me it?"

"Sure, but I'll have to buy you sunglasses first."

"It's that bright?"

"It's basically a miniature sun."

"That really cool. Can Shadowbane do something similar to it?"

Rick stopped to think, "I never thought about that before. They ARE sister swords so I would guess that they should share similar abilities. Sovereign can bring out a sun, so I wonder if Shadowbane can bring out a moon or something like that. I've yet to learn any of Shadowbane's true abilities besides Cataclysm."

"Oh you'll learn eventually. So we have many hours until we make it to Goldenrod City, I know you don't want to mate so I'll leave the decision up to you."

Rick smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her, "Try to guess."

"I like where this is going." She quickly locked lips with him and rolled on top of him.

A few hours later Rick woke up after falling asleep with Alara on top of him. He looked at his Poketch and saw that it was five thirty in the afternoon. He gently moved his hand over a sleeping Alara's back. He thought about everything she told him that day and tried to figure out what step to take next.

While Rick was thinking he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

Arthur walked into the room, with a cart of full of food in tow. "Sorry to interrupt, I just came to deliver your lunch sir."

"Thank you Arthur."

"My pleasure sir. Is there anything else that you need of me sir?"

"Yes actually, I need some advice from someone who have has had a lot of experience in life. Arthur I know a bit about your history. Former soldier, special forces, black ops, personal guards, and now butler. I also know that you got married at one point. How did that happen?"

Arthur sat down on a nearby seat and replied, "Well sir what you say is correct. My history in my human form has been full of combat and military objectives. I recall that on one mission in England I ran into a Gothitelle in their human form. At first my objective was to protect her since she had vital information that could bring down an entire criminal underground. I protected her for an entire week until she could be safely sent to the our headquarters. During that week we struck up a friendship and after the mission was complete we continued to communicate with one another. One thing led to another and during one of my leaves I met up with her, and we ended up together."

"Was that the end of your combat terms?"

"Oh no! That was during my time in the British Special Forces. I got married during my third campaign. I spent five more years in the military."

"Did you have children during that time?"

"Yes. A son and a daughter. You met both of them, Henry and Mary."

"That I have."

"Let me guess, you are afraid of having children while you're in the military, more so in the war? Also more because you're leading the war."

Rick gave him a surprised look, "How did you know?"

Arthur chuckled, "I may lack the ability to sense emotions like your species does, but I know when someone is scared about something. As you said, I have a lot of experience in life."

"Well it's true. I may not be married yet, but Alara wants to have children soon. I just don't know how I can be a father and lead armies in a war at the same time."

"Let me give you a little piece of advice, just because you're a soldier, or a Warlord for that matter, doesn't mean that you cannot be a good father. Let me tell you a story sir. When I was in the British Special Forces, I had a superior called Colonel Winchester. He was an old, grey, yet jolly old man. He was part of the force for many years and had lived through many high risk and volatile situations. However, he was the father of eight children, two of which joined the Royal Army. He was almost always in the line of fire, battle after battle. But did that stop him from being a father. No it did not and it would be an insult to say that he didn't do his job as a father or as a colonel. He did both and he did them well. There's was nothing negative you could say about his children's upbringing. You know who that man was? It was my own father, Sir James Winchester, a secret Alakhazam in the British Royal Army, but damn it was he a great warrior and an even better father. He was always there for me, my three brothers and my four sisters. If he couldn't be there then he would find a way to communicate with us everyday. Whether it was a letter, a call, or any form of messages. See sir? Don't be afraid of fatherhood just because it might be hard to be a father during a war. I'll admit it wasn't easy for my father to care for us everyday, but he managed. You're different, you're stationed at your own home. You can go back to your house everyday, or at least every now and day to see your children and show them that you love them. My father did it and we all loved him very much."

Rick thought about what he said, "You're right. I shouldn't be scared. I'll make my kids know that I'm still their dad, and I can still do my job while being the father I know I can be. However, Alara wants to mate now."

"We're pokemon. There's no penalty. In fact, it seems like her parents are encouraging that. So there isn't a penalty. However, if you do not want children yet, then wait."

"I want to make sure everything is secure before that happens."

"Well it's good that you prioritize your life, but you should be a little learn that sometimes your significant other may have different plans."

Rick nodded, "Very well. I'll see. I'm not sure about mating because we've only been together for a day."

"It's better to be with the one you love for a day then to of never of been with them at all."

"You couldn't be more right Arthur. Thank you so much."

Arthur bowed his head and got up, "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I think we'll be okay. How much longer until we get to Goldenrod City?"

"Two hours sir."

"Thank you. As you were Arthur."

"Very well. Goodbye sir!"

"Goodbye!"

Arthur left the room and Rick looked at Alara, who was still asleep on his chest. Arthur's words were ringing in his mind, making his decision a bit easier but he wasn't sure if he wanted to mate with Alara yet. He knew that he was in love with her, but everything was just way to foreign for him. Rick looked back at her and smiled at the sight of her sleeping. He then kissed her forehead and laid his head back down. He suddenly felt her wake up so he looked back at her. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to adjust them and smiled when she locked eyes with Rick.

She said to him, "Good morning."

"Good evening."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Are we at Goldenrod?"

"Not yet. We have a few hours to go."

"How long have you been awake?"

"A few minutes. Arthur brought us our food just now. Want to eat?"

"I am kinda hungry." She said as she yawned and got up off Rick's chest.

Rick pulled the cart over to the couch with **Psychic** and passed Alara her plate of food. Alara quickly began to eat and Rick joined her. Alara was quickly eating her food and Rick chuckled at the sight of her eating.

Alara noticed him chuckling and asked him, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just that you seemed to have forgot how to breathe."

"Oh!" She giggled, "Sorry, I just woke up very hungry."

Rick chuckled, "It's okay Ally."

"So what happened while I was asleep?"

"Nothing really, I just talked to Arthur."

"About?"

"Just his past. He was quite the soldier in his youth. He was in the British Royal Army, British Special Forces, Black Ops, and many other combat divisions."

"Does he have children?"

"Yes, a son named Henry and a daughter named Mary."

"Both Alakhazams?"

"His son is an Alakhazam and his daughter is a Gothitelle. I met them both. They can turn human as well and that's how they live their lives. They both live in London, England."

"I will like to meet them someday."

"You'll get your chance someday. So, do want to watch a movie or something?"

"We've ran out of things to do in this plane."

"Well not really. There's a pool table, video games, ping pong (table tennis), pinball..."

Alara interrupted him, "You're a big kid."

Rick smiled, "Hey you're never too old to be a kid."

"You dad is kinda the living proof of that."

"That is sooooooo true."

[The Sanctuary, Rick's House]

Xeron and Saifer were in the basement's game room, playing House of the Dead. They were playing to see who could get the highest score. It took ten minutes but finally Xeron won the game.

"Ha! Yeah, I'm the ultimate zombie slayer BITCH!"

Saifer replied to him, "Three kills, just three FUCKING KILL and your ass was mine!"

They began to argue and their wives were in the living room trying to watch tv, but it was proving to be impossible. Aldira was bashing her head onto her hand.

She then said, "We married children."

Keera smiled at her, "But they gave us two great kids."

"That is true...I'll be back in a second."

"I'll get the first aid kit ready."

"Don't worry, there will be no blood this time."

She then teleported, leaving Keera alone. A few seconds later Xeron gave a bloodcurdling yell that got higher in tone. A few second later the same happened to Saifer. Aldira teleported back with a smile on her face.

She said to Keera, "We won't have any more trouble from them."

"What did you do?"

"Let's not talk about it. I shut them up for a while."

"I don't want to know."

In the basement the two males were on the floor with power cords wrapped around their necks, and them holding on to their groins in pain.

[Three Hours Later, Goldenrod City]

Rick and Alara arrived at the city and were arriving at their hotel. As usual there was a large group of paparazzi and journalists outside waiting to speak to Rick. Rick's guards quickly made a path for them and Rick and Alara waved at the cameras. Rick spoke to a few journalists before entering the hotel and getting his room key.

They arrived at their room and Rick quickly laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, and Alara put her things in the drawers.

"After so many years of that, I would of thought that I would of been used to it by now."

"Well you haven't been around humans much, so they can't hound you all the time."

"Oh well, we're here now. So we can have a bit...more rest."

"Or a bit of fun."

Rick opened his eyes, "Oh Arceus this again."

"What? You already know what I want."

"Yes I do. I just don't know if I want it Ally."

"Do we have to have this talk again?"

"No no. Just let me think for a while. Don't worry, it's not like we're never going to mate."

"Alright, while you do what you do here I'll be taking a shower."

"Okay. I'll still be here."

Alara nodded, changed into her normal form, grabbed a towel, and went into the bathroom.

Rick closed his eyes again and changed back into his pokemon form. He tried to clear his mind, but Arthur's words were still ringing in his head. He knew that he loved Alara. He also knew that eventually they will be married, but he couldn't grasp the idea of parenthood during the war. If anything he wanted his children to be raised in peace than in conflict, but what Arthur told him was conflicting that idea. If Rick mated with Alara, or had children, he knew he had Arceus's blessing, but the idea was far-fetched for him, since it was new to him. Rick's mind was full of too many thoughts and suddenly he felt a weird calm in his head, and he quickly blacked out.

Rick woke up in what he knew was his own mind. It looked like a giant gothic chamber, the floor was a very shallow moon pool with the moon being reflected on the floor, even though the windows in the chamber revealed sunlight. He was sitting on the pool and then stood up to investigate his own mind. He noticed that the walls were lined with doors and at the end of the chamber there was a steel door that was chained and barred. The door looked different since it looked as if something was forced in there, which was evident by the claw marks on the door.

Rick walked up to the door, leaving ripples on the pool below him. He examined the door and inched his hand close to it to touch it. He was stopped by the sound of someone talking to him, female in tone.

"No no. I wouldn't do that if I were you. You don't want to unleash an evil you put away years ago."

Rick turned to a balcony two floors above him. He didn't see who spoke to him. "Hello? I already heard you, no need to hide."

The voice replied, "I'm not hiding. I just can't stand the light. It doesn't hurt me but I just don't like it." An arm then appeared from within the shadows in the balcony and it waved its hand downwards. Immediately the sunlight disappeared outside. The being then waved its hand upwards and torches lit up in the chamber. "Much better."

"Well there, the light is gone. So will you let me see you?"

"I shall."

The being immediately walked out of the shadow and stood at the edge of the balcony. Rick got a good look at her. She looked human, but a few characteristics were off. She had fangs, a long elegant wolfish tail, amber eyes, her hair was pitch back and was flowing like darkness, her bangs were long and wavy, and some of her hair was draped over her shoulders. She had a long, elegant ballroom dress that was purple and black. A chain was around her waist, like a belt, a necklace of different fangs, and a crescent marking around her eye.

Rick asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh? You don't know me? I know you very well. Everything there is to know about you really."

"I still have no idea who you are."

Rick immediately heard a growl coming from behind the woman. A large wolf, even bigger and taller than Rick, walked out of the shadows and stopped next to the woman. The wolf had shackles on all its feet, but the chains were broken. It's mane was like the woman's as it flowed like darkness. The wolf bowed its head and the woman climbed on top of it. The wolf soon dropped down to the moon pool and bowed its head again to let the woman down.

Rick asked again, "Who are you?"

The woman giggled, "Oh come now. You take me with you everywhere and yet you don't know who we are. Maybe this will reveal to you who we are." She immediately took the chain off her waist, threw her arm to the side, and a sword materialized from thin air. The woman held the sword up so Rick could see it and Rick's eyes shot open.

"You're Shadowbane, aren't you?"

"WE'RE both Shadowbane. It's good to finally talk to you. You remind me of your father in a way, but it's not the time to speak of that at the moment."

"So why summon me here?"

The wolf then spoke, surprising Rick. It's voice was very deep and authoritative, "We noticed you being torn morally. We brought you here to see what we can do for you."

Rick stared at the wolf with his eyes wide open, "Did the wolf just talk to me?"

The woman said, "Who? Dusk?"

"Its name is Dusk?"

"My name is Twilight. Anyways, yes he can talk. But the matter at hand is what the fuck is your problem?"

"Well you know about Alara and I, I would guess."

"We do."

"Well she wants to mate, but I don't think that it's the appropriate time for that. We're in a war and I'm afraid of having children during the war. I just don't want to be apart from them if that happens."

Twilight began to laugh, "Out of all the things I thought were your fears, that is different. Don't be afraid of that. Besides, they'll be safe in the Sanctuary. You have nothing to fear."

"But what if something happens."

Twilight sighed and pointed at Rick. With that Rick was immediately immobilized and Twilight walked to him and slapped him. "Snap out of it. Don't you trust Arceus? If he told you that you were to be married and that you were going to lead an army of pokemon into a war, don't you think he would of taken it into consideration that you might have children? So there's no need to fear. If anything, it would be nice to have something to continue your own legacy."

She immediately let go of Rick. Rick shook off the sting of the slap and said, "That's true, but..."

Twilight quickly glared at him and interrupted him, "Say 'but' one more fucking time to try to defend your argument and you won't believe what will happen to you, even while it's happening."

"Ummm...sorry?"

"You will be. Now listen, I can't keep you here for long. Just listen. Do what you want, but remember that no matter what happens it will be for the better."

"I guess you're right."

Dusk replied to him, "We know we're right. Having a family shouldn't be a liability in a war. It should be a blessing knowing that regardless of what happens, something is there to welcome you home. Whether it be with open arms, or in a coffin. But you know that they will love you. You will also have a little you running around to preserve your own legacy. Don't forget what we just told you. Goodbye Aeruthael."

Dusk immediately howled at Rick and he blacked out again, only to wake up back on the bed. He looked around and saw that he was gone for no time at all since Alara was still in the shower and his Poketch had the same time on it as when he began to think. Rick thought about what had just happened, and almost wanted to believe that it didn't occur. This thought was dismissed by a purple mark on his right hand appearing and glowing.

Rick took a second to process the information and soon made a decision, one that he wanted to question himself. He got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom.

Alara seemed to have sensed him coming in and said, "I'm surprised to see that you're in here."

"I have no idea why I came in here."

"I guess it's a mystery. Want to join me in the shower?"

"Why would I?"

"It's no like there's anything wrong with it. We're mates now. Get in here."

"I don't know if I should."

A voice then rang in his head, which he identified as Twilight, _"Get your ass in there!"_

_ "Wait, you guys can talk to me telepathically now?"_

_ "Yeah, we decided to activate our links to your mind. Now go to your woman!"_

Twilight disappeared from Rick's head and he took a deep breath and opened the shower doors and stepped inside the shower. He looked at Alara who had her back to him and was washing herself. Rick could hear her giggling and he closed his eyes as he approached her.

She then said to him, "I'm surprised that you decided to join me. So do you like what you see?"

"Well I can't see anything right now."

Alara turned around to look at him and saw his eyes closed. "Come on, open your eyes."

"I don't think I want to. I'm just minding my own."

"And I'm your own. There's no shame in it."

Rick didn't open his eyes, instead he wrapped his arms around her and she held him as well. Alara shook her head, knowing how bashful Rick was when it came to adult matters.

She told Rick again, "Come on, just open your eyes and look at me."

"I don't know Ally."

Alara shook her head again and got an idea. She immediately bit on his spike forcing him to open his eyes and give a small yell. She caught his mouth in a kiss and dislocated from him when he calmed down.

Rick said to her, "Why did you do that? Our spikes are sensitive."

"I got you to open your eyes, didn't I?"

Rick realized that she was right. His eyes then involuntarily moved down and he looked at her naked body. Alara felt his eyes on her and giggled, snapping him back into reality. He blushed and closed his eyes quickly. Alara quickly kissed him and he seemed to have relaxed as he melted into the kiss. They almost completely forgot about the water hitting them, but it did nothing to stop the moment. In fact, it seemed to have made it more intimate for the both of them.

Rick began to run his fingers over Alara's back, making her moan a little when he touched her spike. He noticed the moan and began to rub her spike. He didn't dare move his hands anywhere else on her body. He suddenly felt the water no longer hitting him and he opened her eyes. He noticed that Alara teleported them into the bedroom and he ended the kiss. He looked down at Alara and saw her eyes looking at him, wanting to know what he thought.

"Ally, do you really want to?"

"Yes. Please?"

Rick took a deep breath and nodded, making her give a small cry of happiness. She teleported into the bed, with the sheets covering her. Rick looked at her, not quite sure what to do now.

Alara then told him, "You know me well enough to know that you shouldn't keep me waiting Rick."

Rick chuckled and walked up to the bed and Rick got into the sheets with her. Alara moved up to him and wrapped her arms around him. Rick held her close and kissed her again. Rick's kisses then moved down to her neck, making her moan and she let him begin to take control of her.

Out of nowhere Rick's Poketch began to ring. Alara looked at him for what was going to happen now.

"I'll let it go to voicemail."

Rick then began to kiss her neck again and the Poketch rang again.

"Rick, I think you should pick it up."

"Just ignore it for now."

They went back to what they were doing, but the Poketch rang again.

"Rick, pick it up so that we can finish."

Rick nodded and grabbed his Poketch. The CallerID made it known that Jean was calling and Rick sighed before picking it on.

"Hello?"

Jean replied, "Hey bro! How's Goldenrod?"

"It's okay Jean. Is there a reason for the call?"

"I'm just bored."

"Jean, sorry bro, but I'm busy."

"How? The tournament isn't for another few days. Also, X came to us and told us everything."

"Okay, but seriously Jean, I'm 'busy'."

Jean seemed to have gotten the message, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH! Look at you bro! You're growing up. Man that was fast! Sorry for interrupting. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. But let me give you a quick note before this conversation ends."

"What?"

"Go crouching tiger, don't hide that dragon!" (lol Rush Hour 3 reference)

"Okay bye Jean."

"Bye bro! Go get 'em!"

Rick hung up the call and looked back at Alara, "So where were we?"

Alara kissed him and soon a knock was heard at the door.

"Good Arceus! Someone better be dead or dying!" Rick went to the door and looked through the door hole and saw a man standing in the hall. "Ally, go human and put your clothes on."

Alara nodded, teleported her dress, and went into her human form. Rick went into his human form and opened the door.

The man asked Rick, "Hello, Mr. Rick?"

"Yes."

"I have a letter from Mr. Silph, he wants you to meet him at the Radio Tower as soon as possible. He has something to discuss with you."

"About what?"

"I do not know sir, I'm just a courier."

"Very well then, thank you!"

"Have a good day sir!"

"You too goodbye!"

The man left and Rick closed the door. He looked at Alara and read the letter.

"Ally, this will have to wait. Mr. Silph has something for us. We should go. It's surprising that he's here though."

Alara sighed, "Aww, alright. Let's not keep him waiting."

**That was too close to becoming a lemon, almost got into a sex scene. If you guys want a lemon then tell me so, just note that it will be a matter of preference. Anyways, I introduced two new characters in the process and I hope that you guys like the chapter. Well thanks for everything guys and you all know the drill. Bye!**


	37. Chapter 37: Mission Briefing, Tournament

**This chapter took me the longest to write and it had the most problems to write. I had Christmas to worry about and a lot of other things. Also, I wanted to write a Christmas Special but that will be late. I'm actually writing it right now, so Christmas will come late in the story. I hope you guys had a happy Holidays and I hope it was memorable. Either way, I like how it came out and I hope you guys enjoy it as well. I actually brought the band back in this chapter and I'm introducing a new threat. I'm also introducing a fanfiction spotlight for the chapter. In it I will support a chosen fanfiction story until the next chapter. If you want your story to be spotlighted then you have to send me a message about your story or put the story on a review so I can check it out. I will only choose one, but you can continue to ask for a spotlight. This week's story is: **_The True Aura Guardians by RaltsGal_** (I like to consider it a spiritual sister story). So send me your reviews, questions, suggestions, request, and now spotlight requests. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) The Philippines, 3rd) Ireland (new competitor lol), 4th) Canada, 5th) Trinidad and Tobago.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and Alara arrived at the Radio Tower. Once they got out of the limo they were escorted inside, where Rick was greeted by many of the Radio Tower's personnel. His guards escorted him to the top floor of the tower and led him to an office at the end of the hall. The guards opened the doors, but remained outside. Rick and Alara walked in and the guards closed the doors behind him. They looked around for a moment and then someone spoke.

"Good to see that you received my message."

Rick and Alara looked towards a desk in the middle of the room, where a chair was turned towards the windows. The person in the chair then turned around and Rick was shock at seeing Mr. Silph in the flesh.

Rick said to him, "Mr. Silph?" In a surprised tone.

"Yes, surprised to see me?"

"As a matter of fact I'm astonished. You never leave your secure location. What are you doing in Goldenrod?"

"Overseeing the potential threat. I have to worry about the safety of others before I worry about my own."

"Well that's really noble of you sir, but I still worry about your safety. I'm here to oversee the same threat. No need to risk yourself. Although, it's good to see you in person again."

"It feels good to leave that facility and to travel again. It's also good to see you two with my own eyes. You got bigger Rick and Alara really is very beautiful in person. If you don't mind me saying. Where you two busy when my message reached you?"

Rick looked at Alara and back to Mr. Silph, "We kinda were, but nothing too serious. We put your request as a top priority. So what seems to be the problem?"

Mr. Silph got up from his seat and walked to the windows. He took a puff of his cigar and said, "The tournament is a few days away. I hope you're ready for it Rick."

"I am."

"Good...good! So we can get that out of the way easily. Team Rocket won't be using Projects since they are easy to spot. Did you choose who will act as your trainer?"

"Yes, the Sinnoh League Champion, Cynthia."

"I noticed."

"You know? How?"

Mr. Silph walked up to his desk and pressed a button on his phone, "Murtoc can you let Cynthia in again, please?"

With that the doors opened and Cynthia and another woman walked into the office, surprising Rick and Alara.

Alara asked Rick, "Who's the other woman?"

"Her name is Jasmine. She's the Gym Leader of Olivine City. I'm surprised that they're here. Cynthia said she'll be here in a few days, and she said that she was going to visit Jasmine. I wonder why she came along."

Cynthia looked at Rick and waved at him, "It's good to see that you're alright. I don't think I'll ever get used to your human form, but it looks like it comes in handy."

"Well hello to you too Cynthia. Also, hi Jasmine! It's been a while."

Jasmine nodded, "Yes it has. It's good to see you again. How long has it been? Three years?"

"More or less. Anyways, apparently we're here for a reason." Rick turned to Mr. Silph. "What do you want to speak to us about sir?"

Mr. Silph puffed on his cigar again and responded, "Well here's the case. I came up with an idea, just in case things go wrong in the tournament."

"And what might that idea be sir?"

"There will be two teams. One trained by Cynthia and one by Jasmine."

Alara said, "I think that's a good idea. We can double our chances like that. Question is, who's going to be on what team?"

"I'm actually going to leave that to both of you. Now I know what you're thinking, the people might expect Jasmine to use Steel type pokemon, but I think that for a tournament it can be an exception."

Rick responded, "Actually, I have three Steel types on my team. Two Lucarios and a Scizor."

"And that's good because in the tournament it will be four on each team in double battles."

"So we just need to pick someone to be the last pokemon on Jasmine's team."

Alara then said, "I'll do it."

Rick looked at Alara, "You'll do it?"

"Yep. There's nothing wrong with it. Besides, I'm strong enough. Knowing Team Rocket, they will have a lot of Poison types. So I'm useful"

Rick thought about it for a second, "Very well. Just be careful. So it looks like Jasmine will be taking Lucian, Allen, Amari, and Alara. I know I'll be with Cynthia. But who else should be on the team?"

Cynthia said to Rick, "How about that Blaziken friend of yours?"

"That'll work. Jean's been itching for a fight."

"And what about the Espeon?"

"No, she can't fight for long periods of time because of a past injury. So I guess I'll take Serenity as well. She's an Absol and she is really strong for one too."

"Alright, that works. One more."

Rick chuckled, "I know of a certain Lopunny that needs to see more combat action."

Alara said to Rick, "Amber? Why her?"

"Amber has turned into quite the soldier since you were kidnapped. She trained for your sake and became more powerful than she used to be. She's been training with Allen since and needs some combat to test her skills."

"Alright, but she better be alright by the end of it."

"She will."

Cynthia asked Rick, "So I'm guessing the woman next to you is also a pokemon?"

"Yep, she's a Gardevoir named Alara."

"Oh is she? Your mate?"

"Yes."

"So I'm also guessing that the Lopunny is her best friend or something?"

"Yes. She's also her adopted sister."

"So now I understand why you're worrying about her and why she's worrying about the Lopunny. Either way, we have our teams set. What of your other friends?"

"They will be making sure things stay calm and that Team Rocket doesn't pull anything malicious. They'll be back up if things go south."

"Okay so it's set."

Mr. Silph then said, "Good, I trust you will all do great and you all have my best of wishes. Now for the other thing I called you and Alara here for Rick."

Rick looked at Mr. Silph, "I knew there was more. Mainly because you would of just told me all of this via a phone call."

"That is true. The other thing I need to talk to you about is actually a matter that can help you in the war."

Rick became curious, "Oh? What is it?"

"I have composed a list of individuals, humans and pokemon alike, that have skills that will help you in your cause."

"Humans? These humans better be very skilled if they have the ability to help me."

"Oh but they do." Mr. Silph then pulled out a number of folders with files on them about certain individuals. "These dossiers have all the information of the individuals who were meticulously chosen to help you. One is a master battle strategist name Alex Cobalt. A master stealth fighter named Nero, he is a Gallade in the Sanctuary and is currently in the army. Here's one you know very well; a pokemon trainer named Silver. I know you've met him before." Rick nodded. "Then there is a Team Rocket defector named Neil Cross. He's an interesting case. He was a human that was experimented on until he gained psychic abilities. He is dangerous and unpredictable. He is also harder to get to as he is incarcerated in a Team Rocket maximum security prison. Then there is the two Dr. Emeralds, and I know you know those two really well. Hell, one of them helped in your creation. Then there is an Infernape that has been seen near Celestic Town in the Sinnoh region. It is an extremely powerful and high leveled Infernape that we feel can help. There is also a Samurott named Kileath who is a great master swordsman. There is a master assassin in the Ninjask civilization named Krio Lee. Finally, there is an information broker in the Sanctuary. She's a Gardevoir by the name of Tsu Lieng."

"I think I have an idea on who it is."

"Do you now? Well that's interesting. Anyways, the next dossier is two in one. Projects Gamma and Delta."

"Gamma and Delta? Them?"

"Yes, they are no friends of Team Rocket and I know that you'll be able to convince them to join your cause. Also, this final dossier will be a true test of faith for you. The final dossier belongs to, Project Omega."

Rick's eyes shot open, "That one is impossible. That thing is out to kill me and it's still part of Team Rocket."

"Yes it is out to kill you, but it seems to resent Team Rocket like you do. I told you it will be a test of faith and you might want to hold off on that last one."

"I most likely will."

"Then do so. Work on these on your own time. For now go home and get some sleep and/or enjoy the rest of your night. Goodbye all of you."

Everyone gave a collective, "Goodbye Mr. Silph."

They all turned and left the room, where they were escorted to the limo by the guards. Inside the limo Alara got to get acquainted with Cynthia and Jasmine.

Rick then asked Cynthia and Jasmine, "So where do we drop you two off at?"

Jasmine responded, "Oh just drop us off at Whitney's house."

"Oh how is Whitney?"

"She's been doing good. She's so excited to have us over and she's going to be at the tournament."

"As a competitor?"

"Nope, just there for support."

"Alright."

Alara then asked Rick, "Who's Whitney?"

"The gym leader of this city. She's really sweet...yet childish, but fun to be around."

"Oh alright."

Rick looked back at Cynthia and Jasmine, "Well it's surprising that you both came here so soon. I'm also surprised that Jasmine tagged along. Any reason for that?"

Cynthia responded, "I was in Olivine City with her when Mr. Silph called me. I recently told him that you wanted me to help you so he asked me if I could head over there as soon as possible. Mainly to discuss what we will be doing. He also asked if I could take Jasmine with me. And from there we got here."

"Well that makes sense. So what's the plan?"

"Train, plan, and prepare. That's all we can do at the moment. We don't know how the tournament will go, but we have to prepare for everything and anything."

"Amen to that! Anyways, let's take you guys to Whitney's."

After about an hour after the meeting with Mr. Silph, Rick and Alara made it back to their hotel room. Rick wanted to rest and Alara was eager to continue where they left off.

She immediately laid down on the bed and said to him with a seductive look, "So are we going to continue?"

Rick sighed and told her, "No. I have to think."

Her face immediately sank, "Oh come on! We're actually going to stop?"

Rick laid down on the bed next to her, "I'm so sorry Ally. I know you wanted to mate, but I can't do it. Not yet."

"I understand Rick. I guess it'll be easier for you when we're married."

"Hey it's not like it'll never happen."

"May I ask what that was a few hours back?"

"What was what?"

"We almost mated a few hours ago. Obviously you were trying. Where did that come from?"

Rick's eyes shot open when he remembered what happened, "Oh Arceus! I have no idea."

Rick immediately got a voice in his head from Arceus, _"Sorry, but I'm not helping you this time."_

_ "Okay, all of you have to stop talking to me telepathically at random times. A nice heads-ups would be acceptable."_

_ "Very well, but you're still on your own."_

Rick sighed, "Oh father why have have you forsaken me?"

Alara arched an eyebrow and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing. Just Arceus."

"What does he say?"

"Don't worry about it. Anyways, I don't know what came over me. I think it was just the heat of the moment."

"Well it WAS a very heated moment. You saw me naked and everything."

"Crap I forgot about that."

"So now there's no shame in being naked around you."

With that Alara teleported her dress off of her body, catching Rick by surprise and making blush.

Rick shut his eyes and said, "Why did you do that?"

"Because I can. It's not awkward anymore. Come on, open your eyes."

"Not going to happen."

"Don't make me bite your spike again."

Rick quickly shot his eyes open, "No! No! I'd rather look at you."

Alara giggled, "I knew that would make you open your eyes. Now look at me."

Rick sighed and slowly turned his head towards her. As soon as he turned his head he was met by her face and then she kissed him.

"Well that was unexpected. But I can live with it." He noticed that Alara seemed to be waiting for something. "What?"

"Aren't you going to look at me?"

"I am looking at you."

"You're looking at my face dear. I meant the rest of my body."

Rick began to blush again, "Ummmmmmmm...I don't know."

"You are the weirdest male I know. Normally when males have the opportunity to look at at naked female, they jump...no, they launch at the chance. You, on the other hand, let your bashfulness dictate your decision. You already saw me naked, what's the harm now?"

"I really don't know. I just don't know if I should."

"I'm not asking you to touch me. That'll still be okay, but you should get used to seeing me like this."

Rick took a deep breath, "Do you really want me to?"

"Rick, ask yourself, do you really need to ask anymore?"

"You're right. Fine!"

Rick worked up his pride and looked at Alara. She giggled as he looked at her and then kissed him.

Rick immediately chuckled to himself and said to Alara, "I'm starting to suspect that you're trying to get me in the mood to mate."

"Not really. I'm just getting you ready for when we're married. So what are we going to do for the rest of the night since we're not mating."

"Can we stop talking about mating, please? We've only been a couple for a day. Shouldn't we be talking about other things?"

"Okay. Tell me what couples should talk about. Shoot!"

"Umm...okay. Preferences?"

"We already know each other's preferences. Next!"

"Likes and dislikes."

"We know that too. Next!"

"Ummm..."

Alara interrupted him, "Before you even say it, let me give you a preemptive 'already know and next'. Face it, we know everything about each other." She stopped to think for a second. "I think I have a subject, but I don't know if you'll be comfortable with it."

"What is it?"

"How about we talk about our future together. You know, when we become husband and wife."

"Well I guess that's okay to talk about. So when we do get married what would you expect?"

"That's an easy question. I'll be living with you and bear children. The question is, how many?"

"I really don't know or care. I know I want at least two."

"Really?" A smile came to her face. "What genders?"

"Does it really matter? To me my children are my children, regardless of their gender."

"I know I want a girl though."

"Alright, I'm not protesting. Any names?"

"I think I do."

"Let me hear it."

"How about Sheerah?"

"Interesting name. If I do remember correctly that's the name of my grandmother."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, you should of known that. I mean, you know my family really well."

"Yes, but I was never on a first name basis with your grandparents. I always showed them my respect."

"Okay that makes sense." Rick then wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "So what if we end up having a boy?"

"Hmmm...I guess Aeru Jr. will work."

"Excuse me, I'm my own brand." They both then began to laugh.

"Says the male that's named after his grandfather."

"Touche! So what gender do you expect the firstborn to be?"

"I want a girl."

"Knowing my luck it'll be a girl."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Because I tend to only run into females. First Serenity, then you and Amber, and then Fang...It's a curse. However you were special. You rained from the sky."

"So did Amber."

"But I asked Arceus for a Gardevoir, and then voila! You fell from the sky like the apocalypse."

Alara laughed and said, "I thought the apocalypse was the end of the world. So I'm the end of the world."

"Well I have a new life, don't I?"

Alara giggled, "Yes, you do." She then kissed him. "Do you want to go to sleep?"

"Not yet. I still want to have a bit of fun before we go to sleep...you know what I just remembered?"

"What?"

"You're still naked."

She looked at him seductively, "Did you get used to it?"

"Oh there's no way to get used to it...but I can live with it."

They then heard a voice in the room, "Wow I came here at the worst possible time."

They looked at a chair in the room and saw X sitting on it. Alara quickly pulled the sheets over her body and Rick wrapped his arms around her again.

Rick then said, "X! Announce yourself! I keep telling you and every being in my head to do that."

"Sorry, but I came here to speak to both of you."

"Okay what is it?"

"Rick, you've met the beings in your sword, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Well make sure to listen to everything they say. And I mean everything!"

"Okay I'll do it. Why?"

"They know what's best. Don't anger Twilight, she will lash out at you easily. You already know her temper. I'm not saying that she abandon you, but she will deny you the sword's abilities."

"Alright, I understand. Why only her? Does Dusk do nothing?"

"Dusk is the muscle, but she's the main source of the sword's power. You have yet to mean Sovereign, but that day will come."

"Understood! So what did you want to tell to Alara?"

"Oh yeah, that's right. Alara, stop making Rick uncomfortable. I feel that thing everytime and it's affecting me. You have no idea how hard it is to live in his head. I can sense almost everything he feels because I'm a Gallade myself. My Arceus! This day has been one huge awkward moment...that is all. Goodbye kids!"

He then vanished and left Rick and Alara wondering what just happened.

Alara asked Rick, "Did he finally snap?"

"Looks like it."

"I don't think he'll be back in my head anytime soon."

[Hall of Origins]

Arceus was standing in the center of the hall, with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes when he sensed X arriving in the hall.

"X? You came back pretty soon."

"I couldn't stay in Aeruthael's head anymore."

Arceus laughed, "You were there for when they almost mated."

"Oh I left before anything happened."

"Oh but nothing happened."

"I just don't want to be there. I'll be in the Time Chamber."

"Alright, enjoy your time."

"Very well Master. Bye!"

[Golden Rod City, Day of Tournament]

Rick was in the hotel lobby with the team, who arrived the day before to help out with the tournament. Rick was in his human form reading a newspaper, Jean was on a couch with Seras, Dartz was at a billiards table, playing with Winston, Celand, and Amari. Winston was at the lounge, drinking tea with Gloria. Lucian and his family were at a table talking to one another. Alara, Serenity, Sage, and Amber were playing darts at near Rick.

Jean then asked Rick, "So when is this tournament supposed to start?"

"At three in the afternoon. It's one thirty in the afternoon so we have a little bit to go."

"Good so we can get the instruments ready."

Rick closed the newspaper and looked at Jean with a suspicious look, "What instruments?"

Arthur immediately appeared next to Rick, "Tea sir?"

"Yes please. Arthur, do you have any idea what Jean is talking about?"

"Of course sir. Mr. Silph asked your friends and you to perform in the tournament. Just check the schedule of the tournament."

"What!? May you give me a schedule?" Arthur handed him a schedule and he read through it until he found the musical performance section. "The Warlords? The hell is that?"

Jean answered him, "Yeah we got a name now. Amber picked it out."

"Why are we performing?"

"Because it'll be awesome. Come on! We can finally perform in front of a giant crowd."

"Get your head out of you ass bro." Rick sighed, "Looks like there's no way around it then. So what's the plan?"

"We go and play."

Alara then sat down next to Rick and rested her head on his shoulder. "Well I'll get to see you guys perform again."

Rick gave a fiendish smile, "Not so fast Ally. You're joining in."

"What!?"

"I know you can sing. Especially Evanescence songs."

"I like their music but I've never performed in front of a gigantic crowd."

"What about at the contest in Hearthome?"

"We weren't singing now."

"True, but we still performed. Let's just see how we do today."

"What song do you want me to sing?"

"How about a duet between you and me?"

"What song?"

Rick then whispered the song's name into her ear and Alara smiled, "Okay, I can do that."

"I knew you would feel okay with it."

Alara laughed and kissed Rick.

Seras smiled when she saw them kiss and said, "Aww, I never thought I would ever see that in my life."

"See what sis?"

"You in a romantic relationship with a female. You were always so reserved. Don't get me wrong little brother, I knew that it would happen one day but your character would make it seem hopeless at times."

"I'll admit, I didn't want a mate. I thought it was pointless at the time. I had other things in mind after the team split. I was one angry individual and now I learned to be a bit more open."

"Well it just makes me happy that your life is going forward instead of you continuously hitting that wall you put in front of yourself."

"I am, aren't I? I couldn't of been happier. I kinda do have to thank you though Seras."

"Oh? Why? I don't think I've done anything to help you get with Alara."

"It's not really that, but you DID raise me. I have to thank you for that at least. I know that I should give you more, but I want to figure out what I should give you."

Seras smiled, "Oh Rick, you don't have to give me anything. I'm just happy the way I am."

"I guess you're right. So have you and Jean ever talked about getting married? Just a curious question."

Seras blushed and looked at Jean and then back at Rick, "Well a little since we found out we can get married in the Sanctuary. We haven't decided really. He wants to and he says that he will definitely propose to me...but now he delayed it because he told me. So now I have to wait for the surprise of my life."

Alara smiled and said, "Well looks like we'll be waiting for it as well."

Jean began to laugh, "Well that day will be a surprise, won't it? But hey I love her so much." He said as he pulled Seras into his arms. "And to think, we used to be enemies."

"You did?"

"Oh yeah! We hated each other with a passion. Mainly because of Rick. I hated him and wanted him gone, and Seras hated me for it. I would constantly try to pick a fight with Rick, but Seras would be the one to fight for him. And she would do a good number on me."

Seras chuckled, "He got me mad and I kicked his ass. I would shed my gentle nature when he would threaten Rick. My motherly nature would kick in at the time and then we would fight. Usually with me as the winner."

"Because you're a Psychic type. You have the advantage...so do you, Winston, Rick, Alara, Gloria, Aleerah, Richter, and Anna."

"Well you mainly have the advantage against Dartz, Serenity, Celand, Lucian, Allen, Amari, and Sage."

"But Dartz, Lucian, and Allen know **Psychic**, **Bulldoze**, and **Zen Headbutt**. I still have a disadvantage. Also, Celand knows **Earthquake**, **Acrobatics**, and **Aerial Ace**. Serenity and Sage know **Psycho Cut**, **Aerial Ace,** and **Zen Headbutt**. And Amari knows **Aerial Ace** and **Acrobatics**."

"Have you been scouting your competition again?"

"Yep. I have to stay one step ahead of my allies."

"And your enemies?"

"At least ten steps ahead of them."

Rick laughed and said, "That's my job."

"That it is. So when are Cynthia and Jasmine going to get here."

A voice came from the entrance, "Right now!"

Everyone looked at the entrance and saw Cynthia and Jasmine enter the hotel and walked up Rick and his crew.

Rick immediately greeted them, "Hey girls. Ready to go?"

Jasmine smiled and said enthusiastically, "Whenever you are! The contest starts in an hour."

"Great!" Rick turned to the team, "Everyone to the Lamborghini Limousines!"

Jean looked at Rick with a surprised smile, "Lambo Limos? Where?"

"Outside. There are five limos."

"Fuck yeah!"

"Now calm down Jean and let's go." Everyone soon walked outside to the limos, but Rick grabbed Dartz shoulder before he could leave and asked him, "So how did things go with Ashlyn after I left?"

Dartz chuckled and said, "Things were great. She woke up at 6am kissed me and quickly left before Team Rocket realized she was gone. There's not much to tell you, but she'll try to be here for Christmas."

"Giovanni let's them leave for Christmas now? Bastard! Where was that when I was part of them!? Oh well, I'm happy for you bro. Now let's go kick some ass today."

"You know what I actually realized. What if both teams end up fighting one another in the tournament?"

"Then that will be interesting, however we just need to eliminate Team Rocket. You and the others have to patrol to make sure everything is okay."

"You got it. Team Rocket won't pull a fast one on us."

"I know I can trust you guys. Now let's go!"

Everyone got in the limos and Rick gave the order to go to the tournament stadium. They arrived at the stadium in about ten minutes and were immediately swarmed by the press. Rick's bodyguards once again did their usual job of escorting them inside. Rick however stopped to talk to reporters, take pictures with Alara and fans, sign autographs, and do interviews.

One reporter asked him, "Mr. Rick, are you competing in today's tournament?"

"No, sadly. I'm just here to watch and give the musical performance."

"Wait, you're a part of the Warlords?"

"Yes, I'm the lead singer and lead guitar. The entire band is actually composed of my childhood friends. To be honest, I was surprised when Mr. Silph wanted us to perform at the tournament."

"So what can we expect from the tournament?"

"A lot of good trainers and a lot of powerful battles."

"Thank you for your time sir."

"You're welcome. Bye!"

Rick and his team immediately went to a room to prepare their performance and to go over a the mission.

Rick said to the team, "Okay so we're clear? We're going into two teams: Me, Jean, Serenity, and Amber are going to be with Cynthia, and Alara, Amari, Allen, and Lucian will be with Jasmine. The rest of you will be patrolling for any suspicious activity and to make sure nothing goes wrong."

Gloria then said, "Alright, so let's see how we'll do this. Miranda and Bolt will take sniper positions at the top of the stadium. We'll keep a look out for anything. We'll take sniper rifle and we'll make sure to stay hidden. Dartz, Sage, Wayland, Celand, and Richter should patrol around the inside of the stadium and in the stands. They'll make sure nothing happens inside. Winston, and Shadow will protect the exits to stop any Team Rocket members from entering and your men should go with them. Me, Anna, Aleerah, Fang, and Claw will be your eyes in the sky and quickly head over to any place you need us to go. We'll all be vigilant and careful, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Does that sound alright Rick?"

"Yeah that's perfect. My men will be waiting at the exits. All of you should head to your positions. Stay hidden and stay safe. But for now, everyone in the band get ready."

With the command the band got ready and prepared their instruments. The members that were not part of the band left the room and waited for the announcer to announce Rick and the band.

About ten minutes later the stadium filled with life. Thousands of people took their seats, dozens of competitors prepared themselves for the tournament, and even a few famous faces showed up for the entertainment.

Once the clock struck three the announcer picked up his microphone and spoke to the crowd, "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the tenth annual Silph Co. Pokemon Elimination Tournament, where twenty four pokemon trainers will compete or a chance of winning the grand prize. This year the prize is a priceless pokemon locator, courtesy of Silph Co. We have a great show for all of you today and the best of luck to all the competitors. Now to start off the show we have a small concert by Silph Co.'s own band The Warlords."

In the prep room Rick and Alara took deep breaths and walked into the stadium. They were met with applause and all the band members got ready for the signal to start. Rick strapped his guitar on, looked at the band, and nodded.

Rick then took the mic and said, "Goldenrod City, ready for the show?" He was replied with cheering. "Well let's not keep you guys waiting. Hit it guys!"

(Rick: **All Nightmare Long by Metallica**, **End of Heartache by Killswitch Engage**, **Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce**, and **I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin**.

Rick and Alara: **Broken by Seether**.

Alara and Seras: **Final Destination by Within Temptation**.

Everyone: **Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen**. (Yes, every last song the band plays is a rock classic))

The band finished playing and were applauded by the crowd. Rick and the band stood side by side, bowed, and left the main area.

Back in the prep room, Rick and the team met back up with Cynthia and Jasmine, turned into their original forms, and went into their pokeballs.

Cynthia and Jasmine picked up the respective pokeballs and walked to the competitor's area, where they waited until the battles were set. Their mere presence in the competitor's area frightened the other trainers, who most thought they were doomed from the beginning since a gym leader and the Sinnoh League Champion were in the same competition. Jasmine and Cynthia began to scope for the Team Rocket executive that was in the competition. They soon found a woman with red hair and a white Team Rocket uniform.

Cynthia immediately recognized her and said to her, "Ariana, what is a beast of a woman like yourself doing in a pokemon tournament?"

Ariana looked at Cynthia and immediately glared at her, "Well well, if it isn't the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia. You're one to talk. Everyone here is out of your league."

"That may be true, but unfortunately that's not my problem. What are YOU doing here?"

"I'm just here to compete and win the tournament."

"Please watch the ego, it's so unladylike."

"Oh shut up bitch! You're no better than me. I may of lost to you and that brat in the past."

"I beat you countless times in my travels here in the Johto Region."

"I'm still better than you!"

Cynthia smiled, "Am who's the Sinnoh League Champion? Oh wait, that's right! I am! You're just a Team Rocket member."

Ariana glared even harder at Cynthia and began to grind her teeth, "I'm an executive! I'm one of the bosses!"

"Oh yes and yet you were defeated by a ten year old kid with a Pikachu." She then said sarcastically, "Oh you are soooooo powerful." She began to laugh with Jasmine.

"I don't have to put up with this! I'll see you on the battlefield and I will break you and all your little pokemon."

"Now now, calm down and think of a strategy to win that actually works for once."

Ariana didn't reply, instead she walked away from Cynthia and Jasmine. Cynthia and Jasmine then walked to the waiting area while the first competitors went up to the battle arena. Cynthia was eventually called up to the arena to face her first opponent. When Cynthia saw her opponent she quickly took out Rick's and Jean's pokeballs and summoned them out. Once Rick and Jean materialized they cracked their knuckles and chuckled.

Three hours later, Cynthia and Jasmine were waiting to compete in the semi-finals of the contest after decimating all their competition on their way. After a few moments they were called up to the arena to be told who was going to fight who.

When they got to the arena the announcer said, "Here we go, the semi-finals are almost underway. First we must choose the two battles to decide who goes straight to the finals." On the screen the images of the four remaining contestants appeared and the two battles were picked. "Alright so the battles have been chosen: Cynthia vs Ariana and Jasmine vs Gary Oak!"

From within the pokeballs Rick contacted Cynthia and the others (including Jasmine and the second team), _"Ah crap! Gary 'freakin' Oak! I knew I would run into him again after some time."_

_ Alara replied to him, "Oh is he bad?"_

_ "He's not exactly evil, he's just very egotistical and stuck up. He can be a good guy at times but he's still annoying. I ran into him a couple times. The team knows what I'm talking about, he would show up when we were with our trainer and tried to trade some of his pokemon for some of us, which our trainer refused. However he did give us Richter and Amari, so that was a plus."  
"Oh Richter and Amari used to be his pokemon?"_

_ "Yep, Gary gave them away so they could become stronger. I'd like to call it an act of mercy rather than an act of spite, but we never learned about his true intentions." _

Amari then said in an irritated tone, _"He abandoned us because I lost in the Silver Conference Tournament, and because Richter lost in the Pokemon League!"_

_ "Calm down Amari. I know you're mad at Gary, you always have been. I don't condone what he did, but be happy he left you guys with us."_

_ "I know. Still, Richter is going to have a field day if he unfortunately runs into him."_

_ "Don't worry, I sent Dartz and Celand a mental note to watch out for Gary and Richter interaction. However, I know why Richter would be more sour against Gary."_

_ Alara asked, "And why is that?"_

_ "Because Gary still has Richter's mate in his team. Gary never thought that through completely, yet he might realize eventually...yet I'm sure that six years would of been enough time to realize. Anyways, it's time to battle, Cynthia go to the battlefield."_

Cynthia mentally nodded and walked over to the battlefield. There she saw Ariana waiting on the other end and glaring at her. Cynthia smiled at her and waved, aggravating her further.

The announcer then announced, "Trainers you may begin!"

(Battle Music: **United We Stand, Divided We Fall by Two Steps From Hell**)

Ariana reached into her belt and took out two pokeballs and threw them at the arena. They burst open and a Arbok and Vileplume appeared on the arena. Cynthia looked at the four pokeballs in her possession and made her decision. She threw the two pokeballs onto the arena and Serenity and Jean emerged from the pokeballs.

Ariana looked at Serenity and Jean and began to laugh, "So you think you can beat me because your Blaziken has a type advantage?"

"Nope, I don't believe in victory by type advantage. I like battles I can indulge in."

"Then I won't disappoint. Arbok use **Sludge Bomb**! Vileplume use **Pedal Dance**!"

The Arbok then fired a barrage of brown balls at Serenity and Jean and the Vileplume followed by rapidly spinning and summoning a storm of flower pedals.

"Absol use **Razor Wind**, Blaziken use **Fire Spin**!"

Serenity's horn immediately got surrounded by a twister that compressed itself into the horn. Her horn then began to glow white and she swung it, releasing a storm of blades. Jean charged a fireball in his mouth and released a flame twister at the opposing pokemon. All the attacks connected with one another. Jean's **Fire Spin** broke through and covered both pokemon in flames, harming the Arbok but doing significant damage on the Vileplume.

"Damn it! Arbok use **Thunder Fang** on that Absol!"

"Dodge it and use **Psycho Cut**!"

Serenity immediately dodged the Arbok's fangs and swung her charged horn at it. To everyone's surprise the Arbok caught the horn in its jaws and slammed Serenity to the ground. The Arbok then wrapped herself around her and began to constrict her, making her scream out in pain. Jean heard her screams and **Blaze Kicked** the Arbok off of her, leaving himself open to a **Venoshock** from the Vileplume.

When Jean got hit from the attack he went rolling on the floor for a couple of feet and then staggered back onto his feet, obviously damaged.

"Vileplume use **Drain Punch**!"

The Vileplume's fist began to glow and it ran towards Jean, who was trying to find his composure, but couldn't. Serenity suddenly blocked the **Drain Punch** by knocking the attack away with her horn and hit the Vileplume with an **Aerial Ace**, knocking it away.

Serenity then said to Jean, "I'd figure that I would return the favor."

"Thanks Serenity!"

"Now pay attention." As soon as she finished she dodged another **Thunder Fang** from the Arbok and kicked it back.

"Arbok destroy that Absol! Use **Gunk Shot**!"

The Arbok began charge a large ball of sludge in its mouth and fired it at Serenity. Serenity was about to dodge the attack but was somehow held in place. She looked down to her legs and saw them tied with a **Grass Knot** from the Vileplume. She looked back at the Arbok and was hit by the **Gunk Shot**. Serenity went flying and then hit the ground and skid for a few feet. Cynthia and Jean held their breath and breathed a sigh of relief when she got back onto her feet.

Jean then told her while dodging the Vileplume's **Drain Punches**, "Serenity, are you okay?"

"I can stand, but I'm not feeling too good. Something in my body hurts." She then cringed in pain, telling Jean what was wrong with her.

"Damn it! You've been poisoned. We have to end this fast or do you want to call your fight off."

"No! I can fight."

"Very well, but be careful."

Serenity nodded and faced the Arbok again.

Cynthia noticed Serenity's condition and thought to herself, *Serenity won't make it for very long. I have to end this quickly.* She then took a deep breath and commanded, "Blaziken, Absol, let's not try to drag this any longer. Blaziken, **Fire Blast** and Absol, **Psycho Cut**!"

Jean nodded and fired a **Fire Blast** at the Vileplume and Serenity charged a **Psycho Cut** and charged at the Arbok.

Ariana quickly commanded, "Both of you dodge! Arbok counter with a **Poison Tail** and Vile Plume use **Hyper Beam**!"

The Arbok hissed and charged its attack on its tail and swung it at Serenity, both attack colliding. Both Serenity and the Arbok soon got into an impromptu sword fight. Every few second Serenity would have the poisoning cripple her, but she would continue to fight.

Jean wad charging his **Fire Blast** and eventually fired at the Vileplume, who dodge it and fired its **Hyper Beam** at Jean. Jean crossed his arms over his face and got hit by the attack. When the dust settled Jean was standing tall with his eyes glowing red, his Blaze ability kicking in. Jean then gave a yell and got into a fighting stance, growling to himself.

Rick then spoke to Cynthia through the pokeball, _"Oh no! Jean's Blaze ability kicked in."_

Cynthia replied, _"I thought that only happens if he gets hit by fire attacks."_

_"No, it happens at random. When a fire type get the ability to start they become stronger...but they lose control of themselves. It has always been hell trying to control him when the ability would kick in. Usually his bands would hold it back, like they hold his insane energy in, but it can sometimes come out. Try to keep him focused or he will go berserk."_

_"Got it!"_ She looked at Jean and said, "Blaziken, calm down! Let your rage out on the enemy, but don't go attacking us now."

Jean turned around and gave Cynthia a thumbs up, making Cynthia give a sigh of relief.

Rick chuckled in his pokeball, _"Well well well, that surprised me. Looks like he has more self control than I realized. This can be good."_

"Blaziken, attack that Vileplume with **Fire Punches** and **Blaze Kicks**!"

Jean nodded and charged at the Vileplume, hitting it with multiple attacks, easily knocking the Vileplume back.

Just then Cynthia saw her chance, "Blaziken, now's your chance! **Fire Blast**!"

Jean quickly charged and fired the attack at the Vileplume, defeating it. Jean then looked at Serenity's fight and saw her dodge the Arbok's attack and hitting it with two repeated **Psycho Cuts**, beating it.

Jean ran up to Serenity and checked on her. They then heard a frustrated growl coming from Ariana as she recalled her pokemon. Jean soon heard pants coming from Serenity and her begin to stagger.

"Serenity, are you okay?"

She then said weakly, "I'm...find Jean. Don't...worry about...me." With that last word she passed out and Cynthia quickly recalled her.

Cynthia then whispered into Serenity's pokeball, "You did great Serenity. Rest and I'll heal you later. Stay asleep so that you'll be fine. We'll win this don't worry."

Cynthia put Serenity's pokeball onto her belt and she threw Rick's ball into the arena. Rick appeared next to Jean and quickly drew his blades.

Ariana looked at Rick and laughed, "So I'm guessing that I've finally forced you to bring out your trump card. Well then, let's see how your fighting types like these two. Crobat, Honchkrow, go and destroy these opponent of ours." With that she threw her remaining pokeballs onto the field and the two pokemon emerged from the balls.

Cynthia then warned Rick and Jean, "Be quick on your feet you two and be very careful. I expected her to use her Honchkrow, but the Crobat is new."

Ariana began to laugh, "Surprised? Anyways, let's finish this. Honchcrow use **Dark Pulse** on the Gallade, Crobat use **Air Cutter** on the Blaziken. The Blaziken is weakened so you shouldn't have much trouble."

The Honchkrow quickly fired the dark twister at Rick, which he quickly dodged. The Crobat fired its Air Cutter at Jean, and Jean also dodged it but was hit by one of the blades on his leg.

Rick quickly checked on his best friend and helped him up while Cynthia yelled, "Guys, look out!"

Rick looked back at the Honchkrow and dodged another **Dark Pulse** while carrying Jean. Rick fired a **Signal Beam** at the Honchkrow to stop it from attacking, barely even hurting it.

Cynthia gave an order, "Gallade use **Healing Pulse** on Blaziken. Blaziken fire a **Fire Blast** at the Crobat!"

Rick followed orders and healed Jean's leg while Jean fired a **Fire Blast** at the Crobat, who dodged the attack.

Jean took the time to say to Rick, "Damn that thing is fast!"

Rick replied, "You're fast too. Just make sure not to loose sight of it."

"And the Honchkrow?"

"I'll see what I can do with him. We can't really do much without Cynthia's demand. That's what makes this difficult. We don't have the free battle will. She'll think of something, but we're still allowed to protect one another. Now pay attention to the fight."

Jean nodded and faced the Crobat, waiting for Cynthia's command.

He soon got it, "Blaziken use **Fire Spin** on Crobat! Gallade use **Ice Punch** on Honchkrow!"

Ariana gave her commands, "Honchcrow use **Night Slash**! Crobat use **Dark Pulse**!"

Jean charged and fired a fire twister at Crobat and it fired its dark twister at Jean, both attacks stopping each other in the center. Rick and Honchkrow charged at one another with their attacks. Rick tried to hit the Honchkrow with his attack and Honchkrow charged his attack on his talons and slashed at Rick. Both pokemon exchanged and blocked their attacks, no one really gaining the upper hand until Honchkrow scratched Rick on the cheek. Rick retaliated by uppercutting the Honchkrow with the **Ice Punch**, knocking it back into the sky, where it recovered.

Ariana began to laugh, "That's a pretty tough Gallade you have their."

"He's very well trained."

"That won't help. However, let me force out your last pokemon. Crobat use **Acrobatics**!"

The Crobat stopped fighting Jean's **Fire Spin** and dodged it. The Crobat then rapidly flew through the air and disappeared from Jean's sight. Jean was having trouble keeping up with the Crobat's speed and then found it when it hit him from behind. He turned around and was hit from behind again. Jean was soon being assaulted from all sides by the Crobat. Rick saw it and charged a **Psycho Cut** to hit the Crobat away, but he was stopped by the Honchkrow firing a **Dark Pulse** in front of him.

After a little while the Crobat forced Jean onto his knees and then finished him off by crashing onto Jean's head, knocking him out instantly.

Cynthia quickly called him back and said to him, "Thanks Jean. Sleep, you'll need it." She put Jean's pokeball back onto her belt and threw out Amber's pokeball. "Let's finish this Lopunny!"

Amber burst out of her pokeball and took a battle position.

Ariana laughed harder, "That's your final pokemon? A Lopunny? Did you want to lose this battle?"

"Let's see you take her down. Lopunny use **Thunderpunch**...on Honchkrow!"

Ariana sweatdropped, confused about what Cynthia just ordered. "Okay you DO want to lose. Oh well it's your funeral. Honchkrow use **Dark Pulse** on the Lopunny! Crobat use **Air Cutter** on the Gallade!"

The Honchkrow fired the dark twister at Amber and she quickly disappeared when she dodged the attack. She then hit the Honchkrow with the **Thunderpunch** and forced it to the ground. The Crobat was firing its air blades at Rick, who was casually walking towards it almost completely undeterred. Rick then jumped and slashed the Crobat with his **Psycho Cut**, knocking it to the wall.

Ariana became enraged, "Both of you get up! This isn't over yet!" Both of her pokemon staggered up and flew into the air. "Alright, Honchkrow use **Foul Play** on the Lopunny. Crobat use **Brave Bird**...on the Lopunny!"

Amber looked in disbelief at what Ariana commanded and hopped out of the way of the Honchkrow's attacks, but got hit by a kick and a slap of its wing. The Honchkrow then grabbed her and held her in place while the Crobat got covered in blue fire and charged by Rick, who tried to slash it away from Amber.

Cynthia then yelled, "Gallade use **Psychic** on Crobat and then hit it with a **Psycho Cut**!"

Rick complied and used **Psychic** to pull the Crobat back, before it could reach Amber, he then slashed it with a fully charged **Psycho Cut**, defeating it.

Cynthia gave another command, "Gallade use **Signal Beam** to break Lopunny out of its hold. Lopunny use **Bounce**!

Rick fired a Signal Beam at the Honchkrow, who let go of Amber and flew into the air to dodge the attack. Amber saw she was free and jumped high into the air and came back down kicking the Honchkrow in the head. She landed on the ground and saw the Honchkrow disorientated in the air.

Cynthia saw her chance, "Lopunny use **Sky Uppercut** and follow with **Ice Beam**!

Amber nodded and jumped into the air and uppercut the Honchkrow, making it begin to fall. She then took aim and hit it with an **Ice Beam**, knocking it into the wall and beating it.

Ariana's jaw dropped, "I...I lost?"

Cynthia giggled, "Yep. You let your rage get the better of you. So you deserved what you got."

"Damn you Cynthia!"

"Now now, let it go. No need to fight any further."

Ariana took a deep breath and recalled her pokemon. She then spoke into an earpiece, "I lost. Plan B, steal the locator." She didn't receive a reply. "Hello? Are you guys there? Hello?"

[In a room in the stadium]

There was a large number of Team Rocket grunts unconscious on the floor and the patrol team standing over them. Wayland soon heard one's earpiece transmission. He picked up the communicator and answered it.

"Hello?"

Ariana was confused, "Who's this?"

"Oh I'm part of the clean up crew. We just happened to have found your men and took them out. Fifteen of them to be exact. Did you really need that many to steal the locator?"

"You are making a great mistake! I'm going to..."

Wayland interrupted her, "Do what? You lost, we were watching the fight. So goodbye, but let me leave you with this little poem: Roses are red, Violets are blue, Your men are unconscious, so fuck you!" He then crushed the communicator and left the room with the rest of the guys.

[Back in the arena]

Ariana was even more enraged for failing her mission. She then called Giovanni, "Giovanni, I lost. The men also failed. They were taken out by a Silph Co. patrol crew and I was defeated in the semi-finals."

Giovanni replied, "I know, I saw. Don't trouble yourself too much, I expected Silph Co. to be prepared."

"You don't think that Gallade is Project Alpha, do you?"

"No, it's highly unlikely. This Gallade didn't present the power that Project Alpha would of presented, so I have no reason to believe that that Gallade was nothing more than a regular Gallade. Just return back to headquarters and we'll try another plan at another time."

"As you wish."

[Rocket HQ]

Giovanni ended the broadcast and turned his seat around. "So things got a little complicated. Silph Co. was more prepared than I expected and they managed to eliminate us from the competition. So let me as you what we should do?"

He turned and saw all the leaders of the criminal organizations. Cyrus: Team Galactic, Archie: Team Aqua, Maxie: Team Magma, Ghetsis: Team Plasma. They were all seated in his office, watching the tournament.

Maxie responded to Giovanni's question, "Well apparently Silph Co. is a major threat. We should do something about them, somehow they need to be brought down."

"Yes but it's suicide to attack them now and much less as a head on attack. We'll have to wait."

Ghetsis then asked, "What about Project Alpha? Isn't he a threat?"

"He's as big of a threat as Silph Co. He's actually on their side. This means that he should be our biggest threat at the moment. He's getting strong."

"Then send your Project after him."

"It's not that simple. Alpha was created to become stronger for every Project he kills. He also has an army of his own apparently. Ever since he came back into the picture our pokemon have stopped responding to us and disobeying our orders. That has forced us to use human and Specter force. Something is going on with him and I intend on finding out. However, I cannot risk any of the Projects...yet. I need them to survive as long as possible, mainly because I cannot make any more for a while and because they're the most powerful assets we have."

Archie then asked, "Is that all you have to offer?"

"No, we have a good armed force, Specters, and Colossi. We also have another powerful force that I guess we can send out to fight Alpha."

"And what might that be?"

Giovanni chuckled, "Titans."

"Titans?"

"They are the evolutionary form of Colossi. They come from Colossi that were not fully evolved pokemon when they were transformed. They are bigger, stronger, and smarter. They can think logically, not animalistically like the Colossi. However there is a small problem."

"And that may be?"

"There are very few of them and only one in a hundred surviving Colossi will become a Titan. There is no telling if a Titan will survive the evolution, but they are great assets to have."

"Send one out!"

"The other problem with them is that, like the Colossi, they think for themselves and do not recognize us as allies. They live for themselves, but if they are given an objective, they will do it."

"Then we have to risk it. Send one out to face Alpha."

"I will. I have one that I can send out against Alpha, but I have to wait."

Ghetsis asked, "What are you waiting for?"

"I'll worry about the details of why. Until then, this meeting is over. Goodbye gentlemen!"

He then pressed a button and the other men disappeared, revealing them to being holograms. Giovanni sunk into his seat and lost himself in thought, while chuckling at the events unfolding in front of him.

[Goldenrod City, Stadium]

Rick and his team were in the preparation room, all of them fully healed for the next battle. Serenity was on a bench being looked at by Amber.

Rick walked up to them, "Serenity, are you okay? You took a bad poisoning."

She nodded, "I'm fine now Rick. Nurse Joy made sure I was 100% ready for the next battle. Who are we battling?"

"I can't tell yet. They are still battling out there, so we'll have to wait for them to finish."

They then stopped talking when they heard cheering coming from outside.

They turned on the tv and heard the announcer say, "And there you have it folks! Jasmine and her pokemon are moving into the finals against Cynthia! We've also received word from the hosts that it will be a battle royale for the win!"

Rick facepalmed, "Why didn't I see that coming?"

Amber laughed, "Well looks like we're going to win the locator regardless of who wins today. Bad news is that we're facing off against our own friends and my sister. Let's hope they don't go so hard on us."

"Amber, you won us the last match. What are you so afraid of?"

"The last pokemon weren't Remnants. This is going to be hard."

"Oh well let's get how it goes."

They stopped talking when the others walked into the room. Alara quickly walked over to Rick and hugged him.

She then told him, "Well we all won. But now we're facing each other in the finals. "

"Yep, but that's in half an hour. We have some time to get ready for it. For now go and get ready. Also, did Amari do anything to Gary?"

"Nope, she controlled herself. She was eliminated by his Arcanine though. Lucian took out his Umbreon, but was eliminated by his Electivire. Allen then took out the Electivire, but was eliminated by Gary's Blastoise. So I fought and beat the Blastoise with **Thunderbolt**."

"Well as long as you're okay I don't care."

Alara smiled at him and kissed him. "So I hope you're ready for a fight today."

"Want to make a bet?"

"Sure, but I make the conditions."

"Very well."

Jean smiled when he heard this because he knew what Alara was going for.

"If I win, we mate tonight. If you win, we hold it off for a while."

Jean laughed and said, "Take the bet Rick. Also, you guys didn't mate last time?"

Rick sighed, "No, we didn't. I couldn't bring myself to do it. Also, I'll take that bet."

Alara giggled, "Good choice. I think I have my resolve to beat you now."

Rick laughed, "Go get healed up. I'll see you on the battlefield."

"Alright take care dear." She kissed him and walked away to Nurse Joy, who was waiting to check up on her.

Jean punched Rick on the shoulder while chuckling, "You have to lose today."

Rick looked back at him with a confused look, "Why would I do that?"

"You'll get laid easily."

"But I would lose. Also, I'd rather fight for the chance."

"Dude are you stupid or gay? Just lose and get some."

"Jean...shut up!"

Jean laughed and went to see Seras, who walked into the room. Rick went back to check up on Serenity to check her stability.

[30 minutes later]

Rick and his team were back in their pokeballs, waiting to face off against the other team.

The announcer then said, "Here we are ladies and gentlemen, the final round in the tournament! The Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia versus the Olivine City Gym Leader Jasmine! This battle is a battle royale for the tournament championship! Trainers bring out all your pokemon and you may begin!"

With the order Cynthia and Jasmine released all their pokemon. Rick and Jean emerged from their balls and looked at their competitors. Everyone then nodded and charged at one another.

(For the sake of time and the fact that this battle might take hours to write and because it's a fight between many of the main characters, I am going to skip through this entire battle. I can only do so much guys. Sorry)

[An hour and a half later]

After the fight, Rick was in the preparation room with everyone else, even the patrol team. He was laying face down on a couch, holding his face and screaming into his hands in pain. Alara was sitting next to him, rubbing his back because of the pain.

Rick then yelled, "Damn it that hurt! Ow!"

Seras walked up to them and asked Alara, "So who won?"

"They did. Rick's in pain because I was trying to punch Jean, but he ducked and I hit Rick dead in the face."

"Why would you try to punch? Your right arm is a registered weapon."

"I was trying to win. Me and Rick made a bet. Well looks like he won the bet, but at a cost."

Rick then said, "What is that fist made out of? It almost took my head off."

"Be happy that you're still conscious. Anyways, let me heal you."

"Are you going to be using your right hand?"

"Yes."

"Get that touch of death away from me."

Everyone began to laugh and Alara healed Rick. Cynthia then walked up to Rick with the locator in hand.

She gave it to Rick and said, "Well here you go. Mission accomplished and Team Rocket defeated."

Rick turned on his Poketch translator, "Thanks you so much Cynthia."

"Don't mention it. Whenever you need my help, feel free to call. Anyways, I have to go back to the Sinnoh region today. I have to head to my grandparents' place in Celestic Town. So I'm here to say goodbye."

"Let me open a portal for you."

Rick quickly opened a portal to Celestic Town for Cynthia. Cynthia gave Rick her thanks and walked through the portal and it closed.

Rick looked at Jasmine and asked her, "Do you want me to open a portal to your house in Olivine?"

Jasmine shook her head, "No, I'm staying with Whitney for the night and leaving in the morning. Thank you anyways."

"I should be the one to thank you."

"No problem. It was fun. Well goodbye."

Everyone said goodbye to her and she left the stadium. Rick then looked at the locator and called Mr. Silph.

"Mr. Silph, the locator is secure."

Mr. Silph replied, "Good! Very good! Take it with you back to the Sanctuary. Use it to your advantage. A gift from me to you, if you will. Plug it into your computer systems and you can track the pokemon in your dossier files. Make sure you recruit them, they will be useful to you. Anyways, that's all I have time to speak to you about. Take care! Mr. Silph out!"

Rick turned off his Poketch and told everyone, "Good job! All of you! Now let's go home and rest. I'll open the portal."

Rick opened the portal to the Sanctuary and everyone went through it. Rick held onto Alara and they walked through, happy to be back home.

[Rick's house, ten minute later]

Rick and Alara arrived home and Rick was looking at his house with an enraged face. The entire inside was a mess and his dad walked in from the kitchen. He looked at his son and tried to walk away, but Rick grabbed him.

Rick asked him, "What happened here?"

"We thought you were coming home tomorrow. So we had a little party."

"A LITTLE party?"

His mom then walked in from the kitchen and almost shrieked. "Umm...uh oh...hi dear!"

"Mom, what the hell?"

"We had a party and we were going to clean it up tonight."

"When was the party?"

"...Last night."

Rick facepalmed and let his dad go, "Listen, I'm in a good mood. Just get it cleaned up. I'm tired, so I'm going to lay down for a while."

"Alright. You and Alara behave now."

"I should be telling you guys that."

Alara laughed and followed Rick to his room. They laid down on the bed to rest a bit and looked at the clock. It was only eight o'clock at night.

Alara wrapped herself around Rick and asked him, "So what happens now?"

"We rest. Then we start recruiting."

"Can it be after Christmas? I want to have a clear head by the time."

"Alright. We'll take a month off. But I'm still going to try to find the two individuals on the dossier list that are located here."

"Alright. You can do that. I'm too tired, I'm going to sleep."

"Alright, goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight!"

Alara soon fell asleep and Rick was left thinking about their next step. They have people to recruit, an army to raise, and an enemy to destroy.

**Well that took me a long time to write but I finally got it out for you guys. I'm still working on the Christmas Special, so please bear with me guys. Anyways, you guys know the drill. Review, send questions, suggestions, request, and the like. Have a great day guys. Bye!**


	38. Chapter 38: A Very Merry Christmas

**After a week of no new story updates I have finally finished the Christmas special. This is a very late Christmas episode, but at least I got it done. I am going to get very in depth on Jean's and Seras's relationship. Also to all the individuals from the gay community that sent me PMs just wanting me to know that I do have an alternative fanbase, thank you. I just want to say that I don't care if you're gay, I am not homophobic, you are all an equal part of my fan community and I accept you. Also, if you want to PM me, for anything, feel free. I am willing to speak to anyone who wants to talk. Also, the poll for your favorite character is still up and you can vote for up to two characters, just go to my profile and vote. This chapter is my longest ever, over 13,000 words if you can bear all the length of the story. Thank you for everything guys. Review, send me PMs, suggestions, questions, and requests. Story Spotlight:** _A Deal With A God by EmeraldDragon1_. **Last month's view rank champions: UK. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) The Philippines, 4th) Malaysia, 5th) Colombia.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

December 15th, Rick woke up early in the morning, he looked at Alara and smiled as he watched her sleep. He looked at his clock and saw that it was five in the morning, and this was made evident by the near lack of light in the room. He slowly got out of bed and went downstairs, noticing that his parents were no longer in the house. He then made his way back to his room and sat down on the porch to think for a while, noticing the light of the sun barely coming over the horizon. He had a lot to do and a lot to think about, usually about the war and how he had to convince all these individuals to join his cause. But above all he thought about himself and Alara's future, that one thought haunted his thoughts more than anything.

*What do I want? I have a job to do, but...* He took a much needed deep breath. *But I need Ally through all of it. No matter how dangerous. If that's the case then we should get married soon. I sense things are going to get way too dangerous once Team Rocket goes on the offensive. It's been way too quiet and that terrifies me.* He sighed. *It has to happen and soon.*

While he was on the balcony, Alara was beginning to wake up after she couldn't feel him anymore. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. She couldn't see him so she got up to look around and she found him on the balcony, lost in thought. She walked up to the porch and walked towards him, he didn't notice her.

She then got his attention, "Rick?"

Rick snapped back into reality, "Huh? Oh hi Ally." He said absentmindedly.

"Why aren't you in bed with me? Is something wrong?"

"No, I just needed time to think."

"About?"

"Oh the usual thing. Our future and this war. It's taken up all of my time. All I can think about is this war. But at least there's some solace to it."

"Me?"

"Exactly! I feel like we should get married soon."

Alara smiled at him, "Are you proposing to me?"

"Not yet." He began to laugh. "You're eager for a ring on your finger, aren't you?"

"Yep, a girl's greatest dream is to get married. Also, we only have three fingers on each hand, which always surprises me since we still use rings."

"We just put them on the pinkie, so it makes sense to me. Anyways, we'll get married soon, don't worry. Thanks for talking to me, I needed it."

"That's what I'm here for." She then sat down on Rick's lap. "It's getting chilly outside, but that doesn't surprise me since it's mid-autumn. Winter is on its way, and Christmas is coming with it."

"If you're cold then let's go inside."

"Yeah let's go inside. I have no idea how you can withstand the cold so well."

"A lot of training. Let's go."

They got up and walked back into the bedroom, where they laid down back on the bed. Alara snuggled up onto Rick for warmth and Rick couldn't help but smile and chuckle. Alara smiled and looked around the room, where she set her eyes down on Shadowbane.

"Umm Rick I have a question."

"Let me hear it."

"Wasn't Shadowbane green and white before you got it?"

"Yeah, I found out that it changed its color when I made its power awaken. Now its standard red and black, which I think fits a sword make out of darkness."

"Also, have the edges of your arm blades turned red again?"

"Yeah, but that only happens for a fraction of a second. I haven't figured out why it does that, but I don't really care. It hasn't done anything yet."

"Well I'm sure we'll find out soon. Well I can't get myself to fall asleep again."

"Then let's have fun now that we're awake."

Alara smiled at him and kissed him and he returned the kiss. While they were kissing, Xeron walked into the room

He said to Rick, "Hey Aeru, you're out of toilet paper downstairs."

"Dad!? But how? I went downstairs and checked, and you two were nowhere...oh this world makes no sense to me anymore. Evil biological experiments, dead living parents, pokemon-evil syndicate wars, Specters, Colossi, me in a relationship with my best friend. This world is one gigantic acid trip to me now."

"Well now that you've just given up on life, can you direct me to the nearest toilet paper stash?"

Rick pointed to his bathroom and sighed while Alara began to laugh.

"What's so funny Ally?"

"Oh it's just that I expected you to be so attached to your parents now that they're back. However, it appears almost as if you never lost them to begin with. I know you love them both so dearly but your father is the bane of your existence and your mom is your ticket to keeping him away from you."

"Not entirely true. My dad can get annoying at times, but he's really useful. He's a great teacher when you get to know him. My mom is really intelligent and has been trying to teach me about the values of life during the time she's been here. I'm really grateful to have them back, but it IS a bit too late in a sense. I wasn't able to grow up with them and look up to them."

"Oh well, at least your relationship with them is good."

They suddenly heard a scream coming from the condo building. They immediately identified it as Jean.

"Ally, was that Jean?"

"Yep."

They then heard knocking on the balcony door and saw Jean standing there knocking estatically.

"How the hell did he get here so fast? Oh forget it!"

Rick got up and opened the balcony door and Jean rushed inside screaming, "Help me, help me, help me, HELP ME!"

Rick slapped him, "Pull your shit together! What did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I have bigger problems!"

"Okay, what's the problem?"

Before Jean could answer they heard more knocking on the balcony door and they saw Seras at the door, knocking with her tail. Rick immediately let her in.

She looked at Rick and asked, "What's wrong with my mate?"

"You tell me. He hasn't told me yet."

Seras sighed and jumped onto the bed and asked Jean, "Okay dear, what's wrong?"

Jean took a deep breath, "Okay I got a message this morning from my parents. They sent it to me at one in the morning, but I was knocked out by that time."

"Uh oh, what did they say?"

"Read it for yourself."

Jean turned on his Poketch and handed it over to Seras, who began to read it out loud.

"Dear Jean-Luc,

Your father, sister, and I are going to visit for the holidays. We'll be there in approximately two days and I hope to be surprised about your life this time. You haven't visited in over a year and I expect a true story this time. I also want to know if you manage to find a mate in this time of you being in this place. It's called the Sanctuary, right? Anyways, we love you and we'll see you in two days. Bye!

With much love,

Mom."

After Seras finished reading the message she gave a scream.

Rick's dad finally came out of the bathroom, carrying a tower of toilet paper, "My Arceus! It's too early to be screaming at the top of your lungs."

Rick stopped him before he left, "Dad, there is no way that you need that much toilet paper. Put most of it back."

"Boy, I'm about to tear up that toilet."

"I don't want to know! Just go!" Rick's dad left the room and Rick faced Jean and Seras. "Cool! So Sez, Leah, and Karata are coming for the holidays. So please explain to me how this is a problem. Also, your parents seriously don't know that Seras has been your mate...for the last three years?"

Jean took a deep breath, "I kinda hid that from them...with Seras's help."

"Why!?"

Seras replied, "Because his mom does not like me."

"You do recall that Jean's mom is a Flareon?"

"That has nothing to do with it."

"Why does she hate you?"

"Because of before we became mates, how we were enemies prior."

"And they still hold that against you?"

"His mom does."

Rick and Alara looked at each other and back at them. Alara then said, "Why not just tell your parents?"

Jean laughed, "Oh yeah and face my mom's wrath."

"And your dad and sister are okay with it?"

"They don't know either, but they are more lenient. They will accept Seras...my mom is a mental case when it comes to it. She doesn't like Seras, no matter how much Seras would try to patch things up with her."

"Wait, Seras has been with your parents before? After the team split?

"Yeah, a few weeks after you left Kanto. Since I was staying with her, they went to visit...it was a disaster for Seras."

"How was it a disaster for her?"

"My mom kept putting her down for everything; her cooking, cleaning, clothing, her own personal life, and even her character. I'm so sick of my mom doing that to her. I need to tell her when she gets here...it needs to end."

Seras immediately gasped and shook her head, "No! Don't!"

"What are you so afraid of Seras? Don't you want her to stop?"

"Yes I do, but I don't want to risk our relationship?"

"My mom can't do anything like that. She can't tear us apart, no matter what she does. Hell I won't let her. I don't fear my mom in any way. Also, she's the only one that might feel that way. I know that both my sister and my dad will take the news better. Hell, they were alright with you when they visited last time. My sister even played with you and helped you decorate and cook. My dad was defending you the whole time."

"I still don't want to risk it. I like having your parents' blessing, but I want both of them, not just your dad's."

"You will win my mom over. I know you will."

Rick smiled, "It's an odd sight to see you this serious Jean."

"Something I love is being threatened. I can't joke around."

Jean then sat down on the bed and held Seras. Seras sighed and said to Jean, "I'm sorry Jean, but if your mom can't accept us then I can't marry you in the future."

With that she shook herself off of Jean's embrace and walked back onto the balcony. She looked back and let a tear fall before disappearing from sight. Jean gave an irritated sight and sank his face into his hands. Rick walked up to him and pat him on his back.

Alara then asked Jean, "What are you going to do?"

Jean didn't respond. He just shook his head and sighed again. They then heard him say softly, "Seras."

Rick and Alara looked at each other and then back at Jean. Rick sighed and told Jean, "Bro, you and I both know what you have to do."

Jean finally looked at Rick and said, "Yes. My mom will accept Seras, even if it kills me. I kinda don't care what she says, I will marry Seras one day."

"You know Seras's huge love for the traditions that her people. She's held them dear since her home's destruction and one of those traditions is that both parties must have the blessing of both sets of parents so that two individuals can become mates. Since Seras's parents are dead, that means that she needs the blessings of both your parents. It's a matter of her wanting it, it's a matter of her needing it to keep her culture alive."

"I understand, and I want to help her keep them alive...but..." He suddenly stopped and took a deep breath. "But I will have to get straight with my mom. She WILL give us her blessing, or it will seem that I might lose Seras...I don't want that, I love her too much to let her go." He then got up and left the house.

Rick sat down on the bed and took some time to think. Alara wrapped her arm around Rick and asked him, "So what now?"

Rick held onto her arms and replied, "I don't know. Social matters are not my thing. I'm a soldier, but I know that I want Seras and Jean to be together. This is going to be one interesting holiday season."

"Hmmmmm...I'm happy my parents love you and yours love me."

"I would still be with you regardless."

Alara smiled and giggled, "Aww. But let's not forget about Jean and Seras."

"Wouldn't dream of it. I have my work cut out for me. I doubt I'll see Jean and Seras at work today...or I'll see him kinda sluggish. I wouldn't blame him."

"You let me deal with Jean's mother. I might be able to help them with their dilemma."

"I believe its a matter that they have to resolve themselves. However, if you need to, then go ahead."

"Alright...I'm still tired."

"Me too. Sleep for a bit longer?"

"Yep."

They laid back down and drifted back to sleep. A couple hours later Rick was awoken by his mom knocking on his door.

"Come in! It's open."

Aldira stepped in, "Sorry to interrupt your sleep dear, but a courier just arrived with this letter for you."

"A letter. Let me see."

Aldira handed Rick the letter and he read the writing on the envelope. He saw that the letter came from Leta so he decided to read it.

[Leta's Letter]

Dear Warlord Aeruthael,

Sorry if I caught you in a convenient of times, but I felt that I should inform you that the Chief has asked my father if he could cater at the Christmas party. I know that I could of sent a message to the Chief himself, but I am not too familiar to him to work up the courage to speak to him directly. This is more of a matter of class than anything else since he is the highest of classes, like yourself, and I am but the daughter of a poor baker and am from a family of bakers and cooks. I however know you well enough to be able to speak to you, yet not directly of course. Now onto my point, I would like to know where the celebration will be held and how many guests will be arriving so that my father can prepare enough food for the festivities.

On a more personal note, thank you for letting me meet Sayer. So far we have been very happy together and he has let me experience so many luxuries of the higher classes that I never in my days would of ever fathomed the thought of experiencing. Thank you so much! I may be getting pampered now but I know where I'm coming from, and I choose to stay true to my roots. I have already explained that to Sayer, and I am happy that he understands.

Anyways, thank you so much for your time and I hope you have a memorable day and a happy holidays. Also, I wish you and Lady Alara the best in your relationship and you future marriage, if it comes to that.

With the humblest of regards,

Leta Vakery, resident of the 6th den, daughter of Cesare Vakery.

[Rick]

Rick finished reading the letter. "Well, looks like I have to go give them a reply."

"Who sent the letter?"

"A friend that needs my assistance."

"Alright."

"I'll be in my study. If Ally wakes up, send her there."

"Alright dear."

Aldira then left the room and Rick carefully got out of bed, so that he wouldn't wake Alara up. He then entered the bathroom before going down to the study. Once he got there he sat down and began to write back to Leta. After he finished the letter he decided to read over progress reports that he didn't get to finish the day before. After half an hour of reading the reports he felt someone knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

With that Alara walked into study, clearly still waking up. "You always tend to escape when I'm asleep."

Rick laughed, "Well good morning to you dear."

"What are you doing here so early? I would of expected you to be at work already."

"I had to write a letter. I also wanted to wait for you to wake up. I can go to work at any time I like, so this isn't a problem to me."

"Who were you writing a letter to?"

"Leta." She sent me a letter asking me about the Christmas party, since her father is catering it. So I wrote my reply. Now then, do you want to stay home today?"

"No, I've slept enough."

"So do you want to come with me to work?"

"No, I made plans for today. I'm having a bit of company today."

"Oh? Who?"

A knock was then heard at the front door and Alara smiled, "That's them right now."

In the living room, Xeron heard the knocking at the door and went to open it. Once he opened the door he was met by his sister Celenia and Maiyu, who waved at him.

"Oh hi Celly! Hi Maiyu!"

Maiyu responded, "Hi uncle Xeron!"

Celenia responded to her brother, "Hi Xeron, I'm here to drop off Maiyu."

"Why?"

"Alara asked me to. It looks like they're going shopping today."

"Is that so. Let me call her for you." Alara suddenly appeared at the door with Rick. "Whoa! Nevermind."

Maiyu quickly jumped onto Rick's shoulder and hugged both of the, "Hi Aeru! Hi Ally!"

Rick and Alara said in unison, "Hi Maiyu!"

Maiyu let them go and Alara carried her. Ally then told Celenia, "Thank you for bringing her over."

Celenia smiled, "You're welcome. Maiyu was anxious to come visit you and Aeru anyways. So what plans do you have with her?"

"Oh nothing too special. We're just going to buy some Christmas decorations and presents. I just wanted to spend some time with her while Rick goes to work."

"Alright, well I have to go to work myself. Bye loves! Behave Maiyu."

Everyone waved goodbye and turned to go back inside. Just then they felt the ground shake and heard a crash in the distance. When they looked they saw a gigantic mutant Ariados coming out of the ground.

Rick sighed and said, "Dad! You have some unfinished business."

Xeron walked back to the front door to look, "What's going on...? Ah crap! Almost two months and now it wants to show itself?" He sighed and walked back into the house. He soon returned with a rocket launcher and fired it at the Ariados, barely phasing it it. "Wow it got tougher. Aeru, where did I put the combat mech?"

"In the underground armory. Just put in the passcode...and the keys are on the study's desk."

"Thanks."

Xeron quickly teleported away, leaving Rick with a confused Maiyu and Alara.

Alara asked him, "Combat mech?"

"Yeah, apparently my dad had a combat robot built back in the day, just in case. I just found out about it the other day. Don't worry, I'm getting rid of it."

"Why? It could be useful."

"I'd rather build an army out of strength, not machine."

Suddenly a robot came out from behind the house and Xeron spoke through it. "Okay if I destroy more than the Ariados, then I'm soooooooo sorry."

"Dad, just go finish the job."

"Okay, spider slaying Mechassault style (I love that game series)!"

They began to see Xeron fight the giant Ariados and Alara asked Rick, "Why are we so nonchalant about this? It's like it happens everyday."

"Because around my dad the impossible can happen and we all see it coming. Nothing surprises me anymore. Aaaaaannnnnnd..." He stopped talking and grabbed the rocket launcher and fired a rpg at the Ariados, giving his dad a much needed opening. Xeron then proceeded to body slam the Ariados and elbow drop it wrestling style. "And I think I'm okay with it. Keeps things interesting."

"Well that's true. So Maiyu, ready to go?" Maiyu vigorously nodded, making Alara giggled. "Well then let's go. Say bye to your cousin."

Maiyu turned to look at Rick, "Bye Aeru!"

Rick chuckled, "Bye Maiyu!"

Alara walked up to Rick, "I'll be back home later. Have a nice day at work. I love you."

"Love you too."

Alara kissed him as he was about to leave, making Maiyu giggle and say "Eww!"

"Okay Maiyu, grown up moment. Well then bye!"

Rick walked away and got into his car and drove off, leaving Alara and Maiyu waving goodbye.

When Rick disappeared from sight Alara turned to enter the house. She suddenly stopped and looked outside. She then put Maiyu onto her shoulder and picked up the rocket launcher and loaded a new rocket. She then fired the rpg at the Ariados, hitting it on the head, letting Xeron bulldog the Ariados, get it into a headlock, and began to punch its head.

[Rick]

Rick was driving to work and was driving past the location where Alara's house used to be, until the Ariados emerged in the morning. He looked outside and saw his dad, in the mech, fighting the Ariados. He kept his foot on the pedal and reached in the into the glove compartment until he found a remote mine. He opened the window and threw the mine onto the Ariados's leg. He drove off a good distance and detonated the mine, letting his dad hit the Ariados with a piledriver.

Rick sighed, "It's more like he just wanted a wrestling match than to actually kill the damn thing." He pulled out a radio and spoke into it. "This is Warlord Aeruthael. Fire the predator missile."

He received a reply, "Firing predator missile!"

Rick turned off the radio and looked at his rear view mirror, showing the missile falling and then hitting the Ariados, making it hunch back in pain. Xeron took the opportunity to dropkick the Ariadon, forcing it on its back, and then legged dropped it.

Rick turned the radio back on, "Direct hit! Good work!"

"Thank you sir! We're preparing another, just in case."

"Good thinking...go ahead and fire it. The damn spider got my father in a Full Nelson."

"Alright, firing!"

Another missile went came crashing down and hit the Ariados, giving Xeron the chance to get out of the hold and suplex the Ariados and got on top of it.

Xeron then yelled, "Who's the man!?" He suddenly grabbed a steel building and hit the Ariados repeatedly.

Rick saw it and sighed, "Men, how much do you think we're looking at in terms of collateral?"

"We're all going to say...the Warlord Xeron amount."

"I figured. Anyways, I'll be arriving there in ten minutes."

"We'll be preparing for your arrival sir. How is Lady Alara?"

"She's fine, thank you for asking. How's the wife?"

"She's doing great. Just waiting for the baby to come."

"How far along is she?"

"Six months sir."

"Send her my regards."

"Will do sir and thank you!"

"Also, has Captain Jean or Captain Seras arrived yet?"

"Jean yes, Seras no. Captain Jean is kinda distant, is everything alright?"

"He'll be fine. I'll talk to him later. Well back to work soldier."

"Yes sir!"

[Alara and Maiyu]

Alara and Maiyu were finishing breakfast and headed to the back, so Alara could get to her car. They soon found Aldira on the driveway setting up some sort of device.

Alara asked her, "Lady Aldira, what is that?"

Aldira looked back at her and said, "A mortar cannon."

"Your husband?"

Aldira shook her head, "My husband. Pass me one of those mortars." Alara complied and picked up a mortar from a case and passed it to Aldira. "Cover your heads and ears!" She dropped the mortar down the chamber and the females covered their ears. The mortar shot from the cannon and it went flying into the air and hit the Ariados. Xeron tackled the Ariados to the ground and began to punch it repeatedly.

Aldira suddenly picked up a communicator and spoke into it, "Xeron, end it already or you'll take down the entire Sanctuary with you. I'm amazed no one is dead."

Xeron responded, "I'll kill it when I'm good and ready. I don't usually get a fight like this. Get off my back, it's not like you can do anything about it right now."

"I have the mortar cannon. I can hit your from up to a mile and a half away."

"Calm down dear. I'll end it soon. This thing really knows how to wrestle."

Aldira snorted and smoke came from her nose. She looked at the mortar cannon and then back at the mortars, she continued to look at both things until a fiendish idea popped into her head. She suddenly used **Psychic** on the mortars and the mortar cannon until she formed two gigantic spikes out of the metals and and the explosive material. She then took aim and fired the spikes with **Psychic** towards Xeron's and the Ariados's direction.

The spikes arrived when Xeron and the Ariados were sizing each other out and were about to charge at each other. The first spike hit the Ariados and skewered it. The spike suddenly exploded, killing the gigantic spider.

Xeron watched the spectacle and was immediately confused and then scared. He turned the mech around and the second spike went through the mech and missed Xeron's head by inches. Xeron composed himself and looked at the spike, anticipating the inevitable explosion. When he looked at the spike he noticed what seemed like writing on it, 'Don't fuck with me dear. NEVER fuck with me.' When he finished reading it he heard a sizzle and said, "Clever girl. Now I remember why I fell in love with you."

The spike exploded, taking the mech out of commission and all three females saw it.

Alara and Maiyu were shocked and Alara asked, "Was that necessary?"

Aldira looked back indifferent, "He's already dead. He'll be fine."

Xeron suddenly appeared in front of them panting and charred, "You...are...evil!"

"Me evil? No, I just know when I have to get something done and avoid collateral damage. Take notes."

Maiyu began to laugh, "I love these two, they're funny."

Alara laughed with her, "They are, albeit a bit extreme." Alara stopped talking when she saw Xeron and Aldira laughing and then hugging each other. "Wow, you two DO like each other."

Aldira looked at her with an arched eyebrow, "Why would you think that we didn't? We're married. Obviously we were in love with each other, and we still are."

"Hard to see when you're constantly attacking him."

"Every relationship has its ups and down. We just like to have fun with each other. I know I have to stop doing that, but Xeron finds it fun."

"Warlord Xeron, how do you find that fun?"

Xeron shrugged, "My therapist says that I'm attracted to abusive relationships. However, I fell in love with her and married her for a reason. You and Aeru have your own reasons for falling in love and you two will eventually get married. However you two tend to act in your relationship is a reflection on your characters. Me and Aldira are fighters at heart, so physical altercations are foreseeable, but it's the relationship we built. Regardless, me and Aldira had two great children and we were happy together.

"That's actually the most straightforward thing I have ever heard you say. It's kinda weird."

"Oh I'm actually more serious than I am goofy. I just don't get so many opportunities to be serious a like I had when I was alive. Being a father also took its toll. I had to learn to manage both my lives together, the army and my family. I needed to learn how to be a dad. It was hard but rewarding."

Alara was enjoying her talk with Xeron until an idea popped into her head, "May I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Did your parents have a problem with your wife? Before you were together?"

"Sorta. Aldira's parents didn't like me very much. So ask her."

Aldira rolled her eyes and replied to Alara, "Well my parents didn't like Xeron very much because he was a soldier. My mom was more lenient because me and Xeron were friends since we were children. My dad didn't like him because he was a soldier and he thought he was not a good example for me. So me and Xeron hid our relationship for a few months until my dad found out. My dad was furious, but I stood up to him and he backed off. I was an adult and my decisions were my own. It even went as far as him helping Xeron propose to me. Point is, you shouldn't be afraid of your parents, especially as an adult. When you're an adult all your decisions are your own. Here's my question, why did you ask?"

"Oh because I have a friend that is going through this."

"Then go ahead and tell them."

"I will thanks!"

"You're welcome. Anyways, me and my mate will be on our way."

Xeron arched and eyebrow and asked, "Where to?"

"My parents' house. We promised to visit today."

"Crrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaap!"

"Bye girls!"

With that they teleported away, leaving Maiyu and Alara laughing with one another.

Alara then said to Maiyu, "Okay that's enough fun, but let's go shopping."

"We're really going to walk all the way to the third den?"

"No, I'm driving us there."

"You can drive?"

"I don't usually do it, but I can. I have a car, your cousin Aeru gave it to me a few months ago."

"I've never seen it before."

"It's in the garage, dear. Time to show you."

Alara pulled out a set of key and pressed a button, making the garage door open to reveal the Ferrari.

Maiyu's jaw dropped, "That's your car! I didn't know we pokemon could drive, we except for our species since we're human like."

"This is true, we pokemon don't usually drive. We only drive because we have have a similar anatomy to humans. Anyways, it's not time for a science lesson. To the mall we go!"

Maiyu quickly teleported to the passenger seat, Alara got into the car and buckled her in, and then took off.

[Military District]

Rick was in his office after a few hours of assessment and training with the army. He sat down in his office to relax and to catch up on some work. While he was there he remembered about his letter to Leta and immediately called for Sayer.

He pressed a button on his office phone, "This is Warlord Aeruthael. Can you please send Sayer Lorenzo to my office, please?"

Two minutes later Sayer walked into his office, "Yes Warlord?"

"Sayer, I received a letter from Leta earlier this morning. Did you know about it?"

"Yes I did. I was there when she wrote it."

"Well I wrote my reply to her. If you can please send it to her, that will be greatly appreciated."

"I will. I'm going there today anyways. I'm there everyday, so it's no trouble to send this to her. Thank you so much for getting us together."

"You're very welcome. I'm surprised how your character has changed since getting together with her."

"I really do believe that she was a blessing in herself. I guess I needed to have a poor girl to teach me humility."

"Good lesson to learn."

"She's teaching me so much and won't even accept the money I offer her. So in turn I have given her parents money to help out with their bakery and catering business. I want them to accept the money for their own personal use, but they won't do it. It was a fight just to get them to accept the money for the business. I never thought that for being from such a poor family they would not accept money so easily."

"It's a matter of honor. Even if you're poor you are proud of what you can gain by the sweat of your brow. It makes you feel like you know you can provide for yourself, and it's a good feeling. You may be rich, but no amount of money you give them will take their pride away."

"I just want to help her."

"You know how you can help her? Just be with her. Now here's an early Christmas gift for you. You may be dismissed until after Christmas. So you can choose to come in or not until then. Go deliver the letter and spend some time with Leta and her family."

Sayer smiled, "Thank you so much sir!"

"You're welcome. Goodbye!"

[Two Days Later]

Rick and his team were in his house waiting for Jean's parents and sister to arrive. Jean and Seras were nervous about their upcoming guests and were wondering how to break the news to them.

Jean walked up to Rick and asked him, "So how long until they get here?"

Rick looked at him and replied, "I sent my men to pick them up in Pastoria City. That was thirty minutes ago, so they should be here any moment now." Soldier immediately ran up to Rick and whispered into his ear. "Oh they're here. Good, bring them here." He looked back at Jean, "Something wicked this way comes."

"You don't need to remind me."

Seras walked up to Jean and snuggled up to him, fear in her eyes. Jean noticed and held her close and kissing her. A knock was then heard and Jean answered the door. He was met with a strong bear hug from his father, who was surprisingly bigger than Jean.

Jean's dad spoke, "Jean-Luc my boy, it's so great to see you!"

"Dad! Can't breathe! Can't breathe!"

He let Jean go, letting him catch his breath. "Sorry about that son."

"It's all good dad. It's all good. I'm happy to see you guys." His mom and sister quickly hugged him and Jean invited them inside. "Well welcome to the Sanctuary guys."

His mom looked around, "Is this your house? It's bigger than I thought."

"Oh no, this is Rick's house. My house is a condo a few blocks away, but I'm usually here."

"Oh really, where is Rick?"

Rick stood up from his seat and said, "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Mercado! Hi Karata!"

"Ah Rick! You grew up. Look at you, the commander of the army."

"And much more, but this isn't about me. It's about catching up with your son."

Seras put on a brave smile, "Hello Mrs. Mercado."

Jean's mother's smiled faded, "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Well hello." She said almost annoyed.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"You can say that." She turned to look at her son, leaving Seras stunned that she still didn't like her.

Jean noticed and tried to quickly change the subject, "Ummmm...so how was your trip?"

"It was good...Jean may I speak to you and your father privately for a second. Karata, go on and socialize."

Karata nodded and walked over to the group while Jean and his parents went outside.

Outside Jean's mom asked him, "What is Seras doing here?"

Jean didn't hesitate to say, "Is there a problem? Because I don't see one. Besides, to me she's family and I enjoy her company."

"How can you!? She used to hurt you."

"Yes, but I brought that onto myself for bullying Rick as a kid. Now things are different mom. Me and Seras are very close and she's really trying to win your favor."

Jean's dad then told his mate, "The boy's right Leah. What happened in the past is now in the past. You can't hold that against her."

"Until I see proof of this, I will not change my opinion."

Jean sighed, "Mom! Seras is here to stay. Please leave her alone and try to get along with her."

His mom walked back into the house almost insulted, leaving Jean and his dad shacking their heads.

Jean's dad then asked him, "So, how long have you and Seras been mates?"

"Wait...what?"

"I've been down this alley before son, you can tell me anything. I am not going to tell your mother. Me and your sister suspected it after visiting you back in Kanto. We made sure to keep your mother in the dark. Arceus knows what she would of done."

"Well we've been mates for four years going on five now. I've kept it a secret since."

"Let's keep it like that. However, if you decide to tell your mother then I'll back you up."

"Dad, let me tell you the truth. I want to marry Seras, but she needs the approval from both of you so she can accept getting married."

"Well you have my blessing, but you'll have to work for your mother's. If you need it, I'll help."

"No need. If I'm going to do it, then I'll have to confront mom on my own terms."

His dad nodded and both of them entered the house. When they entered they saw Jean's mom and sister looking at Rick's parents with shock and curiosity.

Jean heard his sister say, "I thought you guys were dead."

Xeron laughed and replied, "Arceus is letting us stay until New Year's Day. So now you're socializing with half...ghosts...things. Either way, we're the living dead."

Rick then said, "AKA: Zombies."

Everyone laughed and Jean walked up to Rick and Alara and said to his mom, "Mom, this Gardevoir here is Rick's little lady. Her name is Alara."

His mom looked at Rick with a surprised look, "Is that so? I heard you became the Warlord of this city, the leader of all pokemon armies, and now I hear that you have a mate. When did this happen?"

Rick replied, "Almost two months ago."

"That's great to hear." She turned to Alara, "So tell me a bit about yourself."

Alara replied, "Well, ummm...I'm the Chief's daughter..."

Jean's mother interrupted her, "You're the Chief's daughter? So you're the princess?"

"Yes."

"Wow Rick, you really hooked a big one."

"Anyways, I've known Rick all my life and our parents were the best of friends. So eventually we hit up a relationship and will soon be engaged to be married. That is if Rick decides to propose."

Rick sighed and Jean's mom laughed, "I'm sure that day will come. I just wish that Jean would find a suitable mate."

Seras was listening and used her tail to rub her temple in aggitation.

Jean noticed this as well and said to his dad, "Dad, what say us guys go to the simulation room to play some team deathmatch. The girls can have some time to bond with one another. What do you say?"

Jean's dad thought for a second, "Alright, I'm down for a quick game. Don't worry Jean, we'll obliterate the other team."

Rick laughed, "I hope you're prepared because I'm on the other team."

Jean's smile immediately disappeared, "Oh we're screwed."

[Simulation Room]

Jean's team was in the simulation room, with debilitator assault rifles, pinned down in a bunker in a forest battle simulation. Rick and his team were not letting up their assault.

Jean told his team, "Okay, we're in trouble. I underestimated Rick's leadership skills and ability to successfully cover his left flank...and turn it around and flank us."

Lucian replied, "You think!? He's not the Warlord for nothing."

"Okay here's the plan. We wait until they run out of ammo from shooting this shed. Then we run outside and head straight to the mortal cannons across the field."

Allen replied, "Rick most likely has a plan for that. So if we do it then we have to be careful."

"Right..." They stopped when they heard an explosion and the shed began to shake. "Well shit! They got to them."

"Well we're fucked. It's been nice knowing you guys."

Soon the mortars and gun shots stopped. "They stopped. Maybe they're out of ammo."

Celand replied, "No, they took over the ammo cache. They probably haven't received the ammo yet."

Jean called Sayer over, "Sayer, peak outside and tell us if they're gone for now."

Sayer nodded and walked outside, while being vigilant. He couldn't see anyone so he he said, "Coast is clear!" He was immediately barraged by gunfire and taken out while saying, "Fuck it all!"

Jean's dad then said, "Well that answers that question."

Jean sighed, "Listen, let's take the chance. How bad can it be? We have three times more still standing men."

"Yes, which will make his victory even greater."

"Dad please, how great will the victory even if it ever happens?"

"So much so that they will erect statues of him, legends will be written, minstrels will sing songs about him, mountains will..."

"OKAY DAD! We get it, he'll destroy us. Also, minstrels will already sings songs about him. He was tasked with fighting an entire criminal organization for an end to tyranny with Arceus's blessing. Pokemon will nearly worship him if he succeeds."

"Exactly!"

At that moment a mortar shot hit the bunker, cracking a wall. Suddenly Rick's team burst through the wall and began to cut down Jean's entire team.

Rick took his only opportunity to eliminate Jean before he could become a problem. "Well that's victory."

[Rick's house]

All the females were in Rick's house talking with one another, putting up the Christmas decorations, and Seras and Alara were making lunch for everyone and for the males when they returned. Seras prepared some tea and took it into the living room for the girls and Jean's mother.

As she entered the living room she heard Jean's mother say, "I wish my son could get a mate already." Seras hid out of sight to listen in.

She heard Aleerah say, "You know, Jean and Seras are like best friends now. They seem to make a cute couple."

"NEVER! I will never let my son get together with that tramp of a female."

"Seras isn't a tramp. She's probably the sweetest member of our family."

"I bet that's just an act she's using to cover up all the times she has abused my son."

Seras tried to hold back her tear and then saw Alara walking into the living room full of agitation. Alara walked into the room and glared at Jean's mother.

She said, "I take offense to that. Seras is the big sister I never had and the kindest soul I have ever met. I feel like your hatred of her is irrational."

"My dear, you don't know Seras as well as I do."

"Wrong! I know her better than you ever will. Seras used to attack Jean because Jean would attack Rick. She did it out of her protective nature of Rick. So pretty much the same way you protect Jean. She saw her loved one being threatened so she went to their defense. Jean changed after a while and so Seras and him patched things up."

Seras walked into the room, levitating the platter with the tea on it. "Alara, you don't have to defend me." She walked up to the coffee table and placed the tea on it. "Here's your tea Mrs. Mercado." Jean's mother glared at her, making Seras uneasy. "I'll be leaving now."

Jean's mother said to her, "Take your leave."

Seras almost cried, but instead she bowed her head and walked away silently. All the other girls, and Jean's sister, saw this and glared at Jean's mom.

Jean's sister then said, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean what's wrong with me?"

"Seras is trying to patch things up with you and yet you're treating her like crap. She's a sweetheart."

Unknowingly to Jean's mom, Dartz walked into the house after the battle sim. He walked into the living room and heard the conversation go on.

"I believe she's just trying to make it seem like that. Nothing good can come from that harpy."

Dartz then made himself known, "Excuse me, but I take offense to that."

The females all looked at him and most went, 'Uh-oh'.

"Excuse me and you are?"

"My name is Dartz and I hear you have something to say about Seras?"

"I have a lot to say about her."

"Really?" He said in an irritated tone.

Alara sent a mental note to the other girls, _"Uh-oh! Protective older brother rage."_

"The girls tell me that Jean and Seras are pretty much the best of friends now."

"You can say that. I would know, I used to be Jean's best friend."

"And what happened there?"

"I made room for Seras. Simple as that and I didn't mind at all."

"See ruining friendships as well. She's becoming quite the ogre of an individual."

Dartz eyes began to glow red and Alara tried to sense for Seras's emotions. She sensed her all the way at the garden's fountain, crying her eyes out. Alara teleported over to her, leaving Dartz to argue with Jean's mother.

"Okay let me reintroduce myself. My name is Dartz, I am part of this family, and I am also Seras's older brother."

"Oh that explains a lot."

[In the garden]

Seras was crying at the fountain, feeling humiliated and defeated by Jean's mother. Nothing she was doing for the last few years were working and now she's run out of ideas, no matter how her friends tried to help. She suddenly felt someone appearing near her and looked at who it was.

"Alara? What are you doing here?"

"I came here because I sensed that you were crying. You began crying faster than I expected."

"Because I've been trying to win her favor for years and nothing has worked. Worst part of it is that I can't get married to Jean because of it. I already explained to you why."

"Maybe you shouldn't worry about her blessing. You have Jean's father's blessing, so there's that."

"By my honor I need his mother's. I remember that you told me a few days ago to just tell her, but I don't think I can get myself to do it."

"Dartz is furious right now and Jean will be livid if he sees you like this because of his mother. Tell me, don't you want to marry him in the future?"

"Of course I do, but his mother is making it impossible."

"Listen...actually, I have a better idea."

"What?"

"Oh nothing."

Secretly Alara sent Jean a mental note to get him to come back to the house.

[Ten minutes later]

Jean walked into the house with Rick and the other males following. The girls managed to calm Dartz down, but Jean's mother was still continuing with her rant of Seras.

Jean was beginning to get mad at his mother and then noticed that Seras wasn't in the room, "Mom! Stop with your irrational rant about Seras...speaking of which, where is she?"

Jean received a mental note from Alara, telling him where they were. Rick got the note as well and teleported him and Jean to the garden. When they arrived in the garden they saw Seras crying and Alara hugging her. Jean immediately walked up to her and Seras lunged into Jean's arms. Jean immediately knew why she was crying and was furious, but he hid his anger so he could comfort her.

Rick took Alara's hand and walked her through the garden to give Jean and Seras some alone time.

When Jean saw them leave he told Seras, "I have to tell my mom. I can't let her keep treating you like that."

Seras responded, "I don't want her to be angry with you because you're with me."

"I'd rather choose you over my mother. I don't care."

"But you know how I want to do things."

"Dear, sometimes it's hard to do things you want. I want you to follow your traditions, but you wanting the blessing from both my parents is going to be hard or near impossible. I want to get married, but somehow I have to find a way to make you happy."

"What would make you happy?"

Jean sat down and Seras sat next to him, "What would make me happy is...just getting married to you. Regardless of what my mother does. Which is why I'm going to tell her."

Seras was happy, but she was also concerned and scared, "No! Don't tell her."

They heard a voice in the garden with them, "Tell me what?"

"Uh-oh!"

Jean sighed, "Mom, what are you doing here?"

His mom walked up to the two, "I should be asking you the same question. However, allow me to rephrase that question: What are you doing here with her?"

"Mom, I can be with her whenever I want. She's the closest female to me than most of the others in the...in the world."

"How can she be? It makes no sense! You were enemies years before and now you're telling me that's she's the closest female to you besides me?"

"Mom, me and you were never really on the same page."

"Okay I had a lot of expectations for you. Then your energy exploded, we sent you to your trainer, he died, you moved away, and now you're here as an army commander."

"Technically I'm a Captain. Rick is the commander."

"That's besides the point! What are you doing with Seras?"

Jean glared at his mother, "Being the person I'm supposed to be to her. That is kind, loving, and comforting. Something I expect you to begin doing for her. Mom, I will not accept you insulting, humiliating, and/or putting down Seras. I put up with it for years, but now I am furious."

"Why should you care?"

Jean tried to find the words and he looked up and saw Rick, Alara, his dad, sister, Dartz, and a sniper with a tranquilizer rifle on the roof. Rick nodded and Jean sighed.

"Because...I love her mom."

"What?"

"I'm in love with her. I have been for years."

His mom's mouth dropped. "Huh?"

"I'll admit it, I've been lying to you for the last four years. She's actually my mate."

"What!?"

"Mom if you use any of the Five Ws again I will leave you without an answer."

"Okay, just explain this to me."

Jean sighed, "Okay, time to come clean. Mom, me and Seras used to be enemies, but eventually our relationship with Rick brought us closer. When our trainer died, Rick went his separate way from us and that devastated us. Me and her tried to go our separate ways, but we found each other again in Kanto a few months later. Seras managed to find a job for herself and start to build her own life and I was traveling across the regions. I found her by chance in a restaurant in Fuchsia City, we talked for a while and caught up. I was going to leave town that night but she invited me to stay at her home for the night. I ended up staying for months."

[Four years prior]

Seras was getting home from work. She unlocked her front door and walked in.

"Jean, I'm home!"

Jean was in the living room, watching tv, "Welcome back! I'm in the living room." Seras walked into the living room and sat down next to Jean, exhausted. "Tired?"

"Yeah, I had a long day today. It's usually not hard taking care of all those other pokemon, but some gave me a hard day today. It's still good to work at the Safari Zone though."

"Never said it wasn't. I like helping you out there."

"You know, you could just apply for a job there."

"I'd rather just help out there. If you need help you can just call me."

"No, I'm okay. I just need something to eat."

"Oh I cooked already. There's some rice and curry in the kitchen."

Seras smiled and got up, "Thank you Jean!"

"You're welcome. I knew you would come home hungry and tired as usual, and I didn't want you to waste more energy cooking."

"That's sweet. Thank you!" She walked into the kitchen and got a plate of food before walking back into living room, where she began to eat. She noticed that Jean was pretty distant in the last few minutes. Which didn't make any sense to her since he was pretty lively a few minutes ago. "Jean, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You haven't spoken to me since I came back from the kitchen."

"I'm watching tv.

"The tv is in front of us, not on the floor."

Jean chuckled, "Oh okay, you got me. I'm just thinking."

Seras finished her food and set the plate down on the coffee table. "Oh? About what?"

"Just Rick. I miss him, I wonder what he's up to."

"Probably traveling around the regions like you used to do. Last I heard, he was in Johto. I believe that Gloria told me that he she ran into him in Blackthorn City, but that was a month and a half ago. Now I have no idea where he's at since he never stays anywhere for long. Gloria saw him, they stayed in the same hotel, and in the morning he was gone."

"Yeah, he's mastered the art of disappearing at a moment's notice. If I ever run into him I need to get him a Poketch."

"Well isn't he a co-owner in Silph Co. now? It surprises me that he doesn't have one."

"Well Rick is a somewhat of a loner. He likes to keep to himself."

Seras sighed, "I thought I could change that about him, but it seems like I can't."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up. You did a good job raising him, I wish I wasn't a complete ass to him in the beginning. Well at least he has a human form so he can blend in with humans."

"Well I have to use my human form all the time. I almost forget that I'm really a pokemon."

"I don't blame you. We're not even in our pokemon forms right now. So I guess we're growing too used to living among humans." He sighed, "Seras, I made a decision."

Seras arched an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"I'm going back to traveling."

"So you're leaving?"

He replied apologetically, "Yeah."

Seras's smile faded, "But why?"

"I want to see my friends again. Don't get me wrong, I loved living with you for these past few months."

"So why leave?"

"I just want to see the guys again. It's your home anyways, not mine."

"It's as much your home as it is mine. Don't go."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just stay with me. Please?"

Jean got up and walked to the other end of the room, "I don't know."

Seras pulled him back with **Psychic**. "Listen, I have no one left. Everyone left, Rick left, my brother left, you left, I was by myself for months. I don't want to be alone anymore."

Jean looked at her with a confused yet concerned look, "Seras...I don't want to leave you alone."

"Then stay."

"...I will."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Seras hugged him, "Thank you Jean."

"We've grown very attached in these last few months."

"Yes we have. We've been alone together for too long. I just wish the others were here."

"We'll all be together again some day. We already know where to find Lucian and Winston. Your brother calls you everyday, you have almost everyone's numbers, but Rick is the only one that has no set location or way to contact."

Seras sighed, "We think too much about him. I guess that's the curse for raising him."

"Hey, I say it was all worth it. If you didn't we would of stayed as enemies."

"And are we now?"

Jean was surprised by the question and tried to answer, "We're friends. Aren't we?"

"We're whatever you want us to be."

Jean was even more surprised and confused now. What could Seras mean by this. He looked down at her and saw her giving him a wide smile. Jean looked into her purple eyes and acted out of instinct. He suddenly took hold of the sides of Seras's face and pulled her into a passionate kiss. He disconnected from her, still holding her, he began to think about what he just did.

He was then taken by surprise when she said, "One more, please?"

"Huh?" He smiled again, chuckled, and pulled her into another kiss.

He disconnected again and Seras asked him, "Again?"

Jean kissed her again and Jean opened his eyes during the kiss and saw that Seras materialized her tail and was wagging it. This made him chuckle and he melted into the kiss.

A while later, Seras disconnected from the kiss and led Jean up the stairs.

Jean began to chuckle, "So we're having fun, aren't we?"

"A lot actually."

[Present Time, Rick's Garden]

Jean finished explaining everything to his mother, leaving everyone who was listening shocked and speechless. Dartz immediately appeared in front of Jean and Seras.

He said to them, "So let me get this straight, you both lied to me and to everyone else about the true nature of your intimacy?"

Seras sweatdropped and told her brother, "Yes. Oh Dartz I'm so sorry."

"Seras, you mated with Jean and hid it from me and the others. You kept telling us that your relationship didn't go that far. You had me fooled for years. Oh Arceus! What the hell!?" He said as he sat down on a bench and thought.

Seras immediately began pleading with her brother, "Brother, please don't be angry with me. Please? I don't want to lose the only blood family I have left. I don't want to lose my older brother."

Dartz began to chuckle, "Seras, please relax. I'm not angry. I was just taken by surprise. All those years of protecting you were actually for nothing. I've just been keeping you and Jean from getting intimate again."

"I'm not going to lie to you, I was afraid at first. If I wound up pregnant how would I explain it to you back then? How would you of reacted? Thankfully I didn't, but what if I did. These thoughts have haunted me for years. So I kinda stopped myself from mating with Jean again until everything was finalized."

"So you did that because you feared me?"

"I was afraid of disappointing you. I know how angry you can get, and I was afraid of your wrath."

"Seras, I'm never mad at you. I get disappointed sometimes but you made that decision as an adult. I didn't really have a say, now did I? I can't make all the decisions for you. I was just afraid of losing my baby sister."

"Oh brother. You'll never lose me." She said as she embraced her brother.

Jean smiled at the sight and his mom got his attention again, "Umm...can we get back to this?"

Jean snapped back to reality, "Huh? Oh yeah! So there you have it mom and I don't care if you're mad at me."

"Jean...I..." She couldn't speak the rest of it.

"Mom, I'm not asking you to like my relationship with Seras. I just hope you accept it. Mainly because I expect to marry her really soon, but we do need your acceptance. But even if you don't give her your blessing, I'll still marry her."

His mom sighed, "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Not with me. And you should know that anything you decide, I will choose Seras. I love you mom, but don't I get to choose who I fall in love with?"

His mom thought for a second, "You have my blessing." Seras heard this and nearly jumped.

"Is this true, or are you just saying it? At this point I'm not here for games mom."

"Yes, it's true. There's nothing I can do now, you two mated. I may not like her right now, but let's see where things go in the future. However, I do expect grandchildren really soon."

Jean sweatdropped, "Oh crap! Now I know how Rick feels."

"When is the wedding?"

"I have no idea. We needed your blessing first and now we have it."

"Well get married soon." She then walked away and walked back into the house.

Dartz followed suit and returned to the house, while Rick called off the sniper.

Seras walked up to Jean and embraced him, "That was easier than I thought."

"It wasn't. If we didn't mate she would of never of accepted it. Since it happened, we're stuck together. At least it got my mom to back off and give you her blessing."

Seras hugged him and kissed him. "Let's go back inside."

"Yeah. We have to start decorating, don't we?"

[Christmas Eve]

The big day had arrived, Christmas Eve and the party that came with it. Rick and Alara were finishing all the decorations of the house, in preparation for their guests to arrive. Leta and her parents finished bringing all the food into the dining room and left to prepare for the party.

Rick was walking through the house, checking on the decorations and looking for Alara, "Ally? Where are you?"

He walked into a room and heard her say, "Look up!"

Rick looked up and saw a mistletoe and then felt someone tap his shoulder. When he looked to see who it was he was met by a long kiss from Alara.

"Well hello to you too." He said laughing quietly.

He picked her up and carried her to the living room, dropped her on the couch, and sat down next to her.

"Hey, you never told me what happened in the sim room when Jean's parents arrived."

"Oh me and my team made gingerbread houses and sang carols with them."

Alara arched an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Oh no! We wasted them like figgy pudding."

She giggled, "I love all the Christmas references."

"Thanks, I tried to be clever. For the sake of the holidays." They began to laugh and then heard a knock at the door. Rick got up and answered the door and saw all his friends and family arrive. "Well, don't all come in at once now. Get in here!"

As he said that Maiyu teleported onto his shoulder, "Merry Christmas Aeru!"

"Merry Christmas to you too Maiyu."

"Did you get me a present?"

"Of course! It's under the Christmas tree."

"Yay!"

Maiyu jumped off of Rick's shoulder and ran towards the tree. Rick quickly pulled her back and place her back on his shoulder, "You'll get your gift at midnight."

"Why?"

"Presents are not opened on Christmas Eve. You wait until Christmas morning."

"How long until midnight?"

"Four and a half hours."

"Boo!"

Rick chuckled, "Calm down! It'll be worth it. I got you something nice."

"Alright, I'll wait."

Rick chuckled again and teleported a candy cane into his hands and gave it to Maiyu, who eagerly began to indulge in it.

After about an hour of socializing in the house and Rick's dad drinking the eggnog. Rick's mom walked up to him and told him, "So ready for celebrate?"

"Yep!"

"So when are we going to eat the feast?"

"Whenever you want really."

"Okay." She turned to the people in the house. "Alright everyone, time to feast! Xeron, lay off the eggnog!"

A muffled reply came from the other side of the dining room, "But it's so delicious. Oh all the wasted year!"

Rick chuckled, shook his head, and told his mom, "Wait until he finds out that it has no alcohol in it. I don't drink." He then called out, "Alright, we feast!"

Everyone immediately walked into the large dining room to participate in the Christmas dinner. Rick and Alara were sitting at one end of the table while Alara's parents sat on the other end.

Alara's dad then said, "Alright then, it's so great to have everyone here to participate in this great holiday. It's even greater of a day since it is the first where Aeruthael, Xeron, Aldira, and their friends are joining us in over two decades. So that being said, who would like to have the Christmas prayer?"

Allen said out of nowhere, "What?"

Rick said, "Why don't you have the honors, sir?"

Alara's father then said, "It feels like I always do, but alright."

(Skipping through the prayer)

Everyone finished by saying 'Amen!' and began to start getting their food. Jean and Sayer took a lot of the food, making their respective girlfriends roll their eyes. Rick and Alara got their food and began to eat peacefully, along with everyone else. Everyone ate, talked, and enjoyed each other's company. Some of the males soon began to sing 'Good King Wenceslas' and Rick and the males of his 'family' decided to join them.

Rick soon got up and said, "Well I'd like to thank everyone here for coming. Chief Safer and Queen, for welcoming back to the Sanctuary with open arms. My friends, for being with me here and reuniting after five years. Arceus, for very obvious reasons and for allowing my parents to be back in my life, even if for a while. My uncles Daedalus and Zant for preparing me for my Warlord position. My family, for accepting me passionately. Seras, for raising me. And of course Alara, for being such a great mate."

Maiyu then said, "What about me?"

Rick laughed, "And Maiyu for being a great little cousin."

"Yay!"

Alara's dad got up as Rick sat down, "Well since we're toasting, let me toast to you Aeru."

Rick asked, "Why me?"

"Well let's see: You returned after many years, you trained our army to strengths they have never had, you saved my daughter, and you have helped build up the Sanctuary. So a toast to you, our friend, family member, Warlord, and my future son-in-law."

Xeron laughed as he raised his glass, "I'll toast to that."

Everyone replied by saying 'Aye!' and toasted for a while in the night. Everyone soon finished their feast and headed back to the main area of the house to continue the festivities.

Jean got Rick's attention, "Hey get your guitar. We're jamming tonight."

Rick nodded and teleported all their instruments to the room. They soon began to play (**Christmas Eve Sarajevo by Trans Siberian Orchestra**).

Aldira got up and told Rick, "Dear, let's sing something."

"Okay, what do you want to sing?"

"Something in Spanish."

Rick's smile disappeared and Alara got wide smiled. Rick immediately said, "Why in Spanish?"

"Because I want to make sure that you haven't forgotten how to speak in Spanish."

"I haven't, but why now?"

"It's Christmas. Also, my side of the family speaks Spanish just as much. So please, just humor me for this night. I'm not going to be here forever."

Rick sighed, "Alright. Ally pass me my guitar." Alara began to laugh and passed him his guitar. Rick then said to everyone, "By request of my mother, I will sing a song with her in Spanish. I don't do this a lot...really never. So bear with me and some of you will hear me speaking Spanish for the first time in your lives." He began to play his guitar. (Song: **Alegre Vengo** (for all nonhispanics, this is a general Christmas song we sing during the holidays. It has no set artist at all.))

After they finished playing and singing Rick asked him mom, "Satisfied?"

"In Spanish, Aeru."

"Oh give me a break mom."

"Aeru...now."

Rick sighed, "Estas satisfecha? (Are you satisfied?)"

"Yep."

"What? No Spanish response?"

"Nope."  
Rick glared at him mom, but decided to walk away and sang more carols with everyone until it was midnight. At the time Maiyu fell asleep on Rick's shoulder, so he woke her up.

"Hey Maiyu, wake up. It's time to open presents."

Maiyu quickly sprang up and jumped to the floor, where Alara was sitting with Maiyu's present in hand. When Maiyu reached her she gave her the present.

Alara told her, "Here Maiyu, this is from me and Aeru."

Maiyu wasted no time in tearing the wrapping apart and uncovered a small box inside of the box. She opened the small box and uncovered a diamond locket. She opened the locket and it began to play a tune, which made her smile. There was no picture inside, but she had an idea what she wanted to put in it.

She quickly pulled Rick and Alara into a tight hug, "I love it!"

Rick smiled and told her, "We're glad you love it. We also got you this."

He pulled out another box which Maiyu quickly opened to revel a small pink Poketch.

"For me?"

"Of course! So you can stay in touch with me, even when you're not here."

"Thank you so much!"

Alara replied, "You're welcome dear." She turned to Rick and asked him, "So what did you get me? I don't see a present from you to me here."

Rick chuckled, "Oh I got you something special." He put his hands behind his back and teleported something to his hands, which he flashed to the others, giving them the idea. "Say Ally, can you meet me in the garden? Like right now?"

"Why?"

"I need to show you something."

"Alright. I'll see you there." With that she teleported away.

Rick turned to the others and told them, "Happy? Now, I know what you're thinking, but I thought to myself 'why not?' so...bye!"

Rick teleported away to meet Alara in the garden. Everyone rushed to the balcony to oversee the situation with anticipation. They all did their best to stay hidden and silent, so they wouldn't disturb them.

Rick arrived at the garden and found Alara running her fingers in the fountain. Rick moved quietly and hugged her from behind, surprising her.

"Rick! You know you always scare me when you do that."

Rick laughed, "Sorry."

He let her go, letting her turn around, "So why did you want me to come to the garden?"

"What? I can't ask for some alone time with you?"

"No, but we get plenty of that. So what is it?"

"Ally tell me something, what did you think of me when we met up again in Mt. Coronet?"

Alara thought for a second, "Well I was grateful for saving me, but then I was very angry with you because of your attitude. Then I got to know you better and I started to like your company."

"And when we were in Hearthome?"

"I was getting used to having you around. I was very worried because of your injury, a little too worried. Then I found out that you were alright and it was a big relief. Later that night we had to room together and you were so kind to me that I started to feel something about you. You then took me on such a great dinner that I was so anxious to have you around a little longer."

"And when we came here to the Sanctuary?"

"Well I was grateful because you got me and Amber home safely. However, I knew that if something didn't happen you would of left in a matter of minutes and never return. Thankfully your true identity was discovered and you decided to stay. I was so happy about that, I was going to be able to see you more often. You then became the Warlord and I knew that you were here to stay. I was slowly falling in love with you the more we spent time together. Then came the Harvest Festival, the greatest day of my life. We became a couple there and we had our first kiss. Now we're here. What's with the questions?"

"Just wanted to know. So what are your future expectations?"

"To get married to you and settle down."

"Those are my expectations as well."

Rick quickly pulled her into a kiss and held her hands. Alara was surprised on how passionately he was kissing her and then she felt something being put on her finger. Soon Rick disconnected from her and she was able to look at her hand. She looked away from Rick and at her hand. What she saw made her gasp in surprise and joy, there was a ring on her finger with a very beautiful emerald. She looked back at Rick and saw him kneeling and holding her other hand.

"Rick?"

"You know Ally, I know it's only been two months, but we were already promised to be married. I wanted to make it official and I wanted to be able to say 'hey, I went there and I couldn't be happier'. So you probably know that I love you with a very powerful, unshakable, and burning passion. I also know that you already know the question, but I still have to ask it. Will you marry me?"

Alara was very surprised but didn't hesitate to say, "Yes! Of course I will!"

Rick smiled wider, jumped to his feet, and shouted, "SHE SAID YES!" He immediately kissed her while everyone on the balcony began to cheer for them.

He disconnected from her and she said, "Best Christmas EVER!"

"It really is."

They teleported back to the house and were immediately nearly tackled by their parents.

Alara's dad hugged Rick tightly and told him, "Congratulations my boy!"

"Thanks sir! Can you let go please? I'm kinda running out of air. If I die then I can't marry Alara."

Saifer let him go and said to him, "That's one more chapter of your life that you just began. Engagement for me was very fun, but nothing compared to the marriage itself. All I ask is that you two keep your relationship strong until the day you decide to get married."

Alara then asked Rick, "When are we getting married anyways?"

"In the Spring, I know that. However, I haven't chosen a date."

An idea popped into Alara's head, "Let's get married in May."

"Why May?"

"Because it's the most beautiful month with all the flowers in bloom, it's warm, and it's the month of your birthday and your parents' wedding. Let's keep this pattern going."

Her mother replied, "That's a great idea. Where are you going to get married at?"

Rick replied, "Let's leave the planning for a later date. Let's just finish our Christmas celebration."

"Fair enough."

After the conversation Rick's aunt Celenia walked up to him with Maiyu, "She wants to stay for the night. What do you want to do?"

Rick chuckled as he took Maiyu from her, "Let her stay. I would love to take care of her again."

"Very well. I'll pick her up in the afternoon. I have to go home, I'm very tired. Congratulations Aeru!"

"Thank you!"

[An hour and a half later]

Everyone had finally left the house and left Rick, Alara, and Maiyu alone for the remainder of the night. The entire day was very special for them. Rick and Alara were now engaged to be married, and they couldn't be happier.

Rick and Alara took Maiyu upstairs to put her to sleep. They sat at the edge of the bed as they tucked her in.

Rick said to her, "Well time for you to close your eyes and sleep. It's too late at night for someone your age."

"Aeru, can you tell me a story?"

"Well what kind of story do you want?"

"How about a Christmas story? For the holidays."

"Okay, it's not really a story as it is a poem. Do you know the poem 'T'was A Night Before Christmas'?"

"I've heard of it, but I never heard it completely myself."

"Alright then, let me tell it to you. Ally, can you help me out?"

Alara nodded and they both recited the poem to Maiyu, who enjoyed herself at the sound of the poem.

She then said, "I think I love that poem now."

"Anything else you want before we all go to bed?"

"Yeah, can you sing a carol to me so I can go to sleep?"

"Wow you sure are festive. Okay, what song should I sing for you."

Alara giggled and began to sing **Silent Night**. Rick smiled at her singing and soon joined in, slowly putting Maiyu to sleep. When she was finally asleep, Rick finished tucking her in and both of them kissed her forehead and walked out of the room.

When they finally made it to bed Alara pulled Rick closer and told him, "What's the real reason for proposing to me?"

"Well I really do love you. That's the primary reason, also because I don't want my parents to return to the dead without seeing us engaged."

"Okay, that makes sense. I think I'm happier now."

"You should be. In five months you'll be my wife. It's not like we don't already act like a married couple. The plus side is that soon we'll be able to mate and soon we will be able to become parents."

"Isn't that the truth. Well goodnight and merry Christmas Ally."

"Merry Christmas to you too Rick."

They gave themselves one final kiss and soon drifted off to sleep.

**Wow that was one long chapter. I'm sorry for making it so long. I also promise that the next chapter will be nothing but action and there is going to be a Project battle coming up. Rick and Alara are now engaged and the war is going to pick up. I know that it was very fast how they got engaged, but it felt like the right time. So thank you for your time guys. Happy late holidays and a happy new year. Bye!**


	39. Chapter 39: The Nightmare

**Well I managed to finish another chapter this week and I promised you all a Project battle, however this is somewhat of a twist, but you will all still get your Project battle and the action I promised. Thank you all for your support as I am nearing the 40 chapter mark, so the story is pretty much half way done or a bit over half way. Don't worry, I'm not expecting to post 80 chapter, probably a bit less. Anyways, here's 'The Nightmare'. Ominous name, isn't it? lol The next chapter should be out next week. Send me your PMs, reviews, suggestions, and requests. Story Spotlight: **_Aniu the Aura Guardian by Wiechcheu1925_**. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) The Philippines, 4th) Australia, 5th) Mexico.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick woke up in the morning and noticed that Alara was already awake. She was standing at the window, looking outside towards the garden. She was obviously thinking about the events of the day before and was lost in though, occasionally looking at her new engagement ring.

Rick got up out of bed, walked over to her, and said, "This is odd. I'm usually the first to wake up. Is something bothering you Ally?"

Alara looked back at him, "Oh, good morning! I'm okay. I was just thinking about last night. It was too dark last night for me to admire my new ring. How much did it cost you?"

"A pretty penny. Cost doesn't matter to me. I just wanted you to have something from the heart."

"So you gave me a ring?"

"No, I pre-ordered you a husband."

Alara giggled and hugged him, "Well for now I accept the ring and the fiancé." She passionately kissed him and Rick held her close.

"Wait...quick Maiyu check."

They let each other go and checked the room for the little girl, not being able to find her.

"Rick, it's clear. No Maiyu in the general area."

"Good!" He went back to kissing her. "I should check on her soon." Alara began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Your pretty much a dad now."

"But I'm not really a dad. I'm just babysitting Maiyu. I figure that I should start learning how to raise a child now. However, I don't know about caring for a baby."

Alara giggled, "Get one of your cousin's to let you take care of their babies."

"Okay, I'm not going to do that now. I'd rather be caring for Maiyu, besides I don't have a nurser in my house."

"Yet."

"Yet?"

"When we have our first child, you'll need to make one."

"Alright. I have no problem doing that. Wow! You really love to talk about that."

"I just love to think in the future. It's going to happen really soon."

"Five months is our wedding and after that it's whatever you want."

"Want to start planning?"

Rick thought for a second and said, "Sure, I have nothing better to do. Let's get this done."

They were interrupted by Maiyu knocking on the door, "Aeru? Ally?"

"Come in Maiyu!"

Maiyu opened the door and walked in, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Alara got up and walked up to her and picked her up, cradling her in her arms. She turned and walked back to the bed, where she sat a still half asleep Maiyu.

"Good morning!"

Rick and Alara replied in unison, "Good morning Maiyu!"

"What are you guys doing?"

Alara replied, "We're trying to plan our wedding."

Maiyu immediately got a jolt of energy, "Really!? When is it?" She said enthusiastically

"We decided that it will be in May."

"Where?"

"We haven't decided. We do have one thing planned."

"What?"

"You'll be the flower girl. If you want."

"Of course!"

"Well then it's settled."

Rick chuckled, "I guess it is. However, when in May is the wedding taking place?"

"Hmmm...I guess around mid May."

"I guess we have to think of it a bit more."

A knock was heard at the front door of the house. Rick went downstairs to answer it, leaving Maiyu and Alara chatting. When he opened the door he was met by his mom, Alara's mom, his grandmothers, Alara's grandmothers, Amber, Serenity, Seras, Jean's mother, Gloria, and some other females.

"Oh...hello ladies! How may I help you this early in the morning?"

His mom said, "Me and the other ladies came here to help you and Alara plan your wedding."

Rick sweatdropped, "Wait, now? We got engaged last night. Good Arceus! You people work fast. Does nothing interesting happen here?"

"A lot happens here. You know that. We just made some phone calls last night and got some people that helped me and Keera plan our weddings. Now may we come in?"

"Sure."

All the females entered the house and everyone sat down in the dining room. Rick was surprised to see Seras and Jean's mother, Leah, were actually sitting next to one another.

Alara's mom then asked, "Where's my daughter?"

"Oh she's upstairs." Rick called Alara down to the dining room.

Alara walked downstairs with Maiyu cradled in her arms, she noticed everyone, "Oh! Hi everyone! What are you all doing here at this hour."

Her mom replied, "We're here to help you two plan your wedding."

"How did you set all this up in the matter of hours?"

"Aeru isn't the only one with connections."

"Okay then, let's see what you guys have." Alara said as she sat down next to Rick.

"Okay first let's worry about the date."

"Me and Rick thought it will be a good idea to get married in mid-May. We haven't decided what day though."

"Well do you recall what we have on May? A certain celebration."

"Ummm...I guess I have. Sorry."

Alara's mom sighed, "It's the Bloom Festival."

Rick asked, "Wait, so you have a Harvest Festival and a Bloom Festival?"

"Yes, for each stage of life. The Bloom Festival lasts for two days and there's a little extra."

"What?"

"It takes place in the middle of May. This year it ends on May 14th and we believe that it fits for a great wedding day."

"How?"

"You wanted a wedding in the middle of May, and the Bloom Festival celebrates new beginnings. It's the days when we all begin anew, any past faults are forgiven, and the people just get a fresh start."

"I would expect that on New Years."

"We like the symbolism. So what do you two say?"

Rick and Alara spoke among themselves with Maiyu listening in.

Alara finally responded, "Sounds perfect!"

"That's great dear! At least we have a day. So where should it be?"

Aldira suggested, "Maybe in the Chief's Court. Like you and your husband were married."

"I don't think so. They should be married somewhere more private."

Rick then said, "Actually I want to make it public."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want anyone to be left out of the wedding. Of course you'll need an invitation to be at the ceremony itself and the reception, but I want the people to be a part of it."

Aldira chuckled to herself, "Oh Aeru, kindhearted as always. So where do you want the wedding to be at?"

"I actually thought of that. You see, I was driving around for leisure a few days ago and I found a place that you guy haven't told me about."

Alara arched an eyebrow, "Did I overlook something?"

"Yes, it's all the way to the East side of the Sanctuary. It has a lot of gardens and it looks like a temple."

"Oh, I know what you're talking about. I forgot to show you it. It's called Illia's Memorial."

"Illia? The first Warlord?"

"Yes. That's where her body is buried. Her's and her husband's. Let's see if I have it correctly, it's surrounded by a gigantic garden, bigger than your own. It has a huge courtyard with an mausoleum and an obelisk at the end. You can see the obelisk from here actually. Just look outside the window."

Rick got up and looked outside the window and saw the obelisk, "That's the place. I've been wondering what that obelisk in the distance was. I feel like it's perfect."

Aldira's mother then said, "Aeru, that sounds perfect. Illia's Memorial is a beautiful place, and many celebrations are performed there. However, so many celebrations but I have never seen a wedding there."

"Abuela (grandmother), do you think it'll be a good place to celebrate?"

"Of course! But it's really your decision. All I want is to see you married and maybe also to see my great grandchildren."

"Abuela! That'll come in its own time."

His grandmother and the other girls began to laugh and Rick sat down and sunk in his seat. Alara began to laugh harder when she saw him sink in his seat.

Seras began to speak, "So who do you want to participate in the wedding?"

Alara stopped laughing and answered her, "Oh, I guess we should pick our participators."

Alara's mother nodded, "Right! Let's get this out of the way. Both of you need to pick your maids of honor and Aeru should pick his best man."

Rick replied, "Wait, I have to pick a maid of honor? Isn't that for the bride?"

"Not here. Here both the bride and groom choose a maid of honor, or a female that is very special to them that is not their mothers."

"Oh!...Seras."

Seras was then heard yelling, "YES!

"I guess you really wanted to be a maid of honor."

"Yep, that's another thing I can check off on my bucket list."

Rick chuckled and noticed Jean's mom rolling her eyes, but with a smile still on her face.

"Okay then, I have Seras."

Alara didn't hesitate to give her answer, "Amber."

Amber replied, "Naturally."

Alara's mom chuckled, "And who's your best man Aeru?"

Rick replied, "Jean of course."

"That was settled quickly as well. Okay, I'm turning the rest over to Mrs. Purie, my own wedding planner. She'll help you two with the rest."

An older looking Gardevoir began to speak, "It's an honor to meet you Warlord Aeruthael."

Rick replied, "Charmed!"

"Alright, let's get started."

[Three Hours later]

All the women left the house and Rick was left alone with Alara and Maiyu.

"Oh Arceus that was exhausting!"

Alara giggled, "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. It's better to get it out of the way now then later."

"True, but it I was not expecting to do that a few hours after our engagement. I expected it in the following few weeks."

"Oh well, now we have time to eat breakfast."

"Please, I'm so hungry."

"Alright, breakfast coming up." Alara put Maiyu down on the couch and turned the tv on for her. "Okay Maiyu, watch some tv and stay in our line of sight."

Maiyu gave her a wide smile and a thumbs up and began to watch tv. Rick went to the study and began to do some at home work. As he was working he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. He grunted in pain and held his head, the pain kept disappearing and reappearing just as quickly as he got comfortable. Alara heard his grunts and went to the study, where she saw him gripping his head.

She walked in and asked him, "Dear? Are you alright?"

Rick calmed down and answered her, "Yeah, just got a crazy headache."

Before Alara could give him a reply, she notice a strand of Rick's hair had turned black.

Rick noticed her surprised look and asked her, "Are you okay Ally?"

"Yes, it's just that your hair turned black."

"What!?"

Alara teleported a mirror to her hands and gave it to Rick. Rick quickly looked at his reflection and saw the black strand of hair. He immediately knew what was going on.

Alara was still curious, "Do you know what it is?"

"Yeah. The Alpha Essence placing itself within my body. The good news is that the Alpha Essence did not bring Alpha with it."

"Could Alpha come back?"

"I highly doubt it. I saw it getting obliterated when I gave up my powers. Also, the Alpha Essences were created after I got rid of Alpha. They made using my Project DNA. So I'm positive that Alpha can't come back."

"And if he does?"

Rick sighed and stood up, "If he does come back..." He grabbed a pistol, gave it to Alara, and then pointed it at his head. "Then don't let him get out. Not here in the Sanctuary."

Alara was afraid now, "Rick, you're scaring me."

Rick took the pistol away from her and disassembled it, "Sorry, it's just that I don't want the nightmare to return."

"So me killing you will fix anything? You know I can't do that."

"If it comes down to it, you'll have to."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want the people I care about the most to be in harms way. Alpha destroys anything and everything. He is quite literally and metaphorically a demon. No remorse, no morals, no restraints, no sympathy."

"Rick?..."

"He can't and he won't come back. I got rid of him forever. Just like I got rid of Nova."

"Nova? Is it a Project?"

"No, its the creature that the Projects were modeled after. Team Rocket made the Projects to emulate Nova's power. They managed to make a machine that could open another dimension. What came out of it was a creature that Team Rocket called Nova. Nova was very intelligent, as it could speak vocally to the humans perfectly, it seemed to know all about the world, and it had incredible strength. It gave Team Rocket the idea to create the Projects and even mapped them out. The problem was that Nova kept getting stronger the longer he stayed alive. So when I was created I went to meet Nova at the portal room. That's when I found out how evil Nova was and fought it. I won by luck. I managed to knock it back into the portal, I sealed it, and destroyed the only means of opening it again. I obliterated all the machinery and blueprints to making it and operating it, I even destroyed the gate. My seal makes it impossible to open the gates again. However, because of that creature my life was turned upside down and Giovanni made it all happen."

Alara walked up to him and hugged him, "At least it's over. Alpha is gone and you got rid of that Nova thing."

"Yeah. I guess I did. Anyways, it's not the time to worry about my past." Rick and Alara then noticed Maiyu walking into the study. Rick got up and picked her up. "Hey Maiyu, what do you want to do today, sweetie?"

Maiyu thought for a second, "Well first eat breakfast, then I want to go for a walk."

"Alright! We'll eat and then go for a walk."

"Yay!"

Rick and Alara laughed and Alara ran back to the kitchen after remembering that she was still cooking.

Thirty minutes later, Rick, Alara, and Maiyu left the house and began their walk. Maiyu was walking in between Rick and Alara, holding both their hands as they walked. The three happily walked down the street and were beginning to walk pass the condo building, where they surprisingly ran into Jean and Seras.

Jean got their attention, since they were on the other side of the street. "Hey guys!"

Rick and company looked across the street and saw the couple. Alara called back, "Hi guys! Fancy seeing you guys here."

Rick, Alara, and Maiyu walked across the street and met up with them. Maiyu climbed onto Seras and rode on her back.

Jean asked Rick, while the girls chatted, "So bro, where are you guys headed?"

Rick replied, "Well me and the 'family' were going to go for a walk and then head to the park so Maiyu can play for a while."

"Ah! Getting used to the family aspect of life now? Well you're about to get married and you take care of Maiyu like if she was your daughter. I see your family life to be pretty positive."

They both laughed and Rick said, "Well I have to get used to it. So how have things been with Seras and your mom?"

"Well they're getting along...to a point. They're spending more time together and my mom has stopped insulting her. However, she is still very fickle about Seras. I don't know what she thinks about her now. However, as long as they're getting along, I couldn't be happier...well until I get married anyways."

"When aren't you going to propose to Seras anyways?"

"Oh when I'm able to buy my own place and after your wedding, I'll do it."

"One, I can just buy you a house in the city. Two, why after my wedding?"

"Because I don't want to feel like I'm 1-uping you. Also, please don't. I like knowing that I can provide for my future wife."

"Well if that's how you feel. I can understand why. Also, I don't feel like you'll be 1-uping me. If you want to marry her, then propose. I have no problem. The world's focus isn't on my marriage, that's my own thing. If you love her then you should propose."

Jean chuckled, "Alright, but I still need to buy my own house. Nothing too big. Just enough room for a family. Parents and a few pups or chicks."

"Well they most likely will come out as pups because of Seras."  
"Think about it, my mom is a Flareon. However, I came out as a Torchic, but my sister came out as an Eevee. I'm a Blaziken now and she's a Flareon."

"That IS weird. Oh well, what happened is in the past."

"Amen to that brother. Anyways, me and Seras have to go. We have a date today."

"Oh a day out? Where to?"

"I want to take her to the Azura Lake in the 8th den."

"Nice pick. I haven't gone there personally. Can I ask where Dartz is?"

"In his house, talking to Ashlyn. He missed her too much during Christmas."

"Well there's been a lot of romance in the air lately. I'm not surprised that he found his own piece of the fun."

"What makes me sad is that he can't hold her everyday. We need to get Omega on our side, but that's a stretch."

"I know. Oh well, I'll find a way. Well take care brother."

Rick and Jean hugged goodbye and Rick said goodbye to Seras. Rick, Alara, and Maiyu were back on their way to the park with Rick and Alara swinging Maiyu. Soon they made it to the park and Rick let Maiyu go to the playground.

"Alright Maiyu, go ahead and play, but stay where I can see you."

Maiyu gave him a thumbs up, "You got it!"

"Alright sweetie! Go enjoy yourself."

Maiyu kissed Rick and Alara on their cheeks and skipped towards the playground. Rick and Alara sat down on a bench and watched as Maiyu played. Rick took a minute to relax and chuckle at Maiyu having fun. He couldn't explain why he felt so happy, but it seemed that Alara picked up his emotions.

She said to him, "You know, one day we'll take our child here to play."

Rick smiled at her, "That we will, but for now we have Maiyu to take care of."

"I'm just thinking about the future."

"I have a feeling that I should be more worried about your pregnancy than our engagement."

"Why?"

"Well you used to have a temper. When you're pregnant you will be moody as hell and I'll be the only living creature anywhere near you for a long period of time for months. So my chances of survival are low."

Alara laughed, "Oh you'll survive." She snuggled up to him and sighed. "Pretty soon you and me will be husband and wife, and some time afterwards we'll be mom and dad." She said as she put her hand in his.

"That we will." He kissed her. "That we will."

[Later that night]

It was midnight, Maiyu was back at her house, and Rick and Alara were getting ready to go to bed. Alara was more tired than Rick and wanted to go to bed quickly.

Alara said to Rick, "This has been quite the day. I'm so tired."

Rick held her close and told her, "Well go to sleep if you're tired."

"I'll just do that. I love you!"

"I love you too! Goodnight love."

"Goodnight." She said as she kissed Rick.

They laid down to go to sleep. Rick wrapped his arms around Alara and both drifted off into a deep sleep. However in the middle of the night Alara had a disturbing dream.

[Alara's Dream]

Alara woke up in a weird chamber, covered in doors, hallways, and chains everywhere. Alara looked around before standing up and dusting herself off.

"Where am I? What is this place?"

She began to walk down the hall and then decided to try a door.

"Well it can't hurt."

She opened a door and walked in. When she went through the door she realized that it took her back to the same hallway. She decided to test this theory by opening the door and sticking her arm inside. When she did that she saw as her hand appeared out of an open door on the other end of the hall.

"What the hell!? Okay, so the doors are useless. Might as well walk down these halls until I find something."

She sighed as she walked down the hallways and turned down the corridor. She kept walking for a while and somehow returned to the original hallway, or a similar hallway.

"The hell is going on? I'm really getting confused now. How am I going to get out of here? If only Rick was here."

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a crash. She turned around and saw one of the doors destroyed and something walking out of the opening. Her heart almost jumped when she saw Rick walking out of the opening.

"Rick!? Dear, what are you doing here? I mean I'm happy to see you, but how did you get here?"

Rick didn't reply, instead he walked pass her and blew up another door and stepped inside. Alara was now completely confused and decided to follow him. When she stepped through the door she noticed that there was no floor and quickly caught the edge so she wouldn't fall.

"Fuck! How the hell? But Rick walked in here." She then concentrated her energy and made a ball of light to see what was at the bottom. When the light ball reached the bottom she saw that there were spikes at the end and no sign of Rick. "No fucking way! I'm out of here."

Alara tried to pull herself up, but the edge was beginning to give way. As she began to fall a hand caught her and carried her out of the room. When she looked at who saved she was it was Rick.

"Rick? How did you? Nevermind! How did you do that and why are you ignoring me?"

Rick didn't respond again, but instead walked towards another door, blew it up, and stepped inside. Alara followed, but this time she stuck her hand in and began to feel for a floor. When she could feel the floor she stepped inside and made another light ball to see where she was going. The room seemed older than the rest in the entire area. It was decayed and worn out, rust on the walls, old torches that weren't lit. To make things worse, there were pictures on the walls that depicted death, plague, and destruction. Chaos in general.

Alara was so confused on what was happening until she noticed the room had a dead end, making her wonder where Rick went. She moved the light ball towards the wall to investigate and noticed writing on the wall, 'He who is first will overcome the rest, he who is dark shall overcome the light, for in the beginning didn't darkness exist before the light, THE PUZZLE IS DONE! THE PUZZLE IS DONE!'

Alara carefully read the writing again and said, "This makes no sense...unless..." She took a deep breath and said, "Let there be light."

Immediately all the torches in the room lit up and the wall disappeared. Alara cautiously walked forward and examined the new area. It was a new hallway, but with only one room at the end of the hall. Alara looked at the door and saw that it was heavily sealed, chains on the wall attached to the wall, wedges everywhere, and cleansing tags.

Alara walked up to the door and felt something at her feet. When she looked she saw her sword on the ground. She was confused on why it was there, but decided to pick it up and take it if things got ugly. She collapsed the sword into its pistol form and walked cautiously towards the door. When she got there she tried to see if she could open the door, but to no avail.

"Are you kidding me? The only way to go forward and it's bared shut. Damn it!" She turned to leave and heard the chains break, the cleansing tags tearing, the wedges dropping to the floor, and the door slowly opening. Alara turned around and stared at the now open door with eyes full of fear. "What the fuck?" She whispered to herself.

Alara stepped forward and stuck a hand into the room and then worked up the courage to walk inside. As she stepped inside she was met with a staircase going downstairs. Alara took a deep breath and walked down the stairs until she found herself in a large chamber, surrounded by torches.

Alara looked at the walls and saw more of the macabre paintings as in the last room. She suddenly looked forward and saw Rick sitting down on the floor with staring at a sarcophagus. The sarcophagus was was completely black, was covered in chains and barbed wire, and had spikes holding the doors in place. Alara looked up and gasped when she saw a picture of a demon above the sarcophagus.

She looked back at Rick and slowly walked up to him, "Rick? What are you doing? Please answer me."

Rick turned and looked at her, but didn't respond. He kept looking at her and Alara suddenly heard the chains around the sarcophagus break.

She gasped, "Rick...what is in that thing?" Rick didn't reply and Alara heard more chains break. "Rick! What is in it!?" He kept looking at her and Alara heard the sarcophagus let steam go out and the spikes disconnected from it. The doors of the sarcophagus opened up and Alara gasped again when she saw a demon inside the sarcophagus. The demon was at least seven feet tall, had black bat-like wings that were covering its chest, its arms were stretched over its chest. Suddenly the demon opened its eyes and growled. Its eyeballs were pitch black and its irises were glowing red.

"Rick! What is that thing!? Answer me!"

Rick finally responded, "Alpha."

Suddenly a barbed tentacle shot through Rick's chest, lifted him and swung him in air, and slammed him to the floor before returning to Alpha's back. Alara quickly went to check on Rick, but he suddenly shattered like glass and disappeared. Alara was left wondering what was happening, but her attention returned to Alpha after she heard him roar and step out of the sarcophagus.

Alara scurried back and aim her pistol at Alpha, who laughed maniacally at the sight, "Oh please! Put the gun away, it won't do anything to me." Alara immediately shot him five times, but Alpha quickly regenerated from the shot. "What did I tell you?" His voice was, as you would expect, demonic.

Alara stood up and said to him, "You...you...you're Alpha?"

"I see that my reputation precedes me. Let me guess, you're Aeruthael's mate. Alara, is it?"

"How do you know who I am?"

Alpha laughed, "I know everything about Aeruthael. He thought he got rid of me. In truth, he got rid of my power over him, and threw me away like trash. However, I was never far away. I was always nearby waiting for the day for me to regain control. However, he has found ways to keep me away. For twelve years I have stayed in the confinement of this prison and soon I'll find a way out."

Alara glared at him and took turned her pistol into its sword state and pointed it at Alpha, "Stay away from him! He doesn't need you in his life, not to torment him."

"Torment?" He chuckled. "That's an understatement."

Alara became enraged and swung her sword at Alpha. Alpha turned to smoke when the sword reached him and Alara went looking for him. She couldn't find him but could hear his laughter emanating in the room.

"Where are you!?"

"Look at the painting you idiot." Alara looked at the painting of Alpha above the sarcophagus and saw it had sprung to life. "Surprising, isn't it?"

"How?"

"Demon."

"What do you want from me?"

"I just wanted to test you out."

"Test me?"

Alpha began to laugh and moved within the walls, changing his shape to match the painting, "I need to know, how powerful you really are. I know that you have been training with Aeruthael, but I want to see your strength for myself."

(Battle Music: **Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy 8**)

Alara braced herself for an attack and Alpha launched himself from the painting and landed in the middle of the chamber, shapeshifting. Alara kept her blade up as she saw Alpha transforming into something else. Soon Alpha stopped his transformation and faced Alara in the shape of a boar. He backflipped and charged at Alara. She dodged the incoming attack and shot at Alpha, unable to dent his hide.

"CRAP!"

Alpha spoke, "I told you that that weapon won't even phase me." He stomped on the ground and caused a shockwave, launching Alara back. "So you're not very tough."

Alara got up and looked for a weak point on Alpha, "I'm not done with this fight."

"Whatever you say."

He charged at her again and jumped out of the way and slashed at him, cutting him but he immediately healed himself. Alara swung at him again, but Alpha caught the blade in his teeth. Alpha lifted her up and threw her away.

"Damn it! Why can't I hurt him?"

"Done trying? I am." Alpha said as he walked over to her. "That was disappointing."

Alpha soon lifted himself up to stomp on Alara. Just then she saw a giant eye on his belly, prompting an idea to pop into her head. She charged a **Shadow Ball** and hit the eye, making Alpha roar in pain and fall over.

"Yes, he has a weak point."

Alara got back up and began to slash at the eye of the overturned Alpha. After a few hits Alpha jumped to his feet and shapeshifted again, this time into a wolf. Alara looked at him with a shocked expression.

"What? Did you forget I can do this? Now die!"

He lifted his head and took in a deep breath. He then howled at Alara, sending her back. Alara quickly jumped to her feet and shot at Alpha, who moved at a high rate of speed and dodged the bullets. He eventually pounced on her and pinned her down. He brought his claws out and tried to stab Alara, she teleported away and slashed Alpha's back. She couldn't tell where the weak point was right now and kept slashing away until something happens.

Alpha looked back at her and fired a beam from his mouth, knocking the sword off of Alara's hands. Alara quickly tried to go for the sword but a cage of tentacles covered it, making Alara unable to retrieve it. Just then Alara took the opportunity to get a good look at Alpha and noticed a third eye on Alpha's forehead.

"So you're not going to let me get my sword?"

"This is a fight of skill. So use what you have."

Alara smiled after getting an idea, "Then come at me." With that she prepared her right fist.

Alpha growled and charged towards her, bearing his fangs. Alara waited until he was in range and punch Alpha in the third eye, making him flinch. Alara took the opportunity and jumped into the air and charged an attack.

"Hey Alpha! My mate taught me how to do this one. It took a while, but I made up my own move. Mystic Rain!"

The attack in Alara's hands shot down towards Alpha in multiple beams. Alpha tried to dodge all the attacks, but Alara's punch crippled his reaction time and one of the beams hit him through the air and exited out the back of his head.

Alara dropped to the ground and quickly picked up her now free sword. She knew Alpha wasn't finished yet and watched as Alpha transformed again. The next form made Alara look at Alpha with disgust. Alpha took the form of Rick, but with black and red hair, and laughed at her.

"So Alara, what do you think?"

"How dare you!"

"I see I struck a nerve there." Alpha laughed and began to emulate Rick's voice. "I have to admit, you're more resourceful than I thought you would be. It seems like Aeruthael trained you well. Now let's see you battle me, while I use his powers."

"How..."

"I'm going to have some fun."

Alpha immediately disappeared and reappeared next to Alara and kicked her to a wall. Alara got up and began to shoot at Alpha, and him dodging all the bullets at extreme speeds. Alpha eventually made his way to Alara and grabbed her by her neck and picked her up. He began to laugh and threw her across the room. Alara caught herself with **Psychic** and took aim with a **Shadow Ball** and fired it at Alpha. Alpha quickly fired a **Night Slash** from his blades and split the Shadow Ball in half and nearly hit Alara.

Alara said as she dodged the attack, "Crap crap crap CRAP!"

She ducked under the attack and fired at Alpha, who continue to dodge the attacks. Alara decided that shooting at him wouldn't work and so she charged at him with her sword. Alpha stood still and waited for her to get close. Alara soon reached them and swung at him, soon being surprised that her attack was blocked. She looked up and saw that Alpha drew his own sword.

"Surprised that I have a sword."

"It's not Shadowbane."

"Like I need that weak sword. I have some pride. I don't like hand-me-downs. Anyways, I don't just have one sword."

Alara knew what he meant when she felt something cut her shoulder. She looked and saw another sword, similar to the first. Two black bladed swords with demonic skull guards.

Alara held her shoulder and wondered why she was feeling pain in a dream, "Why...why does it hurt? Isn't this a dream?"

"Yes, but a dream in my own terms. Let me show you." He immediately slashed her again. "Again!" He cut her again. "One more time!" Alara received one more cut. "The more, the merrier!" He cut her again on her gut. "You have quite the pretty face. Would be quite the unfortunate shame if it had a blemish...or a cut." He quickly cut her cheek and Alara fell to the ground in pain, panting, whimpering, calling out for Rick or anyone to help her. "Aww, what wrong? Got a little boo-boo, did you?"

Alara whimpered and said, "You're a monster."

"A monster? No...I'm a devil!" He walked up to her and put his foot on her stomach, causing her to scream in pain from the wound on her gut. "I'm not done with the fun yet." He then laughed again and turned into his original form. He soon brought out one of his fingers and a ball of red energy began to form on it. He began to chuckle and fired a red beam at Alara, hitting her in the gut, forcing a bloodcurdling scream to come from her. He kept shooting her various time until she gave one louder scream.

[Reality]

Alara woke up and shot up from the bed, screaming and waking Rick. Rick quickly tried to calm her down.

"Ally! Ally! Dear! Calm down!"

Alara stopped screaming and began to pant in fear. She looked around and saw she was back in Rick's room and she looked at Rick.

"Rick?"

"Yeah, it's me. What's wrong?" She immediately threw herself and hugged Rick. She began to cry and Rick tried to comfort her. "Babe, it was just a nightmare."

"It's felt too real."

"Dear, what happened in the nightmare?"

Alara knew that she probably shouldn't tell Rick, so that she didn't make him worry about his past demons. "I don't really remember. I just remember you disappearing and me being attacked by something."

"Hey, nothing can hurt you now. I'm here."

Alara held him closer and kissed him, "I know you are and I know you'll always be."

Rick smiled at her, "Okay, I'm not sure if it's too early for us to have a moment."

"What time is it?"

"Three eighteen in the morning."

"Hmmm...seems like an okay time for me."

"Well I got you to cheer up."

Alara laughed, "You did. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anyways, if you need me to keep watch for you tonight then I'll do it."

"No, I want you to rest."

"I don't mind Ally. If it'll help you rest."

"I'll be fine. It was just a nightmare. Thank you for worrying."

"How can I not worry? You're my wife to be. I have to protect you, no matter what. Also, it's my job. Well then go to sleep. I love you."

"I love you too."

Rick and Alara laid back down and Alara quickly drifted off to sleep. Rick, however, stayed awake to look after her. Two hours later, Rick's eyes were getting very heavy and he was too exhausted. He suddenly felt X appearing in the room.

"X, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see why you're refusing to sleep."

"I can't sleep if Alara is having trouble. I want to make sure she's okay."

"Aeru, I know how you want to be a good mate to her, but it doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice your...I'm going to stop talking before I say some completely incorrect bullshit. Being a mate does mean sacrificing yourself for your mate if you need to. However, you're protecting her from her dreams."

"She had a terrible nightmare. I want her to be calm...Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Can you enter her dreams and keep her safe?"

"I can. I'm guessing that it's the best thing to do if you're to go to sleep."

"It'll really help thank you."

X nodded and disappeared. Rick laid back down and wrapped his arms around Alara and kissed her forehead. He then heard her give a happy moan. He looked down and saw her smile and apparently return the kiss, but she kissed his chest.

"I guess she's having a nice dream. Good to know." With that he drifted off to sleep.

[Alara's Dream]

Alara's new dream was much happier than her last dream. This time she was dreaming about being a mother. She was cooking and Rick was helping her cook. She looked to her side and saw a baby Ralts crawling on the floor.

Alara giggled at the sight of the baby Ralts and picked her up, "Hey there Sheerah! How's mommy's little girl doing?" Sheerah hugged her and kissed her cheek. "I love you too."

Rick walked up to them and took Sheerah, "Hey sweetie, looks like you woke up from your nap. How did you get down here though? I'm going to have to buy another crib for the living room. Oh well, give daddy a kiss." Sheerah quickly kissed Rick on the cheek and Rick gave her back to Alara.

"So what are you going to do today dear?"

"I don't know, probably head to Jean's house to get an update for today..." He was interrupted by a call. "Hello? Yes this is Warlord Aeruthael. He did what? Oh okay. I'll be there in a minute." He turned to Alara. "Save me my dinner, I have to head to work for a bit."

"Aww, why?"

"I kinda gave Sage the task of performing the surprise missile inspection."

"And?"

"Now he's very surprised...and a bit burnt."

"Oh! So you better get on that."

"Yeah, I'll be back soon." Rick then noticed Sheerah whimpering and reaching out for him. "Aww sweetie, I know you don't like it when I go to work late, but I have to do my job." Sheerah teleported to Rick's arm and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. "I'll be back as soon as possible. I don't like being away from you either, but it's only for a little while. I promise, tomorrow I'll take the day off tomorrow and play with you all day." Sheerah gave Rick a cute little laugh and let him go. Rick lifted her up and kissed her and gave her back to Alara. He then kissed Alara and waved goodbye before leaving the house.

Alara sighed and said to Sheerah, "Oh well, that's your daddy. Always on call for something, but that's all with me. So looks like we'll be having a girl's night today. Just you and mommy." Sheerah gave Alara wide smile and snuggled up to her mom. "I guess you like the idea. So let's have some fun together."

Sheerah was giving Alara a giggle, but then stopped out of nowhere, complete frozen. Alara was confused by this and tried to get her to move. Sheerah was still frozen, and by this time Alara was scared. Alara checked to see if sprinkling some water onto her face would work, but when she tried to open the faucet it wouldn't budge. She was confused now, things were frozen in place.

She looked back at Sheerah and suddenly Sheerah spoke, "Ready for round two?"

After that happened the entire room shattered like glass and Sheerah became Alara's sword. Alara looked around and saw that she was once again withing Alpha's chamber.

She gave an irritated yell and said, "Now that was low!"

Alpha appeared from the floor and asked her, "Now ask me if I care. Now then let's continue where we left off, shall we?"

Alara lifted her sword and pointed it at Alpha. Alpha vanished and tackled Alara. Alara fell to the ground and Alpha drew his blades.

"You know Alpha, I was having a nice dream until you ruined it."

"Like I care. Anyways, shall we play 100 Wounds again."

Alara quickly tried to grab her sword, but Alpha stepped on it. He lifted his sword to slash her, but he was suddenly knocked off of her. Alara opened her eyes and saw X standing in the room, facing Alpha. X suddenly walked up to her, picked her up, and gave her her sword.

"X? What are you doing here?"

"Rick wasn't sleeping because he was worried. I went to confront about it and he asked me if I could protect you as you slept. I didn't suspect Alpha to be the reason for your nightmare."

"Are you going to fight him?"

"I'm not going to dance with him."

"He's a Project...demon...thing."

"And I'm a time being."

"Good point. Kick his ass."

X nodded and looked back at Alpha as he got up.

Alpha looked at X and roared at him, "I am the darkness, I am destruction, I AM ALPHA! How dare you intrude in my business!"

X yawned, "Are you going to talk or fight?" X said as he drew out Shadowbane.

"Oh it's a fight that you want? Very well, if you're eager to die then who am I to stop you?"

(Battle Music: **Deeper by I.O.N**)

Alpha immediately lunged at him and X dodged his attack. Alpha turned back around and began to slash at X. X dodged the attacks and managed to cut Alpha in the shoulder.

"I'm surprised how predictable you are. So much for king of the Projects."

Alpha growled at him and fired a **Shadow Ball** at X. X caught the attack in his hand and crushed it. Alpha began to become enraged and violently pounced on X, pinning him to the ground. He then shot a **Hyper Beam** down at X. A huge dust cloud followed the attack and Alpha used **Psychic** to clear the dust from in front of him. He saw that X was not under him and he began to frantically look for him, but to no avail.

Suddenly Alpha heard someone behind him, "Hey! Behind you!"

Alpha quickly turned around and was met by a Focus Punch from Alpha, sending him flying back and out of the dust cloud. X quickly charged energy onto Shadowbane and swung at the air, firing a red energy blade at Alpha. Alpha sprang to his feet and was hit by the blade on the gut, launching him to the wall, making the wall falling on him.

Alara was surprised by the fact of how powerful X was, easily defeating Alpha.

Alara asked X, "How did you do that?"

X chuckled, "Alpha's rage easily gets the better of him. His powers aren't completely back, so he's easy right now."

He turned back around when he heard Alpha move within the pile of rubble. Suddenly, all eight of Alpha's barbed tentacle shot from the rubble and attacked X. X began to dodge and slash the tentacles rapidly. However, it was too much for him to process and he was tangled up by the tentacles. X tried to get out, but the tentacles had a good wrap on him

X and Alara soon heard a laugh coming from the rubble. Alpha then burst from the pile and laughed at X, "Oh so strong, but not enough. I have to admit, it's been a while since someone put up quite a fight against me. I'm not used to seeing my own blood. But now you're trapped and at my mercy." Alpha then slammed X onto the walls and floor repeatedly. He laughed, "What's wrong? Did your incredible power finally die?"

X smiled and brought out his arm blades to cut himself free from the tentacles, "Nope, I was just wondering to myself if you ever stop talking."

"But how!?"

"I'm a Gallade."

"That explains so much."

"Here's a surprise for you." X lifted his Shadowbane, "Psycho Star Storm!"

With that large balls of energy fell from the ceiling and crash down on a surprised Alpha, who took the hits and knocked some away. He looked to where X originally was and saw that he was gone. Alpha looked to his side and saw X sticking Shadowbane to the ground.

"What are you doing?"

"Bring on the surprises. Psycho Cataclysm!"

Once he called the attack Alpha was launched back by the shockwave. X teleported behind the airborne Alpha and kicked him upwards and teleported again, this time above him. X grabbed Alpha and, with a mighty heave, threw Alpha to the floor. X brought Shadowbane out again and charged a black ball of energy on the tip of the blade and swung down.

Before he fired it at Alpha he yelled, "Dusk Cannon!"

The attack went down towards Alpha like a bolt of lightning. Once the attack him Alpha, it turned into a gigantic column of energy in the center of the room.

X landed on the floor and walked away from the energy column, "And that's how you win a fight."

His victory was short lived when he heard a monstrous roar coming from the column and the attack breaking apart. X turned around and saw Alpha standing in the crater, hurt but standing.

Alpha panted and said, "Alright, you wanted a brawl, now I'll give it to you!"

Alpha began to yell and X could feel his power increasing. Alpha's aura then exploded and was now completely healed.

X chuckled, "You're getting stronger than I imagined."

Alpha scoffed and vanished. He reappeared punching X in the stomach. X went flying back and tried to get up and was met by Alpha kneeing him in the face. Alpha drew his claws and preceded to slash at X, cutting him multiple times, regardless of X's defenses.

X got up from the ground and fired multiple **Shadow Balls** at the charging Alpha. Alpha easily dodged the attacks and reached X. He punched X in the face, then shoulder, then gut. While he was hunched over Alpha kneed him in the face, forcing him upright. Alpha grabbed X and pulled him into a headbutt. He pulled him back into a knee to the stomach, and then he brought his hands together to hit X on the back of the neck.

Alpha stood over the beaten X and said, "Oh how the mighty fall. I have to admit, that was easier than I expected. Now let's take a look at that face of yours." Alpha reached down to take X's hood off, but suddenly he was stopped by Alara shooting at him. He dodged the bullets and knocked the gun away from Alara. He grabbed Alara's neck and began to choke her. "That was the stupidest move you could of done!"

He then heard a voice behind him, "Not really. It gave me time to think of a plan."

Alpha looked back and was kicked off of Alara. Alpha looked at X and saw that he was unharmed.

"How?"

"How I'm alright? You see I'm harder to beat that you would expect. I needed time to think, so I let you believe that you beat me. Just so I could buy myself some time."

"So you played dead? Dirty trick."

"All is fair in love and war."

"So what do you have in store?"

X sighed and said, "I didn't think I'll have to do this. However, it looks like I have no choice."

X quickly began to take off the cloak. However, the hood became black fire that covered his face. Soon a black pillar covered X and made a dust storm. Alpha was staring at the pillar, anxious to see his opponent, while Alara covered her face to protect herself from the debris.

Once the dust settled X emerged from the debris. Alara looked at him with complete amazement. X was wearing black armor, had black wings, Shadowbane split into two separate swords connected by chains to X's hands. The most notable feature was that X was now wearing a mask over his face. The mask was iron and had horns on it, it was black and grey, had eye holes, and had a skull like appearance.

Alpha began to laugh, "Well look at the new and improved you! I never caught your name."

X looked at Alpha and said, "Well let me introduce myself. My name is X, and I'm an Arceus Knight."

"An Arceus Knight?"

"A select number of warriors chosen by Arceus after their deaths to become guardians of his domain. There are very few of us, but we make up for it with our immense strength. We can be either pokemon or humans, there is no bias."

"And what are you to them?"

"I'm in charge of keeping the flow of fate going in its appropriate direction...and take care of all that threaten it."

"Well then, let's finish this fight."

"Couldn't of said it better myself."

They both vanished from Alara's view and she felt shockwaves coursing through various areas of the room. She took a deep breath and concentrated like Rick taught her. She was able to see X and Alpha, but as blurs fight against one another.

She said to herself, "Wow they're fast. I wonder if Rick can move this fast...maybe I might be able to learn how to fight at these speeds."

She stopped talking when she saw them clash in the middle of the room. Their fists met and they were pressing on them, electricity cracking from the force. They both disconnected and tried to knee each other, but to the same results. Hey then headbutted each other, to the same results. X tried to punch him, but Alpha caught his fist. Alpha tried to do the same, but X caught his fist. They began to fight for power until X noticed Alpha's eyes beginning to glow red. X quickly summoned a **Light Screen** to block the upcoming beam.

Once the beam was reflected X let go of Alpha's fist and punched Alpha. Alpha did the same and both combatants returned to super speed fighting. They kept this going until Alpha slashed X's shoulder.

He laughed at X's pain, "Well I finally got you. A nice hit too." He then licked the blood off his blade.

X began to laugh, "You barely scratched me."

"Really?"

X then unexpectedly slashed Alpha across the chest. "Yes. Now that's a cut."

Alpha was beginning to wonder what was up with the enemy in front of him. X wasn't relenting, he wasn't scared, nor was he phased by anything he was doing. Alpha tried to slash him again, but X disappeared and slashed him again on the shoulder. Alpha attacked him again and X dodged the attack, grabbed Alpha's head, and flipped him. Alpha brought a tentacle out to launch X to a nearby wall, and got back up. X immediately got out of the tentacle's hold and charged at Alpha. Turned around, with a **Shadow Ball** in his hands, dodged X's attack, pressed the** Shadow Ball** on X's gut, and launched him to the other side of the room.

X laid on the floor, gripping his gut in pain. Alpha appeared in front of him and tried to punch him. X caught his fist and twisted it until a snap could be heard. He did the same to the other arm, causing Alpha to roar in pain. X, seeing his opportunity, punched Alpha repeatedly until he began to bleed. He then kneed him in his gut and jumped onto his back, and punched him on the back of the neck. X grabbed his head, flipped Alpha over his own head, slammed him to the floor, brought him back up and kicked him into the air.

X took his chances and teleported above him, and began to glow black. X stretched his wings, extended his blades, and absorbed the black energy into his blades. His blades then howled and changed shape into two larger blades.

X yelled at Alpha, "Let's see you take this on. Blades of the Beast!" He then lunged down at an insane speed. X landed on the floor, while Alpha stayed in midair. Suddenly a gigantic black 'X' appeared from Alpha's chest and exploded into a black flaming 'X'.

After his attack X looked at the open sarcophagus and waited until Alpha began to fall. He took a deep breath and ran towards the falling Alpha and drop kicked him towards the sarcophagus.

Alpha caught himself on the doors on the sarcophagus prompting X to yell, "Seal him now!"

After he said that barbed wire wrapped itself around Alpha's neck, wrists, ankles, and waist and pulled him into the sarcophagus. Alpha gave one more demonic roar before the doors closed and X ran and sealed him in the sarcophagus. Psychic chains then appeared and secured the sarcophagus well, to keep Alpha in.

Once it was over, X dropped to his knees and took a breather. Alara walked up to him and thanked him, "Thank you so much X."

"You're welcome. That was a tough battle."

"Did you really have to do it? It's only a dream and I can wake up."

"Alpha would of kept tormenting you if I didn't seal him again. Aeru wanted you to be safe. So I made sure your safety was secure. You won't have to deal with him again. If the seal fails he will have to go elsewhere."

Alara asked X, "Can you tell me about the Arceus Knights?"

"There's not much to say. We're very few, there's two humans, and the rest are pokemon. We're all dead...well except for one of the humans who died and was brought back to life, but as a protector of pokemon. However, he's in another dimension, I believe."

"And the other human?"

"I'm sure Aeru will recognize him if he sees him, but Aeru is not to find out about the Arceus Knights yet. He'll meet them eventually."

Alara then asked, "Will he become an Arceus Knight?"

X took a second to think of his answer, "It's hard to say. He has the credentials, but he's not dead. Oh let him not die, not yet."

"So he WILL become one?"

"I really don't know. We Arceus Knights are not told. Aeru got a task from Arceus and we're supposed to help him...in time."

"Okay I understand. Can you tell me about Alpha?"

"Let me tell you what you should know. He IS a Project, but his actually is debatable. He has abilities that I would associate with demons, but he was created, not summoned...that I'm aware of. His banishment seal finally expired so I had to come here to seal him up again. I believe that he targeted you because you're the closest individual to Aeru, and he cannot touch Aeru anymore."

"So Alpha targeted me to get to Rick?"

"Yes, however you did the right move and didn't tell him. As long as he's in the dark, Alpha can't touch him. He believes that he did away with him a long time ago, and he did."

"I'm not going to tell him then. I'd rather him be sane when we get married."

X laughed and transformed back to his original form, "Don't worry about that. Ow! If he was at full strength, this wouldn't of been so easy to win."

"Wait, he can get stronger?"

"Of course. Many times stronger. Probably stronger than me, but I was showing power restraint. I wanted to see how dangerous he was before I sent him back into that box across the room. Don't worry, he shouldn't bother you anymore."

"I hope so."

X chuckled, "Well, it's time to wake up. It's morning."

"Right! Thank you X!"

"Thank Aeru for sending me to protect you. It was his doing."

"Oh, I WILL thank him."

"Then I'm saying goodbye and leaving both your heads. Goodbye!"

X faded from view and Alara concentrated to wake up from her dream.

[Reality]

Alara woke up from her sleep, yawned, and stretched. She felt something around her waist and saw Rick's are draped around her. She giggled at the sight and rolled him on his back, and then rolled herself on top of him. The action prompted Rick to wake up from his sleep.

He woke up grunting, "Huh? What? Huh?" He saw Alara on top of him, "Oh Arceus!" He was immediately kissed by Alara passionately. He was soon running out of air and managed to pull her off so he could breathe. "Well good morning to you too."

Alara giggled at him, "Just my way of thanking you for sending X to protect me."

"Did you have the nightmare again?"

Alara lied to him, "No, I slept really well. Thank you so much!"

"If I could I would of gone myself. I want to keep you safe."

"Oh well. Since we can't mate, this will have to do as your reward."

Alara quickly kissed him again and Rick held her in place as they exchanged their affections for one another.

**There you go, I introduced Alpha's evil self and I explained who X is...to a point. Now that we know that there is a new threat, this story can take off. So thank you guys for your support so far. I have to admit, this month has been my slowest month since July, but that's understandable. Well thanks guys. The next chapter will be out next week and it will be the first recruitment chapter. Also, one of my friends says that I should make a contest for you guys, however if I do this I'm going to need you guys to tell me what the prizes should be. I know that my friend wants it to be an artwork contest based on the story or a video review on youtube. I found this interesting, but I feel it's too much of a stretch. However, if you guys want to participate in the contest then go ahead, but please give me ideas for the prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Well thank you again guys. Bye!**


	40. Chapter 40: Dossier: Tsu Lieng, Nero, A

**Finally this chapter is out. I'm so sorry for taking so long to write it, I blame my mom and sister for taking my computer so much. I also had some write's block for a day or two. But thankfully the story is back. This turned out to be one of my longest chapters and I love how it came out. I'm trying to beat last month's view record of 3,663 views, but it seems like a stretch because of my slowed rate of writing. Anyways, keep on sending me you reviews, questions, suggestions, and requests. I'm so close to the 200 review mark and I want to see who will be the first person to reach it. That person will get a shout out in the next chapter or the chapter afterwards, depending who hits it first. Story Spotlight: I'm sorry but I have none this time, due to my lack of activity. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Philippines, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Australia, and 5th) Paraguay. Also, I took into consideration the contest idea, but I'm going to hold off on it for a little bit. I'll tell all of you my decision by the next chapter. This gives you guys the chance to work on you submissions if you are going to compete in the contest.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and his dad were in his office at the Military District. Rick was hard at work and his dad was helping him train the soldiers. Rick opened up the dossier files of a few individuals that Mr. Silph provided for him and read the personnel reports.

His dad asked him, "Getting ready to recruit?"

"Yeah, I was thinking that I would get this work done. The faster I build up my war assets the better in this war. Even thought nothing too significant has happened, we need to be ready. Team Rocket is planning something big and I don't want to risk it."

"Good call! Who's first?"

"I decided that I will go recruit this Tsu Lieng girl. She's an information broker here in the Sanctuary, Second Den to be more exact. Her dossier says that she's nineteen years old, but one of the most well informed individuals in this city."

"Well that comes with the job of being an information broker. You're the middle man of all the information that comes into and around your city and even maybe beyond."

"Her dossier says that her connections reach even outside of the Sanctuary. So she will be very useful."

"Then let's not waste any more time. Let's go get her."

After he said that there was a knock at the door. Rick said, "Come in!" Alara soon stepped in and waved at both males. "Ally? What are you doing here?"

Alara responded, "I came here to bring you your lunch. You forgot it at home."

"Aww thanks dear. I would of gotten home hungry."

"What are you two doing?"

"Me and my dad are about to go recruit some of the individuals in the dossier files. So far we're going to try to recruit the individuals Tsu Lieng and Nero."

"Can I tag along?"

"Sure! I'll ask Jean if he wants to tag along as well. He'll definitely want to help." A knock was then heard on the door. "Come in!"

Jean walked in, "Hell yeah I would!"

"How did you even hear that?"

"I'm like Superman, I know when I'm needed."

"Okay, so where were you that time in Vegas."

"I said when I'm needed, not when I want to laugh my ass off."

Rick facepalmed, "Okay, let's just go and get these guys." Rick pressed a button on his office phone. "Dartz, come in."

A reply came, "Dartz here! What's up?"

"I'm going with Jean, my dad, and Alara to go recruit some guys. You're in charge while I'm gone."

"Gotcha! Good luck getting those guys."

"Thanks! Rick out!"

"Dartz out!"

Rick and company soon left his office, took two soldiers with him, and jumped in Rick and Alara's cars. The went up the den transporter to the Second Den, the Business District. They then looked for the information center where Tsu Lieng was said to work at.

Alara asked Rick through the car phone, "Okay, where does she work?"

Xeron replied to him while reading the dossier, "Okay, she works at a place called Eleroke Corp."

"Eleroke?"

"I don't know the origins of the company. All I know is that she works there and is in charge."

"Okay, so I'm guessing we should check the Social Services area for it."

Rick replied, "There's an idea!"

"It should be a few blocks east of here."

"Alright. Turning!"

Rick turned the corner and headed straight to the Social Services area. Almost immediately after they arrived they found the business. It a large building with a fair number of people inside. Rick and company entered the building and walked up to a receptionist.

Rick said to the receptionist, "Hello there. I'm looking for a Ms. Tsu Lieng."

The receptionist didn't look away from her computer and said, "Oh she's in sir. Just go into the elevator and take it up to the top floor. Her consorts should be there to set up an appointment to go see her." She finally looked up to him. "I'm sorry about not seeing you eye to eye. I had to finish some sorting and..." She suddenly recognized Rick and Alara. "Oh! Warlord Aeruthael, Lady Alara, I didn't recognize you. It's an honor to have you here."

"The honor is all mine! So I have to go to the top floor and speak to one of her consorts?"

"Yes. They will be at some desks. Just go to them and state your business."

"Very well. Is this place usually busy?"

"On an average day we can see up to a hundred people. It's very popular for our information broking."

Alara asked the receptionist, "What is information broking?"

"Well I'm a receptionist, but I'll give you the best description I can. What it generally is is the trade and purchase of needed information. If you need to know something, you buy it or trade something for information."

Jean asked, "What kind of information?"

"Whatever you need, really. I'm not too clear on the details."

Rick's dad asked, "Can't people just pick up a book."

"You can, but you can't get every type of information you need from them. If you want a better explanation ask Tsu Lieng herself. She and her family have been in this business for generations. She's be able to tell you what it is in clearer detail."

"Alright, thank you lass."

Rick and his group then got in an elevator and went to the top floor. Once the elevator doors opened they saw a large number of people in seats, talking to consorts, and other information brokers.

Rick walked up to a Gothitelle at a computer, obviously a consort, and asked her, "Hello, is Ms. Tsu Lieng available?"

The Gothitelle looked at Rick and curtsied at the sight of him, his father, and Alara, "Oh hello Warlord Aeruthael, Lady Alara, Warlord Xeron, and Captain Jean. I wasn't expecting people of your caliber to be here. I'm sorry, she's in the building but she's a little busy. She's asked me to hold all appointments for the next few hours. All her appointments have gone to the other brokers for the time. Do you need information."

"No, I just needed to talk to her."

"Well I can tell her you came by and wanted to speak, but I was under clear orders."

"I understand. I'll come back at a better time."

A voice then came from a receiver, "Tina, it's okay. You can send them in."

The Gothitelle, now identified as Tina, replied to the call, "Very well, I'll send them in." She looked at Rick, "Alright, looks like you'll be getting your wish. Her office is down the hall, just turn right at the corner, you can't miss her office."

"Alright thank you!"

"Glad I can help sir and congratulations on yours and Lady Alara's engagement."

"Thank you very much. Good bye!"

The gang took the directions from the consort and walked down the hall until they reached a large door. Rick knocked on the door and received a reply.

The voice from inside said to him, "Come in Warlord Aeruthael!"

Rick opened the door and walked inside. The room was very large, larger than his own office, it was very well organized and decorated. Rick looked to the end of the room and saw a young Gardevoir with light blue hair sitting at a white desk. The Gardevoir got up and curtsied at Rick and his group.

Alara asked her, "Are you Tsu Lieng?"

"I am! It's an honor to have you all here."

Rick said to her, "You seem to have known that we would be coming."

"When you work in this business, you become very informed. I found of that you were coming about twenty minutes ago. So I made sure to clear up my schedule. Please take a seat the couches, I'll join you all there." Every sat down on the couches and Tsu Lieng joined them. "So how may I help you?"

"First let me ask you a quick question that I've wanted an answer to."

"Ask away."

"What is information broking?"

"I'm glad you asked. Information broking is the business of buying, selling, and trading needed information to select buyers and sellers. It's a lucrative business my family had been in for the last two hundred years, and I have to say that I have a gnat for it. But to continue with the explanation, information broking is mainly sold to businesses, organizations, and research facilities."

"Is it legal?"

"I assure you, no personal information is sold. We have a code that forbid us from doing so. People actually come to us to keep their personal information safe. We can however gather information on someone for a client. Mainly private investigators and the like."

"Well that clears that up for now. So let me get to what I wanted to talk to you about. I actually have a request."

"Let me guess, you want me to join your war effort. So you came here to recruit me."

Jean replied, "That's too good of a guess. Care to explain?"

"Of course. I'm an information broker. If I knew you were coming, wouldn't you think that I would know the reason why? I have connections with Silph Co. So I know all about you're recruitment efforts. Mr. Silph is a popular associate of mines."

Alara laughed, "Well that explains a lot."

Rick's dad replied to Alara, "It explains too much to be exact."

Tsu Lieng continued, "Anyways, I accept the offer."

Alara asked her, "You didn't give it a second thought, why not?"

"Because it gives me some excitement. I'll admit, I have never seen combat first hand, but I know I'm valuable."

"Obviously because you seem to be good at your job."

"Yep, I also know that you will be looking for another guy named Nero. I can look for him for you."

"You can do that at a moment's notice?"

"It's the perks of the job. I can't tell you where he'll precisely, but I can tell you where you're more likely to find him." Tsu Lieng got up and walked up to her desk. She sat down, pressed a button, and a holographic screen came up. She began to type and touch the screen until something finally popped up. "You can usually find him in a bar in the third den called Sveeney's."

Jean responded, "Oh I've seen that place. It's not too far from the main military building, or our offices."

Rick replied, "Good to know." Rick looked back at Tsu Lieng, "Hey Tsu Lieng, if you don't mind me asking, do you know any form of combat?"

Tsu Lieng nodded, "I did study and train in the art of Ku Kuro No Michi."

One of the soldiers told Rick, "Way of the Mind. It's a rare and powerful martial art that includes the use of psychic abilities. Very few people actually know how to use it."

"And it matches me perfectly. Like most of our species, I'm a powerful Psychic, however, this martial art requires my power to be amplified so I can mix it with my physical attacks and so it doesn't drain my energy. I will lose energy but very slowly, and I can replenish it."

Rick asked her, "Why have I never heard of this?"

"Because we really don't use it here in the Sanctuary. The martial art was created by Medicham over two thousand years ago. Even Medichams rarely use or do not use the martial art anymore."

"Okay that makes sense. I guess we'll take our leave." Rick offered her his hand. "Welcome aboard."

Tsu Lieng took it and shook it, "It's an honor, and I'm coming with you guys."

Rick arched and eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because I want to see how you handle him."

"Is he a handful?"

"He's a bit of a loner and doesn't like many people. That's mainly because of how people have treated him. That being, badly."

"Why?"

"Because of his father."

"Who's his dad?"

"That's information I cannot give you unfortunately. You'll have to ask him yourself. So let's be off."

"Alright, let's go!"

It took a while to get out of the building, they got into the cars and headed back to the Military District. When they arrived they immediately went to look for the bar.

Alara asked Jean through the car phone, "Alright Jean, where is it?"

"Okay it's on the corner of 18th St. and Winchester Drive."

"Okay, that's nearby. I hope this Nero guy doesn't give us too much trouble."

Tsu Lieng replied, "Well he's not violent, he's just very sarcastic and defensive. That comes with the resentment of his peers."

"I want to know why people hate him so much."

"You'll learn if we see him."

They soon found the bar and went inside. Once inside they saw a fair number of people inside, drinking, talking, enjoying themselves, or wisping away their troubles with a river of alcohol. Rick approached the bartender.

"Hey there!"

The bartender recognized him immediately, "Why hello there Warlord Aeruthael. Fancy seeing you here. Never saw you as the drinking man. Can I get you anything?"

"Nah! I don't drink. Thank you though. I'm actually looking for someone."

"And who might that be?"

"A Gallade named Nero."

"He's right back there in the booth, way back. What do you need from him?"

"I have an offer for him."

"Well good luck. I feel a lot of pity for that boy. People treat him so badly, mainly because of who his dad is."

"I'm still trying to figure out who his father is."

"I can't tell you. Ask him yourself. Also, please forgive him for any attitude he gives you."

"I've heard, I expect it. You seem to care about him."

"He's a good friend when you get to know him. Just like a son, hell he's actually my nephew. His mother is not here anymore and his dad...well he's gone."

"Gotcha! Thank you!"

Rick quickly walked over to the booth that the bartender directed him to and saw a Gallade with dark green skin, almost black, and grey instead of white. The Gallade looked at him as he approached and almost scoffed at the sight of him.

"Are you Nero?"

The Gallade replied, "Yeah, I am! You must be Warlord Aeruthael. What's a big shot like you doing here?"

"I'm here for you."

He then said sarcastically, "Gee, I wonder who I fucked to get this moment."

"I heard you were sarcastic. I'm not here to hurt you. Can you just tell me why people have been do mean to you?"

"Because of my dad."

"And who is he?"

"A really fucked up individual."

"Well that tells me nothing really. Anyways, I'm here because I need your skills in my war effort."

"What good would I be?"

"I heard that you're one of the greatest stealth fighters we have. We could really use you. What do you say?"

"What so you guys can treat me like shit too?"

Tsu Lieng then spoke to him, "Oh shut it Nero! Know your place!"

"Oh great! Tsu, what are you doing here?"

"Well I got recruited and decided to tag along to see how your ass was doing. I see that you've been fixing your problems with a river of sake."

"You sure do know how to flatter."

"I'm not here to play with you like we used to play when we were kids. I'm here to get you off your ass. Being a mercenary is no way for you to live your life."

"And you think that being a warrior in the some special task force is any different than being a merc?"

"I never said that you were safer, but your more secure. That's what I worry about."

Rick, Alara, Jean, and Xeron were just watching the two argue with each other. Xeron and Jean pulled out popcorn to watch the show. Rick and Alara were shaking their heads and waited a few minutes while the two kept arguing.

Nero continued, "Well I'm sorry, but I don't stalk the lives of millions of people."

"I don't stalk them! It's called information broking, jackass! And I don't stalk people! You know how it works!"

"I'm not stupid now!"

"Sometimes I wonder!"

Alara finally stopped them, "Okay stop! Both of you! Okay how do you two know each other?"

Tsu Lieng replied, "We used to be friends when we were little kids, then he left when he was four and returned a few months ago."

"So you're not friends anymore?"

"We still are, but he's been such an ass since he returned."

"So where has he been for the last fifteen years?"

"He was with his trainer on an adventure until they defeated the Unova League Champion. He left with his mom, but she disappeared."

Rick heard this and said to Nero, "So we're alike in a sense."

Nero replied to him, "How?"

"I left when I was little, I lost my parents, joined a trainer, and returned after many years."

"But isn't that your dad?" Nero said, pointing at Xeron.

"Yes, but Arceus brought him and my mom back from the dead for a few more days. Then it'll be pretty empty here again...and a lot quieter. But I'm happy to have them back and I want to find a way to get them back permanently."

"Alright, but at least you get to see your parents. I can't do that."

"How did your parents die...or disappear?"

"My mom is still alive...I hope. My dad is definitely alive and I know where to find him."

"Okay so what happened?"

"My mom was exiled from the Sanctuary."

"Exile? I didn't know that we exiled individuals here."

Alara then told him, "WE don't, the Council DOES."

"Wait, without the consent of the Chief or the Warlord?"

"The Council tends to do a lot of things under the Chief and Warlord's noses. We've pretty much given up trying to stop them...but as long as my grandfather is the head of the Council, we'll have them under control."

"Why not just get rid of the Council?"

"We can't. It's a vital part of the Sanctuary, ever since it was oligarchy."

"When was this?"

"Centuries ago, during a time when the Sanctuary didn't have a Chief for twenty years, the Council was created to lead the Sanctuary. Then the new Chief, Chief Krio, was chosen by the council. Back then to be the Chief you had to be the descendant of Claudius and Illia and be at least twenty one. If there was multiple there would have to be a vote within the Council."

"What happened to the Warlord?"

"The Chief was the Warlord at this time. It didn't separate for another fifty years."

"But Illia was the first Warlord."

"Yes, but she gave the position to her son, who became the Chief. Because of that, both jobs got combined."

"Now everything is so clear."

Rick and Alara looked back at the gang and saw them waiting for them to finish their conversation.

Alara gave them an awkward smiled, "Sorry. Anyways, we have had exiles in the past. However, I thought we stopped doing that since the only crime that can cause it is treason. Which leads me to the question: What did your mother do Nero?"

Nero sighed and said, "She mated with someone she shouldn't of mated with. But it wasn't her fault, she couldn't tell."

"Who did she mate with? And how is it considered treason?"

"I'm not telling."

Tsu Lieng tried to reply to them, "Well his mom mated with..."

Nero immediate covered her mouth with his hand, "No! Oh no you don't! You know me well enough to know you should go giving them the answer."

"Alright, I won't. However, do you accept the offer or not?"

"I don't know. I wasn't expecting you to come with them and make this awkward."

"Just accept it."

He scoffs, "Fine! But you'll have to help me with something first."

"What is it?"

"I need you to find a target for me."

"I thought you were going to quit being a merc? You even promised me."

"I didn't promise you anything! Listen, you want me on this team or not?"

Tsu Lieng growled at him and sighed, "Fine! Who do you need to find?"

"A human in Pastoria City named Seth Kerry."

"Consider it done!"

Rick immediately asked, "So you're going to kill someone and you want us to help? Are you insane? You are telling this to the commander of the army and the guards. Saying that to me is like trying to rob a guard station."

Nero chuckled, "Well you might be happy to hear that the target is a Team Rocket member with information on the Sanctuary. So let me ask you, will you as me?"

Rick sighed, "When do we leave?"

"As soon as Tsu gets me the information we'll be off."

They all looked at Tsu Lieng and her fiddling on her Poketch until something came up.

She scoffed and said, "Alright, he's staying at a hotel in Pastoria City. He'll be leaving tomorrow morning." She glared at Nero, "Happy?"

"Very! Thank you! Now let's go." He got up and began to walk up. He stopped and said to the bartender, "Hey Uncle Silvan! I'm headed out, put everything on my tab."

The bartender replied, "You mean your mooch record? Fine! It's not like you're going to pay it any time soon."

"Give me a break! I said I'll pay it up someday."

"I believe you, I'm just not expecting it until probably the next eternity."

"You're mocking me, aren't you?"

"No, whatever gave you that idea?" He said sarcastically."

"Oh forget it! I'll be back home later. Bye!"

"Fine. Try to stay out of trouble. Please Nero?"

"No promises!"

Rick walked up to Nero's uncle and told him, "Don't worry, we'll keep him out of trouble."

"Please do. Thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

Rick and company left the bar and saw Nero waiting for them by the cars.

He got their attention, "Your rides?"

Rick nodded and said, "Yep! That Lambo and Ferrari are custom and modified. Do you drive anything?"

"Yeah, I have a Pontiac Sunfire, but today I'm taking my motorcycle."

"Motorcycle? Sorry to say but humans will be pretty apprehensive seeing a Gallade on a motorcycle."

"No worries, I got a few gifts from my dad." He suddenly began to glow red and transformed into a human. "Ta da!"

Rick and the others, except Tsu Lieng, looked on in shock, "How...how did you do that?"

"Like I said, a gift from my dad."

"I'm not going to ask anymore, but guessing will keep my mind busy for a while." Rick looked at Tsu Lieng, "What about you?"

She replied, "Oh don't worry, Nero taught me how to transform." She began to glow and transformed into a human.

"Nice! So I wasn't the only one to learn how to do that."

Nero chuckled, "The difference is that mine is hereditary."

Rick tried to process what he was just told but immediately shoot it off. He looked back at Nero and noticed that he was gone. They all suddenly heard an engine revving and saw Nero pulling up on a motorcycle.

"Well looks like you have your ride over there."

"Yeah, let's go!"

Tsu Lieng walked up to Nero, "Helmet please." Nero gave an annoyed growl and passed her a helmet. "Okay, ready to go!"

Alara laughed, "Well hang on to him." She turned to Jean and passed her the keys to her Ferrari, "Here Jean! I want to ride with Rick for now. You can drive it until we get to Pastoria...but if you so happens as to scratch it, I will kill you."

Jean sighed and said, "Why does everyone threaten my life when it comes to their cars? Let's just go already."

They all jumped into the cars and took off.

[On the road, Rick's car]

Rick was driving the car and Alara was fiddling with her Poketch. She was looking at pictures of the Christmas party and began to laugh as she looked at the photos.

"Hey Rick."

"What?"

"Your dad is weird."

Rick chuckled,"Tell me something I don't know."

"I'm just looking at these pictures and I just noticed that he does the stupidest things."

"You should be used to it by now. My dad does something stupid everyday."

"True, true." She suddenly thought of something. "Rick, we haven't run into a Project in a long time."

"Well Epsilon is out of the picture for a while, or so Ashlyn says. Beta has not been seen in a while. I don't want to run into Omega and haven't seen them in a while."

"I bet you want it to stay that way for now."

"Yep. As long as I don't have to see any of them, I will be alright. As long as I don't run into any of them until after the wedding, I will be sooooo happy. I get to get married and then kick some ass."

Alara giggled and said, "I wouldn't mind hurting Epsilon a little. I forgot her real name."

"Her real name is Lucrecia."

"You never told me of your meeting with all the Projects...or much about your time as one."

"I don't want to relive it too much. I promise you that once we get married I will tell you everything, but for now let me have my peace. I'm no longer one of them and I'm happy about it."

"Alright, but I'm sure it couldn't of been all bad."

"True, Gamma, Delta, and Upsilon were there to make things easier for me. They were the closest thing I ever had to a family at the time."

"What about Epsilon? She was Upsilon's sister after all."

"Well we got along, while she was a Zorua. We used to be playmates as kids and Upsilon would make sure we behaved. When she evolved she became the bitch we know her as today. I don't know why she changed or what went wrong."

"Evil has a way of creeping up on people. It changes people and even destroys the lives of others."

"Yeah, she was my friend at one point in my life. She then became my archenemy when I heard that she killed Upsilon. I promised to kill her after that because I knew that there was no changing her back after that. She became heartless, cold, and power hungry. Nothing like the Epsilon that I first met."

"Sounds like you guys were good friends. The murder of Upsilon must of been hard on you."

"I found out when I had to give him my goodbyes when he died. Like I do with every Project. That was a few months after being with my trainer. It was horrible to see one of my greatest friends die in front of me. I couldn't fathom that Epsilon would kill her own brother because he was stronger than her. She caught him off guard and stabbed him to death. However I doubt that he went down that easily. There's no way he could of been killed so easily unless Epsilon had help. Upsilon was one of the strongest fighters I have ever seen and it angers me that Epsilon is using his scythe as her main weapon now."

"Wait, that scythe is her brother's?"

"Yep, Upsilon called it Pestilence. Thankfully, Epsilon can't tap into its power. Upsilon told me that he found the scythe in a cave and then he just kept it since it was almost as if the scythe was made for him. I don't know what powers that thing has but she can't use them."

"Good for us. Wait, what weapon did she have before?"

"Oh she had her own scythe. When she was a Zorua she relied on her brother and me to help her in fights. Mainly because she didn't have a weapon and because all she had were her powers. Once she evolved she had her claws and Giovanni gave her a scythe to use in battle."

"What did you have?"

"My claws and powers. I didn't use weapons unless I took them from downed enemies. Which is why I can effectively use almost any weapon."

"Well that comes in handy. I haven't seen you use your claws in a fight yet...or any of your retained powers for that reason."

"I never had the opportunity to use them."

"What about that Rising Sun ability?"

"I've been practicing. I can't complete control it. I make the light ball form and rise, but the I can't hold it for too long."

"Why haven't I seen you practice?"

"I practice in the armory. If I practice it outside, I might blind everyone."

"It's that bright?"

"It's an artificial sun. It's really bright. I make sure to have sunglasses when I practice it. Anyways, can we talk about something else?

Alara smiled, "What's there to talk about? We've talked about everything."

"True, how about this: Where do you want to go for our honeymoon?"

Alara was surprised by what Rick said, "I never thought about that. Well I guess I would love to go somewhere beautiful, obviously."

"To be honest I already have a place planned out for that."

Alara looked at Rick anxiously, "Really!? Where?"

Rick chuckled, "That's a surprise."

"And now I'm even more excited for our wedding."

"I bet you are."

[15 minutes later, Pastoria City]

Rick and the group arrived at Pastoria City and they all waited for Tsu Lieng to tell them all the information they needed.

Nero asked her, "How much longer? It can't be that hard to track down one guy."

She growled at him but kept working on the information. "Shut up! You try combing over seas of information and try to pin point ONE person!" She then pulled out a holographic screen from her Poketch. "Okay, he's still in the city. Trying to find him is a bitch though. He hasn't checked into a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, rented a house, or even made a purchase to pin point his location. As far as I can tell he's gone ghost."

Xeron asked, "Gone ghost?"

"That means that he's gone completely off my radar for a while. However, all is not lost. I'll just have Nero here find him for me."

"How?"

"He has a few gifts that I find useful. Since this human has no psychic power, I can't locate him using my own location abilities. However, Nero here doesn't need that. All he needs is his name and he can find his lifeforce."

Rick arched an eyebrow and said to Nero, "That's odd. A psychic type that can sense lifeforce. We can only sense energy, mental stimuli, and aura."

Nero replied, "I'm...complicated."

"Oh well, if you can then do so."

"Alright then. Give me a quick second." Nero then began to concentrate and opened his eyes. His eyes turned maroon and the veins in his face were bulging. He soon returned to normal and said, "He's in a warehouse on the other end of town."

"Well that worked out fabulously. I'll ask you about it later. For now let's do this job and get back home."

"Agreed."

[Thirty Minutes Later, Warehouse]

The group was camped out outside the warehouse, waiting for Nero to finish scoping out the perimeter of the warehouse.

He soon returned and said to the group, "Well he's definitely in there. The location is locked on the inside, has an alarm system."

Rick said, "Alright, so we just go in and kill the guy?"

"Not really. We just need to retrieve the information. No need to kill him. I don't always kill my targets, unless that's the order."

"Alright, so what's the plan?"

"First we have to get in. I think that we should get Tsu to help us there."

"How?"

"She can knock out defense systems with a psychic blast, but only temporarily. So once she knocks it out we have to take out the alarm system quietly. Luckily her psychic blast is silent and undetectable."

"That takes care of the alarm. What about the lock?"

"You let me handle that."

"Alright."

"There's one more thing."

"What?"

"I'm sensing more than one individual within the warehouse."

Jean then said, "That's no place for a woman, the girls should stay outside, just in case it gets dangerous."

Alara shook her head, "That's sexist! I can take care of myself."

Tsu agreed, "Same here!"

Xeron sighed and said, "Everyone is going. That's final! The sooner we get this done better. Our home is at stake here. Team Rocket should never learn of it."

Rick nodded, "My dad's right! We have to end this now. We can't let them take that information to Rocket HQ."

Nero sighed and said, "We get it, now let's go!"

Everyone nodded and walked up to the warehouse. Nero nodded and Tsu walked up to the door and charged a light purple ball in her hand. She placed her hand on the door and a shockwave went through the warehouse.

She turned to the others and said, "Okay you have about thirty seconds."

Nero replied, "More than enough. Thanks!"

Rick then said, "Okay how are we getting inside?" He looked towards Nero and saw that he disappeared. "Nero?"

The door in front of them suddenly opened up and Nero was seen in the middle of the room.

Nero waved for everyone to come inside, "Come in!"

"How did you do that?"

"My own little secret."

"Okay but how did you get rid of the alarm sys...tem." He looked at the alarm console and saw a fire axe cleaved into it. "Well I guess that takes care of it."

"There's an issue."

Alara asked, "What issue?"

"There's no one here. I can sense his lifeforce here, but I can't find a soul."

Rick looked around and sighed after he realized what was going on. "Oh wow, how did I forget?"

Alara asked Rick, "Forget what?"

"Team Rocket likes to keep things secret. This is a safety room. The real facility is underground."

"Really?"

"Nero, sense down on the ground."

Nero did and sensed many lifeforces going down into the ground. "Wow, there's a lot of Rockets down there. Also, this is a full facility. I'll say about only seven floors, but crawling with Rockets."

"Damn! So it's a fight."

Xeron laughed, "I always love a fight." He said as he placed a candy cane into his mouth.

"Why did you bring a candy cane?"

"I needed a bit of candy. Anyways, how are we getting down there?"

Rick began to chuckle and walk around the room. "Team Rocket always does this at their hideouts. They always keep a secret switch that opens up a staircase to the hideout." Rick suddenly punched a wall and a staircase appeared. "Jean, go in first."

Jean nodded, "So, human or pokemon forms?"

"I'd rather be in my pokemon form. We'll need our power and Team Rocket can't know my human identity."

"Alright, going in! Let's go!"

Jean walked down the staircase, followed by the others. Rick put on his bladed gauntlets and they all stopped when they reached a door.

Nero suddenly said, "Okay, there's two guards on the other side of the door."

Rick replied, "Watch and learn." Rick opened the door and stabbed both guards with the gauntlet blades. "Just like that."

"Nice! There's many more."

"Where is this guy?"

"Down in the 5th floor. They don't know we're here yet."

"Also, there's only one way out, but two stairwells."

Rick began to think and suddenly felt something, something powerful. He looked at his hand and his 'A' symbol was glowing. "Let's split into two teams. Dad, Ally, you're both with me. Jean, Nero, and Tsu, go the other way. Me and my team will go for an energy I just picked up. It's horrible to say this but there's a Project here."

Alara gasped, "Here!?"

"Yeah, I don't understand either."

Nero then said, "So I guess we should go for the information then?"

"Yeah, if we can distract the Project we can divert any attention from your mission."

Jean scoffed, "Rick, let me go with you."

"No! If things get hairy, they'll need you."

"But I have more experience battling Projects."

"You do, that's why they need you. If there's more than one Project then you will have to help fight them. Damn! If they didn't have the info on the Sanctuary I would of left the Project be. Sadly, we can't let the information go back to Giovanni."

"But doesn't the Sanctuary have a psychic barrier?"

"Yes, but I don't want to risk it. Team Rocket is pretty crafty, they might find a way to get in."

Jean sighed, "Alright, I'll do it. But if things go crazy, please tell me immediately."

"Alright bro. Take care!"

Before they could leave a Rocket grunt opened a door to a stairwell and saw the group. He quickly reached for a pokeball, but Xeron took the sharpened candy cane out of his mouth and threw it at the grunt. Killing him.

Jean said to Xeron, "Damn sir!"

Xeron chuckled and walked down a stairwell, followed by Rick and Alara. Jean and his group went down the other stairwell.

[Jean, Nero, and Tsu]

Jean and his team went down the stair case, careful not to alert the grunts in the floors that they kept passing each floor to reach the fifth. Nero said to Tsu, "Okay once we reach the fifth floor, use your powerfield on everyone there."

Tsu nodded and Jean asked, "Powerfield?"

Tsu explained, "It's a power I have. I can cause a psychic field to go over the area, thus enhancing my psychic abilities and the psychic abilities of all psychic type. When I send it out it causes all enemies to float into the air for a few seconds to give me time to power-up."

"Oooohhhh, so that martial art thing requires you to powerup."

"Not really, I can use it without my power-up. I just want to end this quickly."

"Alright, ready?"

"Yeah."

Nero then yelled, "Go!"

Tsu immediately ran into the room and stopped in the center, with all the Rocket grunts looking at her. She charged a blue ball onto her hand and crushed it down on the ground. When the ball got crushed a blue force field encased the area and made all the grunts float in the air. Once Tsu saw them in the air she began to power-up. Once she finished her power-up, her fists were glowing blue and her eyes changed from red to blue. Tsu then lifted her hands into the air, launching the grunts further into the air, and threw her arms down, slamming all the airborne enemies onto the floor.

Jean and Nero saw this and ran inside to help Tsu when the grunts began to stagger up. The grunts saw them and many called out their pokemon and others began to shoot at the. Tsu easily stopped the bullets with **Psychic**, Nero was desperately trying to kill all the summoned pokemon, and Jean managed to get a gun and was firing at the grunts.

After some time Tsu noticed that all the grunts were coming from the other floors, after being attracted by the sounds of the fight. When she realized she charged her energy into a ball and slammed it into the ground, causing an explosion that only hurt the grunts. Once the explosion passed Tsu nearly passed out.

Nero checked on her, "Tsu, are you okay?"

"No, I'm running out of energy. I didn't think I would have to hold this field for this long."

"Call back the field to get energy back."

"Will do." She then sucked the energy field back into her body and stood up. She looked towards a door and sensed another wave of grunts coming down. "You're fucking kidding me." She suddenly got an idea. She concentrated her energy into another ball and threw it near the stairway door. Once the grunts kicked the door open a hurricane of psychic spikes flew towards them from the ball.

Nero saw the attack and chuckled, "Now I remember why we became friends. You are brutal and love overkill."

Tsu giggled, "Well not complete overkill. None of these guys have gotten close enough for me to use actual martial arts on."

Jean sweatdropped and said, "You guys are psychopaths."

"No we're not. We just like to make sure that things get done."

Jean chuckled and called Rick.

Rick answered, "Hey Jean, how is the mission going?"

"Oh we're doing fine. We're on the floor with the guy who has the info. Nero says that he's in the room in front of us. Have you found the Project yet?"

"No, I just killed a bunch of guards. I haven't found the Project yet."

"Wait you too? What's your kill count? On second thought don't tell me." He looked back and saw all the grunts that were burning or had gunshot wounds. "I'm winning."

"Anyways, I know that there's a Project here. The 'A' on my shoulder and hand are glowing, which indicates that they're in the same location that I'm at."

"Well remember that if you need me to head over there, I'll be there in a moment's notice."

"I know bro. Thanks! Take care!"

"You too."

Jean hung up and gave Nero a nod to open the door. Nero moved towards the door and kicked it open. However, when the door was kicked open they were met with a flashbang grenade. In the middle of their daze they could hear Tsu yelling in pain and getting hit by something. Jean opened his eyes and saw their target stepping on a downed Tsu's neck and pointing a pistol at her head. Jean looked around for Nero, but couldn't find him.

The man said to Jean, "What are you going to do now? Any wrong move and she's dead."

[Rick, Alara, and Xeron]

Rick and his group finally made it to the seventh floor, where the Project signature was the strongest. They walked into a room and saw that they were now in what looked like a boiler room. Rick jumped from the platform they were on and looked around.

Alara said to Rick, "Why did you do that?"

"I'm scouting ahead. You guys should keep searching up there."

"You want to go alone?"

"If anything that Project will come after me."

"Just be careful. If anything happens let us know."

"I will."

They walked away and Rick went on his hunt. He walked further into the room and couldn't track down the Project.

[Xeron and Alara]

Alara was worried, she wasn't planning on encountering a Project for a while. She feels like she jinxed them by talking about them earlier in the day.

Xeron seemed to have picked up her emotions, "You have got to stop worrying. Aeru is strong enough to take care of himself. I doubt there's a Project that can kill him instantly."

"I don't want to think of them killing him now."

"Sorry, you just have to have some faith in his ability to fight."

"I do. It's just that I don't want to lose him before we get married...or after we get married for that matter."

"I won't go down that easily. If he has a goal, it will empower him to keep going. Besides, if he gets into a showdown I will go and help him."

"You know, I've never seen you in a fight. I always wondered how you became the Warlord. You've been really silly since you got here."

"Oh just wait for a little bit. Things will get interesting really soon. Truth of the matter is, that Project has been hunting him down for a while now. Not the other way around."

Alara got more terrified, "WHAT!?"

"Yep, I knew it all along."

"ASSHOLE!" She immediately took off running the other way, back to Rick.

Xeron began to chuckle, "What do you expect? I'm a different brand of lunatic. I'm just crazy that way."

[Rick]

Rick was still looking for the Project. He was beginning to get frustrated since he couldn't find the Project. He looked at his hand and saw that the symbol finally changed to an 'O'.

"Huh? It must be close."

As he said that he heard a growl coming from the grating above him. He quickly turned around and drew Shadowbane, but saw nothing. He then heard something scurrying on the platform he was on. Rick turned back around and saw nothing, leaving him now on extreme high alert. Rick re-sheathed Shadowbane and took out a combat knife and drew his arm blades. He began to walk forward, cautious of his surroundings.

Rick looked around and the platform and couldn't find the Project, though he now knew it was there. Once he finished checking a side of boiler, he heard a sound coming from behind a steel grating on the other end of the platform. Rick walked up to the grating and pushed on it, noticing that it could be opened like a door. He opened the grating and was immediately tackled to the ground by a large Luxray. The Luxray pinned him to the floor and charged a **Night Slash** on its claws. Rick managed to move his head out of the claws' trajectory and kicked the Luxray off of him.

The Luxray regained his composure and said to Rick, "It's been a long time Alpha. Look at you all grown up."

Rick quickly jumped to his feet, "Do I know you Project Omicron?"

"Oh how did you figure out what Project I was?" Rick showed him his hand. "Well that explains a lot. Anyways, yes you do know me. We've met before. Way before I became a Project."

"Hmmm...my memory is kinda fuzzy. Care to remind me?"

"Sure, we met in a Rocket facility in Hoenn. At the time I was a Shinx, nothing too special. We were both selected for Project Archangel and in turn we became acquaintances. Then you were sent to Rocket HQ and left me to be experimented. I became a Project in training while you rebelled. I soon joined the ranks as Project Omicron. Doesn't ring a bell?"

Rick glared at him, "Yes it does. Hello Jack."

"So you do remember me? Good!"

"I heard you became Epsilon's handyman. You do a lot of her dirty work for her."

"I do what must be done for Team Rocket's cause. Than and the fact that I do anything for my best friend and roommate."

"Sometimes I wonder. Anyways, what are you doing here? This is hardly the place I would go for if I'm looking for a Rocket Project."

"I came here to make sure that you didn't interfere with the obtained information. You've been a real thorn on Giovanni and Lucrecia's side."

"You mean Epsilon."

"Of course. I usually don't call her Epsilon."

"You've grown that close."

Omicron chuckled, "You can say that. Anyways, I was asked by Lucrecia to kill you on sight."

"Well I'll finally get a fight. You know, you'll be the first Project I fight who's a quadruped."

"Not necessarily." He then stood up on his hind legs and his front legs morphed into muscle bound arms.

"Well that's interesting. I guess you wanted to use weapons."

"That yes." He said as he pulled out a combat knife. "Also, to show you my raw power. I'm the physically strongest Project." He looked away from Rick and punched a steel wall and his arm broke through. He saw it and scoffed, "I'm loosing my fucking edge."

Rick saw what he did and immediately took his battle position and kept his knife ready for anything. Omicron looked back and charged at Rick with his knife. Rick blocked the attack and slashed back, only to have Omicron block his attacks.

"Tell me Omicron, what are you getting out of this?" Rick said as he attacked Omicron.

"Just doing a favor for a good friend." He said as he parried Rick's attacks and attack him in return.

"How is Epsilon?"

"Under house arrest because of you." He charged at Rick again with the knife and a **Night Slash** on his claws.

Rick dodged the **Night Slash** and caught the knife and roundhouse kicked Omicron. Omicron caught his leg as he tried to return it and pulled Rick into a headbutt. Rick staggered back and shoot off the hit.

"Well I have to admit that hurt. So what's next Omicron?"

"I kill you and go back to Lucrecia. Not much, but I expect a lot to change in the world with your death."

"That won't happen."

Omicron laughed, "Well let's see what fate decides. You'll die, just like Upsilon."

Rick immediate glared at him, "What...did you just say?" He growled.

Omicron gave a menacing chuckle, "Upsilon, he was surprisingly easy to kill."

"Wait...you didn't!?"

"Oh I didn't kill him! I helped." He laughed louder. "I helped Lucrecia kill her own brother. She knew she couldn't do it so I helped her. When she began to fight her brother, I snuck up behind him and slashed the tendons behind his knees. Lucrecia then took the chance to kill him."

Rick heard this and something in him snapped. He glared at Omicron harder, he brought out his fangs, and his eyes began to glow. He was obviously enraged.

(Battle Music: **Time To Fight from Xenoblade Chronicles**)

Omicron noticed and began to laugh louder, "Aww are you mad at me? I just told you how your friend died. Honestly I see it as a form of kindness. I helped take him out of his miserable existence. You should be thanking me." He stopped when he heard Rick growl, the lights darkening, and a pressure entering the room. He then looked at Rick and saw him about to loose his temper.

Rick looked at him and yelled, "IT WAS YOU! CHAOS! ICE THIS DEAD MEAT!"

The Chaos Scarf sprang to life and quickly attacked Omicron. Omicron was taken by surprise and tried to dodge all of Chaos's attacks. The Chaos Scarf then fired an energy beam at Omicron, forcing him to dodge. He suddenly looked to his right and saw Rick slashing him with Shadowbane. Omicron held his shoulder, where Rick slashed him, and looked at Rick and the Chaos Scarf.

He began to laugh, "That's a cheap little trump card you have their. I should of prepared myself for you to use it since Lucrecia told me about it."

Rick gave a sharp exhale, "Chaos, kill him!"

The Chaos Scarf lunged towards Omicron in the shape of a dragon's head and tried to bite down on him. Omicron quickly caught the Chaos Scarf's jaws and tried to push it back. The scarf, however, charged an energy attack and fired it, sending Omicron flying back towards a wall. He quickly pried himself off the wall and dodged an attack from the scarf. He noticed a hanging boiler, hanging by a chain. So he fired a **Thunderbolt **at the chain and made it fall on the Chaos Scarf, pinning it to the ground.

"Hmmmm, not so tough."

Omicron turned back around and was met with a Focus Punch by Rick. Omicron quickly got up but was continuously being beaten down by Rick. Rick forced him up with **Psychic **and punched him int he gut, making him hunch over. Rick proceeded to knee him in the side of the head and hit him at close range with a **Dark Pulse**. When Omicron was a good distance away Rick charged a **Psycho Cut** Gatling Gun and fired it at him.

Omicron got up and regain his composure. He looked towards Rick and saw all the blades flying at him. He returned to his four legs and took in a lot of air. He suddenly released a powerful **Roar**, stopping the blades in their place. The blades then fell to the ground and shattered, and Omicron looked back at Rick and saw his slashing away at him with his claws. Omicron jumped back on his two legs and struck back with a **Night Slash**. Rick dropped to his knees to dodge the attack and elbowed the back of Omicron's knees, making him kneel. He then punched the back of Omicron's head, pulled him back by his mane, and held Shadowbane to Omicron's throat.

Omicron chuckled as he saw the sword at his throat, "My my my, you sure are angry. Did I piss you off?"

Rick growled at him, "You shouldn't be talking!"

"I'll take that as a yes. So what now?"

"Easily, I'll watch you bleed out after I cut your throat open! Tell me, was killing Upsilon worth it!?"

Omicron laughed, "Oh yes! It was very worth it."

Rick growled again, but this time he saw a spark of electricity appear on Omicron's mane. "Oh no!"

Rick was then hit by a **Discharge **and sent flying back, dropping Shadowbane, and hitting the ground hard. Omicron got back up and crack his neck. He looked at Rick and laughed as he walked up to Shadowbane.

"I have to admit, you actually hurt me. However, it was minor. I wonder how humiliating it will be to kill you with your own sword." Omicron then reached out and grabbed Shadowbane. Shadowbane immediately shocked Omicron, forcing him back and making him roar in pain. "Damn! Son of a bitch! What the hell did that thing to me!?" He said as he rubbed his hand.

Rick laughed and said, "My sword chooses who can hold it. If you're not worthy it will try to kill you."

"I'm an electric type, how did it hurt me?"

"It's not electricity, it's shadow. Hold it for too long and it will eat away you until you die. I learned that from the sword itself."

"How?"

"It's not a normal sword. Either way, I wished it would of killed you instantly."

Omicron growled and shot a **Thunderbolt **at Rick, knocking him back down. Omicron vanished and reappeared stepping on Rick's chest.

"So you want me dead, do you? Sadly, I can't grant that wish. But I can put you out of your misery."

"I don't think so."

Rick immediately shot a Signal Beam from his spike, hitting Omicron and forcing him back. Rick managed to get up and teleported Shadowbane to his hands. He charged at Omicron and slashed away. To his horror, his sword phased through Omicron and he disappeared.

Rick was immediately afraid and felt someone grab his arm. Rick looked back and saw Omicron grabbing his right arm.

Omicron laughed, "And your arm goes SNAP!" With that he punched Rick's humerus (the bone under your bicep), and snapped it in two.

Rick immediately fell to the ground in pain, holding his arm. "DAMN IT! AH!"

Omicron laughed, "Aww did I break your arm? Too bad." Rick tried to get up, but Omicron kicked him back down and punched him back onto the ground. He then stomped on his chest and held him in place as he charged a **Night Slash** on his claws. "Well looks like your spent. Time to die!"

Omicron brought up his claws and was about to kill Rick until he felt something hit him on the side of his face. He was knocked off Rick and looked back to see Alara, cracking her knuckles after punching Omicron.

She yelled at him, "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Omicron held his cheek and growled at Alara, "Who the hell are you!?" He rubbed his cheek, "And why did that hurt?"

"My name is Alara. Get lost!"

Omicron laughed at her, "Or what!?"

Alara immediately began to shoot at him. Omicron dodged all the bullet and began to get closer to Alara. Seeing him get closer she shifted her sword back to its blade form. Omicron then lunged at her and she dodged his attack and cut him on his cheek.

Omicron noticed the cut and wiped the blood from his face before turning around and looking at Alara. He chuckled and charged at her again. Alara tried to slash him again, but he caught her hand and grabbed onto her wrist.

Omicron became curious, "I need to ask, what are you to him?"

"I'm his mate. Let me go!"

Omicron grinned at her and knocked her sword away and lifted her by her head. He turned to Rick and saw that he was alive, but not moving. "Well, you haven't done anything to me so far." He noticed electricity cracking around Rick. "Ooooohhh! I paralyzed you with my **Thunderbolt**. Well more fun for me then." He began to squeeze on Alara's head and Alara's eyes opened wide when she felt her head about to cave in. "I guess I'll just let you watch this." He saw Rick trying to talk, but Rick could only give out frustrated and desperate growls. "Too bad! Say goodbye!"

Before he could kill Alara a red energy blade flew threw the air and hit his arm, making him let go of Alara. Alara fell to the ground, held her head and scurried over to Rick. Omicron looked to the attacker and saw Xeron standing on a ledge across from them, holding his own Shadowbane.

Omicron saw him and asked, "Who are..."

Xeron interrupted, "Hey guys! What's up? Am I too late for the fun?" He looked at Rick. "Damn boy! You look like shit!" Rick struggled against the paralysis to stick his middle finger out. Xeron then looked at Alara, "You almost got your head crushed open like a melon. You're lucky I got here." Alara didn't respond. Xeron looked at Omicron, "So are you the Project that we've been looking for?"

Omicron replied, "I'm Project Omicron, yes."

"Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! I came here to kick your experimental ass!"

Omicron sweatdropped, "What?"

"You heard me. I came here to beat you like the Americans beat the British. Like Yugi beat Kaiba. Like Obama beat Romney. Like..."

Rick, fighting the paralysis, interrupted, "We...get...it!"

Omicron then said, "I'm sorry, who the hell are you?"

Xeron smiled, "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xeron. Xeron Fenrir. And I'm a certified warrior, PhD in asskicking, remedial Badass! And may I call you my inevitable bitch? Yes? Alright! This is getting off to a good start."

Omicron's eye began to twitch with irritation, "Are you insane?"

"Of course not! My wife had me tested. Turns out, I'm only partly crazy."

Omicron sweatdropped again, "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Oh I should also note, I'm the one who you call Alpha's father."

Omicron began to laugh, "Oh Arceus that's rich! What a stark contrast!" He turned to Rick and asked him, "I thought your dad was dead?"

Rick replied, "No, he's fucking Lazarus. He just comes back every now and then to annoy the hell out of me."

"Oh well then." He turned to Xeron. "So I guess you want to die quickly, so let me fight on fair ground with you." His entire right arm then got covered in electricity and a large war axe appeared in his hands. "So are you afraid yet?"

Xeron woke up from a day dream, "Huh? Oh sorry, I was day dreaming. Nice axe! Also, do you know where I can find a Wendy's nearby? I can sure go for a Baconator right now."

"Good Arceus, I traded Alpha for this."

[Jean, Nero, and Tsu]

Jean was at bay, looking at their target as he kept Tsu head at the end of the barrel of his gun. Jean was wondering where Nero went and how he was going to defuse the situation. These were the points in time when he cursed his luck of not being a psychic type.

The Rocket grunt spoke, "So you two did all this damage? I'm impressed, but now it looks like it was for nothing. Where is your trainer, or rather trainers? The fuck am I thinking? You're pokemon, you can't answer me."

They suddenly heard a loud crash coming from downstairs, from the fight between Xeron and Omicron.

"Damn! What's going on down there?"

Jean thought to himself, *Damn it! It sounds like they might be in trouble. Where the hell did Nero go!?*

"Well it looks like that Project is giving your friends hell. Now to give you hell."

Jean looked at the grunt as he was about to pull the trigger. Suddenly he saw a ripple in space behind the grunt, to his astonishment, Nero stepped out of the ripple. Nero quickly moved to the grunt grabbed his hand, moved the gun to the grunt's head, and pulled the trigger, all in a fraction of a second.

Nero looked at Jean and said, "Done! Looks like I had to kill him." He helped Tsu stand and asked her, "Are you alright?"

Tsu regained her composure and replied, "I'm alright. I have a headache though."

Nero nodded and walked up to a computer console, "The information is in here. I read the idiot's mind before I killed him. He didn't send it. Fucking dumbass! Tsu, can you get it out of the computer."

"I can hack into anything. Move!" Tsu sat down at the computer and began to fiddle with codes and processes. She eventually hacked into the system and found the file they were looking for. She immediately uploaded it to her Poketch. "There you go! Finished."

"Good work!" He noticed that Tsu was still fiddling with the computer. "What are you doing?"

"Taking all the information in this console since it is connected to the Rocket mainframe. I'm uploading all of it to my Poketch, which will send it to my computer system. And...done! I got all the processed Team Rocket information."

"Clever girl!"

"I do what I do best."

They looked back at Jean and saw him looking at them with an astonished face. They both gave him a collective, "What?"

Jean snapped out of his phase and said, "You people are unbelievable."

Nero asked, "How so?"

"Well for starters, YOU phased out of reality and reappeared elsewhere. And you just hacked an entire organized crime syndicate computer network in a matter of seconds."

Nero laughed, "I got my powers from my dad. Tsu here was trained to do that."

"Who is your dad!?"

"That's for me to know and you not to find out. Now let's go help Rick and the others."

Jean nodded and they all took off for the last floor.

[Xeron vs Omicron]

(Battle Music: **Dismiss from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep**)

Xeron and Omicron were battling it out. Xeron was easily dodging all of Omicron's attacks and irritating him along the way. Omicron tried to slash him with his axe, but Xeron disappeared from sight. Omicron went looking for him until he heard something behind him.

"Hey big guy, back here!"

Omicron looked back and saw Xeron standing in the middle of the room. He hit the end of his axe on the ground and it became covered in electricity. Omicron swung his axe and a blade of electricity went flying towards Xeron.

Xeron vanished and reappeared saying, "Missed me!" Omicron fired another blade at him, which Xeron dodged as well.

[Rick and Alara]

Rick was beginning to sit up, finally able to move on his own. Alara was by his side treating his broken arm.

Alara noticed him trying to get up and said to him, "Dear, don't move. I'm trying to help heal your arm."

Rick smiled at her, "Don't worry, I'm okay. Thank you though." Rick moved his left arm. "I can move again. My arm will heal in time, but I have to go help my dad."

"Leave your dad to fight. He can't possibly die again. Why don't you just use **Recover**? Speaking of which, how do you even know that move? Our species can't use it." Rick flashed the his mom's locket, making Alara understand. "Oh?"

"Anyways, it won't help my arm. You've been using Healing Pulse on my arm and it did very little. Don't worry, this isn't my first broken bone. I give this wound a week, minimum, to heal completely." Rick stretch after all the paralysis finally vanished. "I can move again!" He was then hit by a lightning blade. "Son of a bitch!" He fell back down, paralyzed again.

Alara shook her head, "Wow, you're luck is a beautiful thing." Rick growled. Alara giggled and gave him a kiss, getting shocked in the process. "Ow!" She noticed her hair standing on end. "Oh no! My hair!"

Rick noticed that his lips were opening after the kiss. "Ally, kiss me again. It looks like I can get out of this paralysis by transferring the electricity elsewhere."

"Are you crazy? That hurt!"

"Yes, but electricity gets weaker when it's being depleted. It'll help me move and gives you an excuse to make out with me."

"True...okay!" She quickly kissed Rick again, got shocked again, and repeated the process until she wasn't shocked anymore.

After regaining his movement he said to Alara, "Okay. I can move again, you can stop." Alara kept going so Rick gave up trying.

[Xeron vs Omicron]

Omicron was getting exhausted from firing attacks at Xeron and missing. Xeron appeared in front of him and smiled at him. Omicron roared at him and fired another electric blade at him, which Xeron dodged as well.

Xeron tapped him on the shoulder, "Where were you aiming? I'm right here."

Omicron gave a yell, "Oh fuck this!"

Omicron turned around and punched Xeron's sword, making him skid on the ground for a few yards, yet unharmed. Omicron ran up to Xeron and charged electricity around himself. "**WILD CHARGE**!

Xeron saw him charging at him with the Wild Charge. He looked around and pulled a metal pole from a wall and took a batter's position saying, "Hey batter batter! Hey batter batter! Hey batter batter!" He stepped back to not get hit by the attack. "SWING!"

Xeron hit him with the pole, making him flip in the air and land on his face. Xeron looked at the pole in his hand and he saw that it was bent into the shape of a boomerang.

Xeron saw it and said, "Damn! You've got a hard head."

Omicron staggered up to his feet and tried to determine which one of all the Xerons he was seeing was the real one. "Damn it, I'm dazed."

"Wow did I hit you that hard?"

"Shut up!"

Soon his eyesight adjusted and he saw Xeron standing in the center of the room holding Shadowbane. Omicron brought out his axe again and charged Xeron. Xeron's calm demeanor shed and he glared at Omicron. He suddenly brought his hand up and caught the axe's handle, the blade inches from his face.

Omicron was confused how he did that and then he heard Xeron speak, "You don't get it. Sometimes there are enemies that are stronger than you. To be quite frank, I'm disgusted by you. A warrior is a warrior by his deeds, not by all the people he kills. You killed that poor Zoroark years ago and you're proud of it. I've killed people before...enemies of mine. I've never been proud of doing it. Killing isn't a reason for pride, it's a matter to get closer to an animal. Well then call me a feral beast." With that Xeron barely touched the end of the axe and Omicron felt a blade cut through his chest.

Omicron looked at his chest and saw cut, he looked at Shadowbane and saw blood dripping from the end.

Xeron glared at him again and kneed him in this gut, grabbed his mane, and drove his head into a wall. Once Omicron bounced back Xeron grabbed his mane, kicked him in the back of his knees, wrapped his arms around his neck, and slammed him to the ground. Omicron tried get up, but once he got up he was hit by a flying kick from Xeron.

Xeron landed on the floor and immediately tackled the much larger Omicron to the ground. He jumped on top of him and proceeded to beat Omicron repeatedly until blood came out of his mouth. Xeron then bashed Omicron's face with his open hand and forced him up.

Xeron threw him to a wall and punched him the gut, followed by a hard hit to the back of his head.

Xeron then said to him, "Look at you. You were all so high and mighty a few minutes ago, but when someone shows you where you belong, you become a submissive little parasite." Omicron tried to stab him with a **Night Slash**, but Xeron caught it and pulled him into a headbutt. "Well if you want to end it all then I'm not going to stop you." Xeron then kicked him to the other side of the room, making him roll on the ground until he finally staggered to his feet.

Omicron looked at him with an enraged face and roared at him one more time. "I'm going to end you!"

"Don't keep me waiting."

Omicron then proceeded to charge a large amount of electricity to his hand. He then fired it at Xeron. Xeron stayed where he was and stuck his hand out. He caught the electric ball and threw it away. It soon exploded at the platform underneath them. Omicron looked at Xeron with a face full of fear.

"I'm afraid that's all you got. My turn."

Xeron then pointed at Omicron. A small red ball appeared at the end of his finger and grew in size. Suddenly a large red beam was fired from the ball and engulfed Omicron. When the dust settled, Omicron was on the ground, charred, gasping for air, and in serious pain.

Xeron looked around and saw Rick and Alara watching the fight and Jean and the others with them, having recently arrived. Xeron scoffed and walked up to Omicron.

He then said to Omicron, "I hope I enlightened you. Now I'm going to give you the chance to leave. I suggest you take my charity before I decide to kill you." He knelt down and use Healing Pulse on Omicron. "So leave here now and don't come back!"

Omicron got to his feet, walked away from Xeron, and opened a portal to leave. He stepped through it and disappeared.

Xeron grunted and joined the others, who were amazed by what they just saw.

Rick asked his dad, "Dad? What was that? Did you just spare him?"

Xeron looked at him and smiled again, "Yep. I didn't want to kill him. Now to do something about that arm of yours."

"Dad, it's broken. Me and Alara already tried everything."

Xeron looked at Alara, "Well hello there Bride of Frankenstein."

Alara growled at him and Tsu passed her a hair brush.

Xeron looked at Rick's broken arm and soon got an idea. Suddenly bright red fire appeared on his hand and he placed it on Rick's arm, making him scream in pain.

"DAMN IT DAD!" Rick punched his dad. "That hurt!"

"Yeah but is your arm broken now."

"Huh?" Rick looked at his arm and saw that it was back to normal. "How?"

"Dead, remember?"

"That doesn't explain anything."

"You'll understand in time. Let's get out of here."

Nero then said to Rick, "Well we had a deal. I'll join you."

Rick nodded, "Glad to have you on the team." They shook hands and soon began to walk their way out of the warehouse.

While they were walking out Rick received a message from Arceus, _"Aeru, I have another individual I want you to recruit."_

_ "Great! Do I have to go through another battle to get him or her?"_

_ "No, he's actually waiting outside. I sent for him and he has agreed to help you. You should call him by the name of A."_

_ "A? Is he like X?"_

_ "In a way, but not really. I have filled him in on the situation. He is ready to join your war effort."_

_ "Very well! Thank you my lord!"_

_ "As you were."_

Once the message ended Rick noticed that they were already at the top floor and the exit was in sight. Rick opened the door and saw a human sitting on a rock outside, toying with a very beautiful sword. The human looked at Rick and stood up.

Rick walked up to him and asked him, "Are you A?"

A replied, "I am! Are you Aeruthael?"

"Yes I am. I hear you came to help me."

"Yes, I was given orders from Arceus to help you...if you would have me on your team that is."

"I will accept you on my team. It surprises me how you can understand me, but I'm not about to ask questions when Arceus gives me an order."

"Preaching to the choir on that one."

Rick stuck out his hand, "Welcome to the team."

A shook his hand, "Glad to be a part of it."

"Now to head back home and figure out where to put you guys."  
Xeron chuckled, "I may have something you might find interesting. Call it a parting gift since my time is running out."

"Oh? What is it?"

[Rocket HQ]

Omicron arrived at Rocket HQ and staggered his way back to his room. He knocked on the door until Epsilon opened it.

"Jack? What happened to you?"

"Alpha! That's what happened!"

"Come on in! Lay down for a bit. I guess I should tend to those wounds."

Omicron sat down on his bed and Epsilon came back with a first aid kit and began to bandage up his wounds.

"Alpha wasn't too much of a problem."

"Then how did you get these wounds?"

"His fucking father!"

Epsilon looked confused, "His father? His dad has been dead for years."

"Well he was very much alive to me and very powerful."

"I don't know what to make of this, but I intend on finding out."

Epsilon placed a splash of alcohol on one of the cuts, "Ow! That stings!"

"Sorry, for such a big guy you're quite the crybaby. Okay...done!"

"Thanks Lucy!"

Epsilon smiled and kissed him. "No problem, now get some sleep and let your wounds heal. Don't worry, I'll find a way to get him back somehow."

"No need to tell me twice."

Omicron laid down on his bed and soon fell asleep. Epsilon sat down on her desk and began to think about what her next move would be."

Outside the room Omega was listening in on the conversation and immediately returned to their room, where Ashlyn was reading a book.

Omega said to her, "We have a situation. Better call Dartz."

**Well that was hard to write. Well there you guys go. Thanks for all your support and you all know the drill now. Thanks guys and have a great day.**


	41. Chapter 41: The SA Mercury, Next Level

**I am back with the last chapter of January, which has been my slowest month. I am happy to announce that we beat last month's viewing record. Let's see if we can head into February with a bang. This chapter is not action packed like the last one, but I like how this one fits in. There is going to be a new thing introduced in this chapter that I feel I made scream 'OVERKILL', but I wanted to put it into the story for a while. I know that I've been posting these chapters slower than usual, but that's my parents' fault. The Poll for your favorite character is still up and you can still vote for up to two characters. I'm thinking of another poll so please send me your ideas. I took into consideration the contest idea, but I need to know if anyone is down for it before I do it. Mainly because I don't want it to be an inactive contest. So if you want to be a part of the contest then send me a PM or leave your participation in the review section. The contest is either going to be an art contest or whoever can send me the best chapter idea. The winner will have their chapter written and they can create a character to be added into the story. Second place will get a character added to the story. Third place gets a shout out lol. Thanks for your support guys. Story Spotlight: **_Inferno by EmeraldDragon1_**. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) The Philippines, 4th) Australia, and 5th) Jamaica.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and the team were on the road back from Pastoria Town and headed back to the Sanctuary. Rick, Alara, and A were in his car and Rick was trying to learn a bit more about A.

"So A, tell me a bit about yourself."

A replied, "What do you want to know?"

"Just tell me who you are, per say. Anything really."

"Well I spent my entire life traveling the world with my Pokemon. I fought many battles in my life, but I have very few regrets."

"You fought with that sword?"

"Yeah, I haven't owned this sword for too long. I've used it in fights thought."

"What do you usually fight for?"

"For the protection of pokemon. For that I was tasked."

"That's a good thing to fight for. For a human anyways."

"Can I ask what you fight for?"

"I fight for home, family, and freedom."

"Freedom? I see you as very liberated."

"Don't get me wrong, we don't answer to any human. I fight to take down Team Rocket and their associate, so that they don't threaten the lives of pokemon everywhere."

A chuckled, "Somewhat like me."

"I have to ask, is A really your name?"

"No. My name just changed when I started to work for Arceus."

"Well I'm happy I didn't get my name changed by him."

"Speaking of which, what do you want me to call you?"

"You can call me anything you want. My friends call me Rick and my family...and my entire city calls me Aeruthael, including Arceus. Aeruthael is my birth name."

A remembered about Alara, "Oh sorry miss, I never got your name. Arceus didn't tell me."

Alara smiled back at him, "My name is Alara Saifer, soon to be Fenrir."

"Ooooh, so you're engaged. To whom and I feel like I just asked a stupid question."

"Not at all. I'm engaged to Rick here."

"Oh so his last name is Fenrir. Interesting and kinda fitting for a leader and warrior. How long have you two been engaged? Also, didn't know that pokemon could get engaged."

"Well, in the pokemon civilizations they can. Mainly the pokemon that have been influenced by humans go through it. Don't worry, the Sanctuary is so similar to a human city that you should have no trouble settling. Also, to answer your question, me and Rick have been engaged for three days now."

"Well that's very recent. Congratulations! I wish you guys the best. Also, I'm sure I'll fit in, but I'm kinda used to living in the wild. I did travel for most of my life. When is the wedding by any chance?"

"May 14th."

"Well let's hit that milestone."

Everyone in the car laughed. Rick then said, "So how long are you going to be here?"

"Until the war is over."

"Perfect! Better for us and I should go prepare your accommodations."

"You have a place for me?"

"Oh please, two new dens were created in the Sanctuary. We have more than enough room for you...and your pokemon."

"How did you figure out about my pokemon?"

"You said that you were traveling the world with your pokemon and...I read your mind."

"Why?"

"I had to make sure this was legitimate and you check out."

"Well okay, happy that you can trust me now. Anyways, yes I do have my pokemon. Is that okay?"

"Of course! You should see my team there. We are all different walks of life and every pokemon is accepted into the Sanctuary. Even humans, but with either the Chief's permission, my permission, or the Council's permission. You can also come in with an invitation. Don't worry, you're free to be there with my blessing. You'll be the only human there taking part in any residence, short term or long term."

A laughed silently, "Yay for uniqueness! So what kind of people are the Chief and the Council?"

Alara answered, "The Chief is my father. He's a huge teddy bear when you get to know him. There's no malicious bone in his body and he's very carefree." She then sighed, "The Council is the third in command in the Sanctuary. They are a group of twenty Gallades and Gardevoirs, my grandfather being the head of the Council. Most of them are decent individuals that saw me group up...then there's Zenek."

"Zenek?"

"Councilor Zenek, he's the councilor for the eighth den. Also known as the wealthiest of all the dens. It's filled with nobles, tycoons, and other rich folk. They may be wealthy, but the first den houses the most important people and is the most well protected. Anyways, Zenek is pretty stuck up and mean spirited. He tried to have Rick punished for saving me. He says that he's doing what is the best for the people, but he's really doing everything for himself. Thankfully my grandfather shuts him up quickly and he has no power over Rick. He always tried to get rid of officials with more power than he does."

"Why not just kick him out of the Council?"

"Just because he's an ass doesn't mean that he doesn't know how to do his job. We want to get rid of him, but it won't be in our best interest. So we put up with him until his time is up."

"How long does a councilor stay in office?"

"Twenty years until we can get rid of them no questions asked. Most however have been there for more than twenty years."

"How long has he been a councilor?"

"Eleven. Nine more to go."

"What happens if you get rid of him now?"

"We have to compensate him for his remaining time, unless he does something illegal."

"You really seem to know the law really well."

"I was trained and raised to be the next Chief."

"Oh? You're an only-child?"

"Yes and no."

A raised an eyebrow, "How?"

"I have a sister, but I'm the only child my parents birthed."

"So I'm guessing that your sister is adopted?"

"Yes, she's a Lopunny name Amber. You'll meet her when we get there."

Rick then asked A, "Is there something you need to tell me?"

A replied, "Umm why do you ask?"

"I can feel that there is information that you want me to be aware of."

"Yes, I do carry pokemon with me. Is that going to be a problem?"

Alara answered, "Yes and no. I don't think Rick knows our feelings towards these things since he hasn't personally experienced this, but we accept humans with pokemon. However, our people are pretty apprehensive about humans. This is primarily because some humans have tried to capture some of us before, me included." Rick passed a quick glace at her. "Yeah sorry, I didn't tell you. I was about eight years old, but that's not important. You'll be fine, but don't bring out an empty pokeball at all, not even as a joke."

"Okay understood."

[The Sanctuary, 15 minutes later]

Rick and the group finally arrived at the Sanctuary's gates. Rick waited until he received a call from the guards.

A call came on his Poketch, "Hello Warlord Aeruthael!"

Rick replied, "Hello Luan! I'm happy to see that you guys aren't at the gate. You took my advice."

"Yeah, we figured that you were right because standing outside of the gates to a secret civilization is kinda like saying 'hey we're right here'."

"Alright, can we go in?"

"Sure! One second...hmmm."

"What's up?"

"Our sensors are picking up a human presence in the car with you."

"Oh yeah! We DO have a human with us. He has my permission to come with us, and quickly let the Chief know that we're going to the Chief's Court immediately."

"Alright...well everything is clear. Standby! Opening the gates."

The gates to the Sanctuary opened up and soldiers quickly escorted the cars inside. Once all the vehicles entered the doors closed and the gate was hidden. Soon after clearing the entrance they all drove to the Chief's Court, with many eyes on them as they drove over there. A tried to hide himself from the view of all the pokemon.

Rick noticed and said, "Don't worry, they won't do anything to you."

A replied, "That's not what I'm afraid of. I don't want to scare them while I'm here."

"I understand how you feel. However, if I say that it's okay for you to be here they will be alright with your presence around them."

A smiled, "They trust you that much?"

"Yeah. I keep them safe and in return they give me their trust and respect."

"It must be good being the Warlord."

"It has its moments, but it's mainly work and training. However, I wouldn't want it any other way."

A suddenly became curious, "Can you explain to me what the Warlord is?"

Rick chuckled, "I'll tell you what I know so far, Alara might tell you more than me. The Warlord is the supreme commander of the Sanctuary's army and guards. The Warlord oversees that all the Sanctuary's defenses are at the highest possible level, and their warriors in the same caliber. The Warlord is probably the biggest public servant, other than the Chief. They have to keep the peace inside and outside the community. Mainly by making arrests, resolving issues, and providing for the people. The Warlord is what you humans might like to call a mix of the Chief of Police and the Commander-In-Chief of the Army."

"So like a President?"

"No, Warlords are not elected officials, unless there's no successor. Warlords do not make or participate in the making of laws, rather, they enforce them. The Chief and the Council make the laws, the Warlord makes the laws happen. However, the Warlord can stop laws that the Council makes, but cannot veto the Chief's laws."

"Oh so power tree goes first the Chief, then the Warlord, and then the Council."

"Correct! I haven't had to veto any laws yet, and I don't expect to as long as Alara's grandfather is the Head of the Council."

A asked, "May I have one more question?"

"Go ahead."

"How do you become the Warlord?"

"A good question. I'll let Alara answer this one."

Alara nodded and answered A's question, "The Warlord is brought into power either by, as was stated, being voted in by the Council, but only if there is no Warlord and there are multiple successors. The other way is most common, you inherit the position after a Warlord steps down from office. It's actually debatable if Rick became the Warlord this way. The last way is by defeating the current Warlord in battle with the Chief, the Army, or the Council present. It's also debatable if Rick became the Warlord because of this way."

A was now confused, "How did he become Warlord if it was debatable?"

"Because there's no question that he deserved it. It's debatable because it's not clear which method it was. The last Warlord was his uncle Daedalus. He defeated Daedalus in battle, in front of my father and the Council, but he didn't take the job. The he was told by Arceus to take the job and Daedalus stepped down, so Rick inherited the job. So I guess his reign falls under the inheritance line."

"Do you have to be related to inherit the title?"

"No, the Warlord chooses who gets the job after them. It doesn't have to be a relative."

"Well that's interesting."

"Yep, the Warlord become immortalized in the Hall of Illia. Which is found at the Illia Memorial."

"Illia?"

"The first Warlord of the Sanctuary. She was also the queen in her time. She's our most celebrated individual in our history. We call her the Mother of the Sanctuary because she founded the Sanctuary."

"Makes sense."

Rick was listening to them talk and then asked Alara, "What's the Hall of Illia?"

Alara answered, "The Hall of Illia is the large building behind Illia's obelisk. That's where the Warlord gets inaugurated."

"Hmmm...wait...what? I have to get inaugurated? I'm already the Warlord."

"Crap! I forgot to tell you. Yes, you are the Warlord without a doubt. However, your name does not go into the Hall of Illia until you're inaugurated and take Illia's Oath."

"Oath? No one told me anything about an oath, inauguration, or the fact that I have to go through another ceremony. So tell me, when is this ceremony?"

Alara sweatdropped and laughed nervously, "Umm...Tomorrow."

There was a short silence in the car and then Rick said emotionlessly, "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ight."

"So you're not mad at me?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm just wondering why I wasn't made aware of this earlier."

"I forgot and I thought that you would of found out by yourself."

"Well I didn't see anything that could tell me it was going to happen."

Alara looked outside and said to Rick, "Look at towards the Illia's Obelisk."

Rick looked and saw a large number of people decorating the steps of the memorial. He then said, "Hmmmm...that's impressive, and how did I miss that? Anyways, what is it that I have to do?"

"Well you have to go to the memorial, escorted by the army. Once you are there you wait until my dad finishes speaking, and then you walk up to where my dad and my grandfather are and my grandfather will oath you in. Then you give a speech to the masses. Finally your name is immortalized in the Hall of Illia."

"So now I have to give a speech?"

"Picture it as a president's inauguration."

"Alright." Rick suddenly remembered that A was in the car. "Oh yeah I forgot about you for a minute there A. You've been really quiet."

A chuckled and replied, "Oh I've just been trying to process everything." He looked outside and saw the Chief's Court. "Wow! What building is that?"

"That would be the Chief's Court. Where the Chief, queen, and the Council conduct their business."

"Oh! So I'm meeting the Chief?"

"Yes, don't worry he's a really great guy. As Alara stated, he's a big teddy bear at heart."

Rick stopped the car and parked the car. They all got out of the car and A quickly began to fix his hair up to meet Alara's parents.

Alara noticed and laughed, "Oh you don't have to make yourself too presentable now. If I know my dad he probably smells like Slim Jims and Mountain Dew from going through a video game bender."

[Hours earlier, Alara's Parents' house]

Chief Saifer was in his basement playing video games. His wife was looking for him all over the house until she finally found him.

"Auron? Are still down in this basement?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Are you still playing Halo?"

"Leave me alone!"

[The Chief's Court, Present Time]

Rick and the entire team walked up to the doors to the Chief's Court, where the guards looked at each other and then back at the group.

One of the guards then asked Rick, "Um..sir...you do realize that there's a human behind you?"

Rick nodded, "Of course! He's here on my invitation. I recruited him. Treat him with respect men."

Both guards looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, "Alright, it's your call." They then opened the doors to let the group in.

The team walked inside the Chief's Court and saw Alara's parents on their thrones and Rick's mom on a throne next to Keera. Alara's dad saw the group walk in and smiled at the team.

He said to Rick and Alara, "I'm glad to see you guys again!" He saw the new faces behind Rick and Alara. "Oh, looks like you guys brought in some new faces." Nero immediately bowed, Tsu curtsied, and A bowed. "Oh looks like you brought a human here." He then spoke to A, "May I ask who you are? If you can understand what I'm saying."

A replied, "I can understand what you are saying. I received that skill. My name is A. I was sent by Arceus to help the Warlord here in his cause."

"Hmmm, interesting. You may rise if you want." A got up and faced the Chief. "So you look like an able fighter. You're welcome to stay here if you want with my blessing."

"Thank you your highness!"

"Tell me, do you have any pokemon in your possession that we must be made aware of."

"Yes sir! I have a large number of pokemon."

"Well, we will have to find lodging for all of them."

Rick then said, "Sir, is there land for sale in the 22nd den?"

"Yes, no part of that den has been claimed yet. Why?"

"I'll like to buy a large piece of that land for A and his pokemon. So they can have some sort of residence there."

"Hmmmm...very generous of you Aeruthael. Very well, go talk to my attendant later."

"I'll like to have a tour first before I buy anything. In fact..." He looked at his cousin Lang, one of the Royal Guards and Maiyu's eldest brother. "Lang, go with the Chief's steward to the 22nd den and tour it for me. Make sure to send me pictures."

Lang nodded, "Yes sir!"

"Lang, we're family."

"Oh ok. Yes...cousin Aeru!" With that he left with the Chief's steward.

A then said to Rick, "Do you really need to get me property?"

Rick chuckled and turned to look at him, "Of course! You'll be staying with us for a while and your pokemon will need their own lodging as well. Mainly because I expect ALL your pokemon to be outside their pokeballs for the time that you are here. I don't want you to pull out any pokeballs and spook my people. Are we understood?"

"Yes sir! I do have one thing to say though."

"What's on your mind?"

"You see I'm going to need medical attention to some of my pokemon."

Rick became concerned, as well as the Chief, "Is there something wrong with some of your pokemon? Are they sick?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Then what seems to be the problem? Do some of them have special needs?"

"You can say that. The truth of the matter is that some of my pokemon are expecting mothers. I want them to be taken care of."

"Ooooooohh! I see." He turned to Alara's parents, "Do we have anything like that in that den?"

Alara's mom stood up and walked over to the group, "As a matter of fact there is. A hospital was built there and we can hire doctors to work there immediately upon your arrival."

A immediately knelt down and thanked her, "Thank you so much your majesty!"

Alara's mom felt flattered and gave him her hand, which he kissed and stood up. "Well at least someone knows how to be formal. Unlike some people." She immediately looked at Xeron, who didn't hesitate to stick out his middle finger at her.

Everyone laughed and Rick remembered about his mom, "Oh yeah! Hi mom!"

Aldira smiled and shook her head, "Oh so I'm not invisible. I've been so far ignored by you, my husband, and my future daughter-in-law."

"Sorry mom."

Aldira directed her gaze at Xeron, "Well some husband you are. You ignored me this morning to play video games and then you go on a trip with Aeru and recruit people."

A looked at Xeron and then at Aldira, "Ooooohh, you're Aeruthael's parents?"

"Yes! Now Xeron, what goes through your mind when you ignore me."

Xeron thought for a second, "That I'm going to regret it in the future. But give me a break, it was a Halo match."

A vein appeared on Aldira's head, "Oh it was a Halo match?" She suddenly teleported the Halo game disk to her hand. "So this is ONLY a Halo disk."

Xeron immediately got concerned, "Oh no! Do not be that girl right now!"

She then said coldly, "Oh I'm going to be that girl right now." She immediately snapped the disk in half (every gamer reading this is probably shedding a tear right now) and threw it at Xeron.

"YOU ARE EVIL!"

Aldira smiled slyly, "Ignore me next time and the disk won't be the only broken thing."

Xeron immediately stopped talking and took a step back. Everyone laughed again and Rick's team suddenly entered the Chief's Court, shocking A by the variety of pokemon.

A said to Rick, "Who are they?"

Rick replied, "That's my 'family', my team." Rick quickly walked up to the the others. "Hey guys! We have new members."

Celand spoke, "Oh we know. Alara sent us all the details not too long ago."

"Oh, that's good. Less need to explain."

"Indeed."

Dartz got Rick's attention, "I got a message from Ashlyn."

Rick was immediately interested, "Oh? What did she say?"

"Epsilon is plotting something new. Apparently, she didn't like the fact that you guys beat down Omicron. She'll want revenge."

"Let her try. Send Ashlyn my thanks."

"I'm going to see her tonight at our old home."

"Well have fun with the time you have with her. Also, be very careful."

"Don't worry, Omega makes sure nothing bad happens. They act like a bodyguard to Ashlyn."

Rick was now curious, "Omega goes as well? Why?"

"To make sure Ashlyn is safe. Don't worry, Omega wouldn't dare attack me. They won't hesitate to attack you though."

"Oh great, I'm never going to be in the clear."

"Nope. But I get to have some time with Ashlyn. Something I always look forward to every week."

"You deserve it old friend. We're always nearby our significant others, however you're somewhat restricted from seeing her because of where we stand. I wish it was different."

"Thanks Rick. I know you always have my back."

"Never forget it."

Winston suddenly got Rick's attention, "Umm Rick, you do realize that there is a human here?"

"Of course! He's one of our recruits. Courtesy of Arceus. He's no average human, in the fact that he understands our speech and he was personally referred to me. I'm not going to challenge the order from Arceus. You guys should get to know him." Rick looked at the team and noticed some of the team missing. "Where's Amber, Amari, and Serenity?"

The doors immediately flew open and Amber and Amari appeared at the doorway. Amber then said, "What's up everyone and the unexplainable human visitor, but I'm not going to argue it. Anyways, me and Amari were bored earlier today and Serenity was in the room with us. We started toying with our human forms and we ended up giving Serenity a make over."

No one said anything until A said, "You guys have human forms?"

Everyone ignored him and went back to listening to Amber, "So without further ado, the new Serenity!" Nothing happened and Serenity didn't appear. Amber quickly spoke to her, "Come on! Show the guys your new look."

Serenity could be heard, "No! I'm too shy to do this."

Amber sighed and walked out of sight. Suddenly sounds of pain, most likely of someone being pulled by the ear. Amber then reappeared pulling Serenity's ear. She let go so everyone could see Serenity and Serenity stood there blushing. Her new human appearance was way different from here original. Her hair was now layered and she had black bangs on one side of her face, while her original bang was pretty much unchanged, with the ribbon tied around it. She was wearing a white jacket, and a black tank top, her skirt was the same but this time she had matching shorts with black leggings underneath.

Rick laughed and said, "Love the new look Serenity."

Serenity then said, "These two tackled me and did this to me by force. I didn't know they changed my look until they let me go."

Bolt chuckled, "Well I guess it was worth it. Right Sage?" He looked at Shade and saw him in his human form. "Sage, why are you in your human form?"

Sage looked down at his Raichu friend, bent down, and said to him, "Bolt, you're my best friend right?"

"Of course!"

He then whispered to Bolt, "The reason why I'm in my human form is that...I have the weirdest boner right now."

Jolt couldn't help but laugh and whispered back, "Ooooh you like Serenity."

"Shut up about it."

"Oh no! You just gave me ammunition to aggravate the hell out of you. But I won't say anything."

"I'm already regretting telling you this."

Bolt gave him an evil grin disappeared and reappeared dragging Serenity to Sage. Sage immediately began to freak out in his head and glared at Bolt.

Bolt said to Serenity, "Say when was the last time you guys talked?"

Serenity replied, "This morning. We're partners."

"Well talk to him again!" He disappeared from sight, leaving Serenity and Sage to talk to one another.

"Well that was weird. Soooooooooo, what's up Sage?"

Sage looked at her nervously, "Ummmmmmm...what?"

"What...is...up...Sage?"

"Oh! Uhh...nothing new really from this morning. And you?...wait stupid question."

Serenity giggled, "Yeah. I'm not used to having make overs. I've kept my look consistent since Rick gave me a human form. Then again, I haven't had to use it too much."

"Well you look amazing." He then thought to himself. *Shit dude! You threw subtlety out the window...out of a closed window! Everyone heard that one!*

Serenity giggled, "Aww thanks Sage!"

Rick chuckled and said, "Hey let's go guys! We have to go with my dad. He wants to show us something." Rick noticed A thinking, either talking to someone mentally or trying to process everything. "A! Come with us!"

A snapped back into reality, "Oh yeah! Right behind you!" A followed the group outside.

[Rick's house]

The group arrived at Rick's house and were immediately led to the armory by Xeron. A was surprised by the sheer size of Rick's house and how an armory was able to fit in it. Tsu and Nero were just surprised that they were able to enter the house.

Once they entered the armory Rick asked his dad, "Something you forgot to tell me?"

Xeron replied, "No! Something I was waiting to show you. Let me ask you a question: What is my profession?"

"The former Warlord of course."

"No! That's my inherited profession. What do you think was my original profession?"

"Umm...soldier?"

"Yes and no. The answer is combat engineer."

"Engineer. That was unexpected. Why are you telling me this?"

Xeron looked at the the dead end of the armory and pushed a tile in, revealing a green force field. "Because I left some toys that I made sure Saifer never told you."

"Dad what is that green force field?"

"A teleportation field."

"Teleportation?"

"Yeah one of my greatest engineering marvels. You can move from one place to another at a moment's notice without the use of energy. But this is minor compared to the gifts I left you on the other side. Step through."

Xeron stepped through the teleporter, followed by Aldira and Alara's parents. Rick turned to his team and said, "Let's get this over with!" He and the group the stepped through the field.

Once they arrived at the other end they saw they were in a new room. It was very large, circular, and had five floors of different rooms for housing, there was an octagonal table, that looked as if it was meant for meetings. In the middle of the table was hologram projector that projected a 3D map of the regions. At each seat was a computer that controlled the projector.

Everyone was surprised by the sight and Rick asked his dad, "Dad, what is this place?"

"This is the War Room. Here you will bring your team, brief them, or just hang out. It is one of my greatest creations and I was hoping to one day use it...but I guess it's yours now."

"This beyond anything I ever thought of you ever creating."

"Well it was still under construction when I was the Warlord and Saifer told me that it was finished a few years ago, because he modified it. I saw it and loved the modifications he made. I was also happy to know that he kept his promise of keeping it a secret from you until the time was right."

Rick looked at the five floors of rooms and asked, "What are these rooms for?"

"Those are the crew's quarters. Saifer got his hands on the recruits' dossier from Alara and he made some of the rooms pertaining to the personalities of each recruit that you have to go get."

"How did he do that?"

"He's had a few months."

Alara then said, "I had absolutely no idea of that."

"Your dad is more cunning than you know Alara. Anyways, everyone has their own room here. There's a lounge on the third floor, with a mess hall, and a game room. The top floor only has one room, the Captain's Quarters or Warlord Quarters. That's your and Alara's room here. Look at the table here. This table is for mission briefing and for conferences. The hologram projector can make a digital image of anything on the map and you can contact people through it, and it will make a 3D render of the person, making it seem like they are there with you guys."

Rick became curious, "Why do we need rooms? This place isn't going anywhere."

"Here's the next surprise. Follow me out of here." Xeron walked into another teleporter and the others followed.

Once they arrived at the new area, they noticed they were on a platform. They looked around and saw that they were in a hangar. However the biggest sight there was a gigantic aircraft in the center of the hanger. There were different kind of pokemon working on the aircraft and Rick just wondered where this hangar was located.

Xeron walked forward and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the S.A Mercury. (S.A: Sanctuary Aircraft) This behemoth of a floating fortress is the largest and greatest piece of combat engineering ever developed by the combine forces of many pokemon civilizations. Currently there are 500 members of the crew, mainly consisting of: Navigators, Engineers, Medical Personnel, Soldiers, Artillery Gunners, the Chief Pilot, Gunners, Intel, and various other needed individuals. This aircraft can house up to on average 1,000 people, more or less."

Rick was surprised, "How did you get this put together?"

"We have more allies than you realize. The steel outside shell of the craft is made out of Bronzor iron, which is not only strong but it also possesses the ability to negate x-rays, sound waves, and radio waves. This makes the S.A. Mercury invisible to radar and sonar, making it not only powerful but stealthy. Your enemies won't know you're there until it's too late."

"Well you used something natural rather than something technological. Anything else about its design?"

"Yes, the inner shell is made out of Shuckle shells, making it nearly indestructible, but only to a point."

"Perfect! The strongest natural substance in history. I've nearly taken you for a fool, but it seems like you're more intelligent than I thought. What about weapons?"

"I'll let the Mercury's weapon tech, and I'm not joking on his name here, Colt Winchester to explain it to you."

A young, yet silver haired Gallade appeared out of nowhere and greeted the group, "Hello everyone! As Warlord Xeron explained, my name is Colt Winchester and I'm the Mercury's weapon tech. Now to explain the weapons on this beauty. Each side of the front end of the Mercury is lined with three 75 caliber anti-personnel automatic cannons. The artillery guns are 3''/70 Mark 26 guns. Eighteen of them to be exact."

"So all the guns are anti-aircraft?"

"When you're working on an airship your only true threat are other airships, however ground fire can also be a danger. So we installed six javelin missile cannons, four predator missile cannons, three anti-tank guns, cruise missile launchers, sonar and radar systems, and the Sanctuary's very own Goliad missile."

"Should I be scared of this missile?"

"It's not a nuke if that's what you're expecting. It's anti-personnel missile that can wipe out up to twenty city blocks. We have many at our disposal and they all use psychic power, which makes it impossible for Team Rocket to replicate. The explosion will dome and begin to sucks everything in within a four hundred yard radius. Then the dome will implode and explode, destroying everything within it."

"That just screams overkill."

"Perhaps, but it gets the job done. We also have one trump card which may also be our greatest weakness if used."

"What is it?"

"The nose of the ship has a beam that we codenamed the Ragnarok Cannon. That one is considered a weapon of mass destruction. It can destroyed a good portion of a city, leaving no trace that it ever existed besides the destruction."

Rick looked at the ship and couldn't figure out where this weapon could be placed. "Where is the Ragnarok Cannon found?"

"On the outside, at the nose of the ship."

Rick looked and saw a rotating gyroscopic rings, with a purple energy in the middle, underneath where the bridge was. "I'm guessing it's that." He said as he pointed to the rings.

"Yes. That weapon works on pressurized psychic power found in the power core, which powers many of the ship's functions. Once the cannon is set to fire, it cause the the rings to rotate at a mindblowing speed. The rings will begin to increase the power of the attack until it reaches critical and fires the blast. The blast will destroy an entire city, but with a major drawback. Once the cannon fires it will drain the power core and we will be stripped of many of our computer processes. We will be drifting, instead of flying. Our best chance is to find the ocean before when we get set to drift."

"So we will be in the dark for how long?"

"A few hours. In combat we'll have to rely on the artillery guns and the soldiers."

"I understand that. Why do we have to find the ocean if we use it?"

"That's a surprise."

"I'd rather wait then."

"Oh before I leave you guys, there are flares that are installed onto the ship to get rid of any and all rockets and missiles that are sent towards us."

"Good work!"

"Well I'll leave you all, I must return to my work. It was an honor to meet you all. Ciao!"

Once he left Xeron said, "Time to go to the bridge and meet the head pilot."

Alara asked, "There's more!?"

Aldira replied, "You don't know the half of it."

[S.A Mercury's Bridge]

Rick and his group re-entered the S.A Mercury and boarded and elevator to the bridge. Once the elevator made it to the bridge they stepped out to a sight straight out of the work line. There were pokemon everywhere, scrambling to finish work, and make sure everything was running perfectly. They all stopped when they saw Rick and his team and immediately saluted them as they walked towards the cockpit.

When they arrived at the cockpit they saw a red Gallade at the pilot's seat. The Gallade stopped what he was doing and looked at the group. Once he saw them he stood up and quickly saluted them.

"Warlords Xeron and Aeruthael! Ladies Aldira and Alara! And company. It's an honor to meet you all."

Xeron and Rick shoot his hand and Xeron said, "Good to see you. Guys this is Samuel Livel."

The Gallade interrupted, "But friends call me Screech."

"Alright. Screech here is the head pilot of the Mercury. He's the only Gallade to ever go through a human advanced military aviation school. He's the best pilot we have on board."

"Glad to be on board with all you guys."

Rick asked Screech, "So what do you do? Besides the piloting of course."

"Well besides controlling the flight of the ship, I also command the main combat guns, and the Ragnarok Cannon."

"Wow so you're the one that controls that Apocalypse with a trigger?"

Screech laughed to himself, "Yeah. Well I don't always do it alone."

"Who helps you?"

A female voice then came from their left, "I help Samuel here on the bridge and I work throughout the ship."

Rick looked at his left and couldn't see who said that, "Where are you?"

"I'm everywhere here on the ship. But I can appear near any computer console."

"You an AI, aren't you?"

"No. I'm not an Artificial Intelligence. I'm Virtual Intelligence."

Suddenly a holographic human woman appeared out of a computer console, surprising Rick and his friends. Aldira laughed to herself and said, "Guys meet D.A.S.I. It's an acronym for Defense Assault Security Intelligence. She maintains all the systems on this ship and she my own creation."

Rick looked at him mom and said, "What?"

"Didn't expect that, did you? I was an engineer as well with your father. However, I specialized in computer systems and in the process I made D.A.S.I. She's a virtual intelligence, which means that she can think for herself and come up with logical conclusions on her own. She's like a regular person."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"You can say that since she has complete control over the processes in the ship. However, she's eternally loyal to the Sanctuary and will not do anything to endanger the residents of it."

Jean immediately said, "If she goes haywire then you're all, except for Seras, on your own."

D.A.S.I laughed at herself, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill any of you. Even though I have all the power to do so." Everyone began to get apprehensive. "It was a joke...but seriously, I can."

Rick chuckled, "She really can think for herself."

"Yes I can. I'm glad to meet you Warlord Aeruthael. It's good to finally meet my creator's son. You look like her and her mate."

"Yeah that comes with the genes."

"Hmm...a man of jokes. Anyways, I must return to my duties. So I will see you all later."

D.A.S.I disappeared and Screech said, "Well I must return to my duties as wells. I need to test the fuse lodge. So I'll be saying goodbye as well. Again, it's an honor meeting you guys."

Rick nodded, "Yeah, your job should take prominence. I'll be back to take a test ride of the Mercury after New Year's Day."

"Sweet! Whenever you're ready, just tell me. Goodbye sir!"

"Goodbye Screech!"

The team turned around and left the cockpit. Just then Xeron said, "Alright, the off to the next..."

Rick and Alara interrupted, "OH GREAT THERE'S MORE!"

Xeron said, "It's the last thing and it won't have a long explanation. We're just going to see one more thing."

Rick and Alara said in unison, "Fine! But we're tired. We just came back from a really intense mission."

"I know, I know. I was there."

[S.A Mercury's Armory]

Xeron led Rick and company down four floors to a hallway full of weapons.

Rick sighed and said, "An armory, how exciting." He said sarcastically.

Aldira said to Rick, "Don't be a smartass now dear."

"Sorry mom. I'm tired."

"I understand. Just bear with us for one more second."

"I'll try."

They walked to the end of the hall where Xeron began to type passcodes onto a keypad. The doors opened and Rick and his team were surprised by what they saw. There were jets, mech suits, boats, submarines, and helicopters.

Xeron chuckled at the look on their faces, "Like the toys?"

"Dad, you didn't prepare for a war. You prepared for world domination."

"I'll admit it seem excessive, but we can't be too careful. Humans are a crafty bunch. Also, I didn't do this alone. Besides, Alara's parents and your mother, I did have a human on my side."

"Really? Who?"

"Take the teleporter back to the War Room and find out." He said while pointing towards a teleporter.

Rick nodded and walked through the teleporter, followed by everyone else.

They made it into the War Room and Rick waited for his dad to explain himself.

"Dad, who is it?"

Xeron chuckled and walked up to a computer on the table and pulled out a holographic image onto the projector. The image was of someone sitting on a chair, facing away from the group.

Xeron then said, "Sir, you may speak."

The man then turned his chair around to reveal Mr. Silph. Shocking Rick.

Rick said, "Mr. Silph?"

Mr. Silph laughed to himself and said, "You didn't know that your father was a good friend of mine? My connection with you goes way further than when I met you with your trainer all those years ago."

"I have to say that I'm surprised. But why didn't you tell me?"

Mr. Silph took a puff of his cigar before answering, "Because Xeron and Aldira told me not to. Not yet. They seemed to have known that this would of been your task. However, you may be surprised that good old Mr. Silph is quite the war preppy."

"I guess I am."

"Rick, or should I rather call you by your true name for the first time ever, Aeruthael?"

"You don't have to."

"Then I won't. Seeing you grow up from afar and then getting to meet you and making you my own spiritual son...I couldn't be happier to see where your life has led you. By what I've been speaking about with your parents, I know they couldn't be more proud of you and neither can I. We know the heavy cross you have to bear, but we're going to make that load a little lighter."

"Thank you so much sir."

Mr. Silph then did something that surprised Rick. He put out his cigar and spoke to Rick, "I feel like I should no longer call you my boy since you've grown beyond that. You're now a powerful adult, a powerful warrior, a powerful leader, and, considering by the way Alara looks at you, a great future husband. Don't falter in your goal. You have allies everywhere. Anything you need just tell me and you'll get it. I can send you resources and soldiers. Team Rocket will not win this war. For that reason I gave the Sanctuary all the resources it needed to make all those weapons you saw and the S.A Mercury."

"I really cannot tell you how grateful I am. Don't worry sir, I will soon drive Team Rocket straight into hell."

"Send them to hell and even further. We will stop them at any costs. Wars should not start because someone wants to ruin the livelihood of pokemon and make them slaves. Wars should be started to stop those actions."

Alara said to Mr. Silph, "Our thoughts exactly."

"You know what I've learned after being a marine myself in my youth and then an admiral? Everyone has a reason to fight. Everyone thinks they have the justification for killing one another, but the truth is that no one is justified. But does someone have the better reason? That has yet to be discovered, but I feel like we're in the right. A man doesn't fight for power, a man fights for what he knows is right."

Rick replied, "Powerful words from someone with the power to say them."

"You have more than I. Let me part with these words. Don't let up. If they push you back, throw them back. If they hit you, knock them out. If they kill your men, exterminate them. Giovanni will fall and only you can stop him."

"Acknowledged."

"Good! Mr. Silph out!"

Rick turned to his parents and said, "Well that was interesting. How long have you known him?"

Aldira smiled, "Even before you were born. He was our mentor when it came to being leaders."

Rick asked Xeron, "Dad, what about your father? He was a powerful soldier."

Xeron nodded, "That is true, and my dad did mentor me as best as he could. But his career called for him to come and go from the Sanctuary. That's what you get from being a soldier. However, he made sure to be a real father to me and my siblings and a husband to my mother."

"You never told me what happened to him."

"He died a few weeks after your birth."

"Old age?"

"He was in his mid fifties. If you consider that as old age, the take it as you will."

"Then how did he die?"

"Team Rocket. This war was decades in the making to the Sanctuary. You're not the first person to oppose them here. The war wasn't official on either side, but battles were fought. Now do you understand why we have all these things in advance?"

Rick was taking by surprise by the news. He stopped to think for a second and then said, "I understand. What do you want me to do?"

"Use everything I've given you. I have men who can train the soldiers to use these items and weapons. Modern tactics will give us fair ground, and our pokemon powers will give us an edge."

"Agreed. Tomorrow I'll start the training."

"Noooooooo. You have an inauguration tomorrow that you have to prepare for. Wait a while."

Rick realized that he completely forgot about the inauguration, "Ah crap! I forgot about that!"

"You can go home now and rest. You'll need all your energy for tomorrow."

"Yeah. Thanks dad!" Rick then got a message on his Poketch. He checked it for a minute and said to A, "Looks like your new home is ready for you to move into." Rick snapped his finger and two soldiers appeared. "Take A here to the 22nd den so he can get settled into his new accommodations...all of them." Rick looked at A again, "Don't worry, all the furniture is all set in each house for you and your pokemon. Go enjoy yourself, but remember what I told you."

A nodded and replied, "Of course! Do not take out pokeballs of any kind."

"Also, don't try to capture any of my people. Otherwise, we'll have a problem."

"Wouldn't dream of it and I can't. Arceus told me not to."

"Good. Well I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes! Goodbye!"

A was escorted away by the soldiers, leaving Rick and his team to figure out how to get out of the hangar.

Rick asked his dad, "How do we get out of here?"

Xeron suddenly tossed him a small rectangular device, "That's a portable teleporter from the Mercury to your homes or anywhere you are currently at. It will only work in two locations that you set. So there is no point C. It'll make a teleport field here and at your homes."

"Thanks dad!"

"It's actually your mother's doing."

"Oh then thanks mom!"

Aldira rolled her eyes and passed a teleporter to everyone else. "Okay enjoy your nights. We'll see you all tomorrow at Illia's Memorial."

"Right!"

Everyone quickly activated their teleporters and went back to their homes. Much to the relief of Rick's aching and tired body.

[Rick's House]

Rick was sprawled up on his bed, his feet aching, and muscles burning from all the activity of the day. He looked around the room and saw Alara, preparing to go to bed.

"I don't see why you females take so long to go to sleep. You don't need to get all dolled up to go to sleep."

Alara looked at him and smiled, "Well, I always like looking my best. No matter what the circumstance is." She said as she went back to brushing her hair.

Rick laughed quietly and pulled the brush off of Alara's hands with **Psychic**. He then pulled her towards him and held her close.

"Hey you don't need any of that to impress me."

"I don't?"

"Alara, I've dealt with you with and without makeup. Also, do you really believe that I care about that?"

Alara smiled again, "I guess you don't."

"Today was interesting, was it not?"

"Yeah! We recruited three people, fought a Project, almost got killed, and your dad gave us a lot of new toys to play with."

"That's enough fun for a while." He said laughing.

Alara giggled and laid down, "Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight." He said before kissing her.

[Dartz, Eevee Village Ruins]

Dartz was at the ruins of his childhood home, waiting for Ashlyn to appear like they planned. He was beginning to get bored and wondered if something came up. He was sitting at their tree, yawning to himself.

Dartz scoffed and said to himself, "I wonder if she forgot. I hope nothing happened."

He waited for a few minutes until he felt like she wasn't going to show up. He got up disappointed from his spot and began to walk away. He opened a portal to leave until he heard someone talking.

"Are you leaving?"

Dartz turned around and saw no one at the tree. He walked back to the tree and looked around it, finding absolutely no one.

"Now I'm hearing things." He shook his head to make sure he wasn't hallucinating and opened another portal.

"Aww don't leave."

Dartz turned back around and once again couldn't see anyone. This time he jumped onto the tree and looked around in the branches, finding nothing.

"Wow, I waited for so long that now I'm hearing things...or I'm being visited by a ghost from the ruins."

He heard a giggle, "I better be dead."

"Okay now I'm confused and a little scared. Where are you?"

"Try to find me."

Dartz went on the hunt again, but couldn't find the individual. He sat down, scoping out the area when he suddenly felt something tapping him on the back. He quickly turned around and couldn't find the person. He felt another tap on his back and began to spin around like a dog chasing their tail. He couldn't find the person and he was getting frustrated. This time he turned around before he could be touched again and managed to get a glimpse of a blue tail retreating up to the tree.

"Oh I got you now."

Dartz smiled and looked up into the tree, only to see nothing.

"What!?"

He couldn't understand what just happened, he could of sworn that a tail darted straight back into the tree. He quickly became frustrated and gave up. He sighed and turned his head back around, only to be met with a kiss from Ashlyn, catching him off guard.

Ashlyn giggled, "Found me!"

Dartz laughed, "Hey! What's the deal with toying with me like that?"

"I wanted to make an entrance."

"Well you made a good one. How did you move that fast?"

"Project."

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot."

"And I had help from Omega."

"How?"

"Omega changed their voice to make it seem like I was in multiple places at once."

"Where is Omega?"

As he said that Omega shot out of the lake and shook the water off its body.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Yes it does."

Ashlyn turned to look at Omega, "Omega dear, you can go exploring if you want. I'll be okay here with Dartz."

Omega nodded, became a dark mist and flew towards the ruins.

Dartz looked at Ashlyn and said, "Wow! That thing has so many abilities that it's scary."

"Omega is just a child in my eyes."

"What's even more frightening is that you have that behemoth on a leash."

"No I don't. Omega doesn't have to do anything I say. They just choose to."

"As far as we're concerned, you control Omega."

"Omega is the little sibling I never had. I can't help it that Omega loves me so dearly."

"I love you dearly too and I don't always do what you say."

"You should start. I'm the only one that's keeping you out of Team Rocket's radar."

"Point taken. Tell me something, why did Omega help us?"

"Omega isn't on Team Rocket's side. They just want to fight Rick and then they'll join your side. I want that to not happen. I want Omega to join you guys without fighting Rick to the death. I don't want to be in Team Rocket anymore. Omega doesn't want to be in Team Rocket either. I don't know what drives Omega, but I wish her the best."

Dartz immediately realized what he just heard, "Her? Omega's a girl?" Ashlyn quickly shut her mouth. "That...is surprising."

"Don't tell Omega that I let it slip."

"I won't...what type is she? Psychic?"

"No."

"Dark?"

"No."

"Ghost?"

"No."

"Fire?"

"I'm not going to tell you. I eliminated some possible types, but I'm telling you anything."

"Oh forget it!"

"You take this information to your grave. Understood?"

"Crystal clear."

"Good! Now then, time to do what we came here for."

Dartz chuckled and smiled at her, "We're already doing that. We're spending time with each other."  
Ashlyn began to brush up on Dartz, "Something more affectionate than that."

Dartz kissed her and asked her, "Like that?"

"Something more...affectionate."

"Like?"

She then said quietly, "If Epsilon and Omicron can do it then so can we."

Dartz heard her, "Do wh...?" Ashlyn cut him off by kissing him and leaned forward to push him on his back. "Ow! What's gotten into you?" He suddenly realized what Ashlyn was attempting. "Wait, you're trying to mate, aren't you? Man, now I know how Rick feels." Ashlyn nodded, surprising Dartz. "But you told me..."

Ashlyn interrupted him, "I told you that Giovanni didn't want the females to end up pregnant, but he's well aware of Epsilon and Omicron's relationship. So he allowed us to have relationships now, but I'm not telling him about you. But now I have a chance to be with you and I'm going to take it."

"Ash, I don't know what to say about that." He got up and Ashlyn stepped off of him. He walked to the edge of the island and began to think. "What happened to the pregnancy part?"

"Omega told me that she can easily just eliminate anything foreign in my body. She did it last week when I was getting a cold...she obliterated the virus almost immediately...it burned like hell."

"How did that happen?"

"Her claw began to glow red and she stabbed my shoulder. I was cured in a few seconds."

"Isn't that just another way of saying an abortion?"

"No, I made Omega eliminate the unfertilized egg..."

This time Dartz interrupted, he had his paw to his face, "I get the point! I don't need a Biology lesson. One class was bad enough."

"So what do you say?"

Dartz stopped and though again, "I don't know Ash. I don't want to risk...A WHAT THE HELL!" He turned around and began to kiss Ashlyn.

Ashlyn stopped him for a second, "Wait! OMEGA!" Omega suddenly appeared. "Okay you have an idea what's going to happen now."

Omega replied, "Yes, everytime I think about it I almost puke."

"Go frolic in the forest for a while."

"Gladly...try not to be too loud."

"We'll try bye!"

Omega left and when she was gone Dartz said, "Frolic in the forest? More like terrorize the woodland creatures."

"Oh stop it! Now to have some fun."

"Naturally."

[Two hours later, Sanctuary]

Dartz was arriving home and made his way to his floor with a contempt face. He reached the door to his home until he heard Seras's door open. He looked back and saw Seras staring at him with a wide smile.

Seras then said, "Sup slut!

"What?"

"Don't play dumb...Ashlyn sent me a message telling me all about what happened."

Dartz knew he was caught, "DAMN IT!"

Jean's door then flew open and Jean appeared with a wide smile on his face, "You rat bastard!"

"What?"

"Don't bullshit me! Seras told me. You got mad at me since you found out I plowed your sister. I guess we're even."

"You have no relation to Ashlyn. Your argument is invalid."

"...Damn it! The bastard's right!"

"Okay listen, yeah...it happened, but she's not going to be pregnant. She kinda took care of that."

Seras the said, "Aww! So no pups?"

"She would be in trouble if that was the case."

"Then good call on her part. We'll annoy you about it tomorrow. Get some sleep, you had quite the night. Goodnight!" She then walked back into her home and closed the door.

Dartz looked at Jean who was about to talk, but he stopped him, "Say a word and you will wake up in Cuba."

With that Jean walked back into his home and closed the door. Dartz sighed and went into his home to retired for the night.

**Well that was an interesting way of ending this chapter. Well thanks so much guys. I am so ready for all the reviews and messages for this one. I hope you guys liked it. Anyways, you guys know the drill. Review, message me, and leave me your questions. Thanks so much for your time guys. Bye!**


	42. Chapter 42: Inauguration

**I'm back. I actually got messages from people who believed that I was not going to be posting anything this week. As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to be posting at least one chapter a week. Here's the next chapter and it is my shortest chapter in a long time. I want to return to my old two chapters a week routine, but that's a bit of a far cry right now. Anyways, the contest is currently on and it will end when I decide it will. Sadly, I've only gotten three entries so far, kinda disappointing. However I understand, I will keep the contest open for anyone who wants to participate. The poll for your favorite two characters is still on and I'm looking for ideas for a new poll. For all of you that didn't know, A is an OC from EmeraldDragon1's story a Deal With A God, just to clear that up. Story spotlight:** _A Gardevoir and Her Trainer by latiasfan1_**. Last month's View Winner: The UK. View Rankings: 1st) Brazil, 2nd) UK,**** 3rd) Canada, 4th) Australia, 5th) The Philippines.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Early the next day Rick was with his dad, Daedalus, and Alara's dad, preparing for his inauguration later in the afternoon. Needless to say Rick was stressed out by everything and he didn't want to think about the ceremony later on. He never knew why, other than his slight phobia of public speaking, but he never liked ceremonies and especially those that involved him. He was walking around Illia's Memorial with the other males, looking at the decorations and the workers preparing for the event.

Rick asked the Chief, "Why wasn't I made aware of this earlier? Like, when I became the Warlord?"

The Chief looked at Rick, almost as if he didn't understand his feelings towards the event, "How could you not of guessed that there would be an event for the Warlord. Inauguration only happens when a new Warlord is appointed. So it doesn't happen very often, thus this is a very important event for us."

Rick nodded but he didn't feel as if his question was answered, "Well I realize that, but I didn't understand when my question was answered."

The Chief sighed and said, "You probably weren't made aware of this because my daughter forgot. She's been pretty lost in her thoughts since getting together with you."

Rick laughed at the statement. He knew that Alara's dad would eventually bring it up, and he never understood why he never prepared himself for a response. "Guilty as charged. She's just so excited to get married and I share her excitement. However we still have a while before that day."

"Well I'm just happy that she decided to get married to you. I'm also happy that you came back to restart a relationship with her. At first I lost hope of seeing you again after all those years of you being gone."

Rick smiled, "Well I guess I should thank Arceus for that coincidence that I was the one who saved her in Mt. Coronet."

Alara's dad began to laugh at himself and pulled Rick into a headlock, "You couldn't imagine my joy when I realized it was you who was standing before me all those months ago. It was almost as if a prayer was answered for me. I just about gave up hope on seeing you again, and then you just appeared out of the blue."

"I have a tendency of doing that. I appear and I can just as quickly disappear. However, I can't do that anymore. I'm going to get married, I have to fight a war, and I have to protect my home. But before that I used to move from place to place, never staying longer than a night."

"Must of been hard being a nomad."

"My trainer taught me how to fend for myself. Also, I had Mr. Silph helping me at times."

"Sound like you were alright on your own." He stopped talking when they walked up to Illia's Obelisk. The entire group looked up to the obelisk and the likeness of Illia sculpted onto it. "There she is. Illia, mother of the Sanctuary."

All the males looked at the statue/obelisk and Rick was kinda amazed by the sight. He had never been this close to the memorial and he took the time to look at the Hall of Illia. He was surprised by the size of the building and the size of the obelisk. The hall was very beautifully built. It was made of marble and silver, it had many flags for each den that was built. Rick knew that eventually the 21st and 22nd dens will have flags made.

Rick looked back at the obelisk and took a minute to analyze the statue that was sculpted onto the obelisk. The statue of Illia had its hands cupped as if it was giving something or receiving something"So this is where I'll be inaugurated?"

Daedalus answered him, "Yes. Here on this balcony, where the obelisk lies you will be inaugurated. Right here in front of Illia herself."

"I have a feeling like her body is entombed within the obelisk."

"Yes it is. Her body and her husband's body are in tombs within the obelisk."

"So the obelisk is hollow?"

"Yes. The obelisk was made to house the bodies. Our way to immortalize them for all time to come. As long as the Sanctuary exist it will exist and it will always be the tallest structure in this den. I do believe it's the tallest structure in all the dens put together."

"I would imagine. It seems really important to the Sanctuary as a whole."

"It's more important than the Chief's Court. Illia is the most important figure in our history. To all of us here, she will forever be the true queen. We would have nothing here if it wasn't for her."

Rick chuckled, "So I've heard. Alara tends to give me a history and culture lesson every now and then."

"She has the right to."

Xeron intervened and said, "Can we stop the chatter? We need to teach him what to do before tonight."

"Oh yeah! Thanks for reminding me little brother." Daedalus then looked at Rick and cleared his throat before saying. "Alright boy, here is how it's going to go down. We will stand on this balcony with you. Saifer will address the crowd first, then Keera and I will appear with the Warlord amulet and the royal saber."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "The royal family has a special sword?"

"Yes, it's only used for knighting however."

"Wait, the Queen is going to knight me?"

"All the Warlords must be knighted and only the Queen can knight. So when you are knighted then I will give you the Warlord amulet."

Xeron donned a fiendish smile and said, "And you also get the Warlord brand."

Rick turned around while saying, "Warlord brand?" He looked at his dad and saw him holding a branding iron with the end shaped as a 'W'. Rick gave a short sudden scream and jumped back. Xeron immediately fell to the floor, laughing his ass off and Rick growling at him. "Not funny dad!"

"Oh it wasn't funny...it was hilarious!"

Rick growled again and then smiled and began to laugh quietly, "Okay laugh it up."

Aldira suddenly appeared in front of the guys and looked down on Xeron, while the others sweatdropped and took a step back. Xeron opened his eyes and saw his wife looking down at him, "Hi dear! I thought you were with Alara and the other girls." Aldira didn't respond, scaring Xeron. "Ummm..." he gulped, "You okay dear?"

Aldira sighed and shook her head, "You never learn, do you?"

"Learn what?"

Aldira slowly shook her head again and powerfully punched Xeron. She then grabbed the branding iron and charged a **Fire Punch**. She heated the end of the branding iron on the flames and brought it down on Xeron's chest. She stopped branding him and waved goodbye at the others before teleporting away.

Rick chuckled and looked at his downed dad, twitching in pain. Daedalus walked up and picked his brother up.

Xeron woke up and asked, "What happened?"

Rick replied to him, "You forgot a vital rule of the animal kingdom. Never mess with momma bear's cubs, otherwise momma bear will kick your ass."

Xeron stood up on his own and felt a sharp pain on his chest, "OW! Did she brand me?"

Rick looked at the 'W' on Xeron's chest and started singing, "Nananananananananananananana nana, Whooped Ass!" (I know you all just read this in the Batman theme).

"Shut up and heal me!"

Rick laughed and used **Healing Pulse** on Xeron, healing the brand.

[Alara]

Alara and the other females were at Rick's house, where Alara's mom was making her try on different possible wedding dresses. Alara was not completely in favor of this yet, but she wasn't going to argue with her mom. She kept try on dresses and getting opinions from the girls.

After an hour of trying on dresses Alara said to her mom, "Is this really necessary for right now? The wedding is in five months."

Her mom nodded her head, "Of course! Better to be ready now than to be stressed before the big day."

Alara sighed, knowing that her mom had a point. Just then they saw Aldira arriving back from wherever it was that she went.

Keera asked her, "Where did you go off to?"

Aldira smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. Anyways, did Alara pick a dress yet?"

"No, she doesn't see the point or doing this now."

"Better to be safe than sorry dear."

Alara nodded, "My mom already told me that. I like all the dresses, but I don't know which one Rick will like."

Fang, who was with the group, said to Alara, "It doesn't matter. You know Rick will like everything and anything you pick. Besides, you looked beautiful in each dress."

"I know, it's just that I like to look my best for him. But you're right Fang, Rick likes and accepts everything I do or wear. I wonder what he's doing right now."

Aldira told her, "He's with my husband, your father, your grandfather, and Daedalus, learning what to do for the inauguration."

"He should be ready. He was thinking about what to say in his speech last night."

Keera asked her daughter, "So how do you think he'll do tonight?"

"I believe he'll do great. He's getting used to being around so many people, but public speaking is still something he needs some getting used to."

"Well I guess he'll just have to work on it. Anyways, time to try on more dresses."

She snapped her fingers and a group of Gardevoirs appeared taking away the already worn dresses and bringing new ones. Alara saw them and sighed, knowing that she was going to be there for a while.

[2 Hours Later; 22nd Den]

Rick was finally able to break away from the other males and go check up on A in the 22nd Den. He had never personally been to the bottom dens and he was eager to see how A was going to be living.

Rick was in the den transporter, waiting for it to reach the 22nd den, but he realized that it would take a while considering that it was the last den in the list. He finally arrived and was surprised by the elegant looking den. I had a large lake in the center, a nice garden around the lake, and he noticed a rather large and beautiful mansion. He suspected that that was where A was staying and he headed over to the mansion.

Once he arrived he knocked on the doors of the mansion, but no one answered the door. Rick found this odd since A told him he had a large number of pokemon. He knocked again and didn't receive an answer.

"This is odd. I know that A probably wouldn't leave, but I expected at least one of his pokemon to answer the door." Rick sighed, "I guess I'll come back later then."

Rick turned around and began to walk away. He suddenly heard the door being opened and turned back around to see a Gardevoir at the door.

The Gardevoir looked at him and asked him, "Hello? Were you the one knocking?"

"Yes, I was. Good afternoon, I'm looking for A."

"He's currently busy. May I ask who you are?"

Rick replied, "I am Warlord Aeruthael."

The Gardevoir quickly bowed her head and said, "Oh! I didn't know it was you. A is in the training grounds in the back, training us. Please come in."

"Thank you." Rick stopped after nearly forgetting his manners. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name."

"My name is Rose. At your service sir."

"Well thank you Rose. I'm pleased to meet you."

Rose bowed her head again and led Rick through the mansion. Rick looked at the inside of the house and saw that all the furniture he ordered for the house was set beautifully in the living room and the den. He snapped back into reality when Rose opened the backdoor and walked outside. There he saw a large number of pokemon exercising. He was surprised by the sheer number of them and how they were all from different species. They all seemed to have stopped what they saw him.

Rick waved at the pokemon and more kept stopping at the sight of him, and this time Rick saw A in the center of the field talking to an Arcanine. A soon noticed that his pokemon stopped and turned around to see Rick standing with Rose. A immediately bowed his head.

"Good to see you again A. I have to say, I'm surprised by the number of pokemon that you have. How did you carry all these pokemon around with you? Actually that's not important."

A chuckled a little at Rick's curiosity, "Hello to you too Warlord Aeruthael. I see that you met Rose."

"I have. I didn't notice that you were training right now. If I had known I would of come back at a better time."

"Oh it's alright. Sorry, at first I didn't hear the knock on the door. Then I heard the second knock and sent Rose to answer it. I was too busy training these guys."

"You have the right to do as you see fit. So far this entire place is reserved for you."

"Yeah, but you own it."

Rick laughed quietly and said, "I guess I do. Mind if we talk inside?"

"Sure!" He turned to his pokemon, "Continue your training like I taught you. I won't be long. Rose tag along if you want."

Rose shook her head and said, "No, you personal business should be your own."

A nodded and led Rick into the mansion. They walked all the way to the living room and sat down across from each other. Rick looked around and analysed the details of the living room. The living room had a stone fireplace, walls that were pearl white and stone at the bottom, the furniture complimented the room well and Rick felt satisfied on how the room looked.

The two sat down and Rick began by saying, "I take it that everything has been well provided for you?"

A nodded, "Yes. Everything I needed has been provided and my pokemon have had no complaints so far."

"I'm glad to hear it. Tell me, is there anything I can do to make your stay more...comfortable?"

A began to think and returned with a reply, "No. So far we have everything we need right now. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome. Let me give you some information on you residence here. You are free to do as you like with my blessing. However you have to remember that you do not have immunity from the lawn, and I may be forced to arrest you if the situation calls for it."

"No need to worry. I'm not going to cause any trouble in the Sanctuary."

"I trust you. Also, don't worry about the soldiers and guards. I talked to them and explained your presence here. You will be treated with respect."

"Thank you. That takes one worry off my shoulders."

"Also, there will be guards patrolling the area at all times to make sure that you and your pokemon are safe. Don't be alarmed when you see them. I assure you, you won't even notice them."

"I'm sure I'll notice a guard. They're not exactly inconspicuous."

Rick laughed, "Really? Have you noticed that there's been a guard in this room watching over my visit the whole time?"

A was surprised, "A guard? Where?"

A turned to look to his right and saw the guard standing in the room. The guard looked at him and gave him a salute, "Sir!"

A saluted back and looked back at Rick, "I didn't even notice him here."

Rick laughed, "Told you! I trained them well."

"I'll say!"

"Now to get to something I wanted to ask you."

"What's on your mind?"

Rick sat back as said, "There's something bothering you. I sensed it yesterday during the tour of the Mercury. You didn't like the weapons on it, did you?"

A was astonished on how Rick figured it out. He deduced that Rick's species powers helped him figure it out. "Yeah. I didn't. It wasn't anything I was expecting from someone trying to liberate pokemon. I'm actually starting to believe that you're trying to destroy everything."

Rick chuckled, a reaction that A didn't expect but he preferred it over Rick getting infuriated at him. "I'm already aware of this. Don't worry I'm not angry. No, I'm fighting against Team Rocket...and all their associates."

"Associates?"

"Team Manga, Team Aqua, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, and the remnants of what's left of Cipher."

A was sorta taken aback from what Rick said, "Cipher?"

"Have you heard of them?"

"Yes, but I heard they were eliminated some time ago."

"They were beaten down to submission by some guy called Michael. However, they now serve as a form of mercenary group for the current teams. Whoever this Michael guy was, he should of finished the job." He noticed a change in A's emotions but didn't worry about it too much. He then sighed after thinking about himself. "However that's not my place to judge. When I was part of Team Rocket, I could of destroyed them from the inside. I should of taken my chances, but I didn't. If I had, I wouldn't be worrying about all this war today."

A was now shocked by what he heard, "You were a part of Team Rocket?"

"Yeah, I forgot to brief you on the details of the war."

A's grew rather irritated and serious, "I'd like to hear it."

"Calm down! I WAS a part of Team Rocket, but then I defected and crippled their operations for a few years."

"But you still joined them."

"Not by choice. Team Rocket ruined my life and turned me into something that I should not be." With that Rick examined his hand until his 'A' appeared and his claws came out. "I can't tell you how much I hate them. It's a hate that burns hotter than any hellfire, and they caused me pain worse than any torture."

A seemed to have calmed down and looked at Rick as he kept looking at his hand, "What did they do to you?" He said a bit more sympathetic.

"They killed my parents and my sister."

"But I saw your parents. How can they be dead?"

"Arceus brought them back, but only for a few more days. I was happy, I got to gain a relationship with my parents again. I'm just sad that it's not permanent."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you had connections to Arceus...I'm sorry, I didn't know. What about your sister?"

"If you're going to be on my team then I guess I should open up to you. After my parents were killed by Team Rocket, they took me and my sister to different facilities to be experimented on. Where I survived the experimentation, my sister did not. I DID die seven times, but I kept coming back to life. Arceus had bigger plans for me. By the end of the experimentation I became what is known as a Rocket Project. Project Alpha." Rick lifted his right fist so that A could see the glowing 'A'. "Anyways, I stayed with them from the time I was seven until I became ten. Then I defected, killed many of their members, and wounded Giovanni. I didn't kill any of the other Projects, so now I have to fight against them, but not all of them are evil. We actually have some on our side. Giovanni didn't foresee that if you give creatures free will and treat them badly, then they WILL lash out at you."

"What are we up against?"

"Monsters. Monsters of incredible power. I'm not talking about the Projects now. Is there anything you want to know about me now?"

"No. I guess I'll figure everything out on my own. But let me get on thing straight; You're not trying to destroy humans or pokemon?"

"No. Because someone wronged me doesn't mean that I have the right to wrong others. This is a secret war that the outside world may not be completely aware of. Don't worry about the Goliad Missiles and the Ragnarok Cannon. Those are only a last resort. Hell, the Ragnarok Cannon is not in my list of things to use unless need be."

"Alright. I understand."

"Tell me, what is your task?"

"To aid you in battle."

"Nooooo. That's your mission. What is your task?"

A was not confused, "I don't comprehend."

"What is it that you devote your life to doing? What is it that you work so hard to accomplish?"

"To protect pokemon everywhere."

"Rest assured that we have similar goals."

"I sure hope so."

Rick smiled and looked at A's sword, "That's a nice sword."

A was surprised by the change of subject, but he was happy that they were talking about something less morbid. "Thanks. It was a gift from Arceus."

"Do you know how to use it?"

"Of course! I had training." A looked at Shadowbane. "Your sword looks good too. Mind if I hold it?"

Rick nodded, "Yes. If you want to be killed by my blade itself, then go ahead and hold it." Rick said as he drew Shadowbane out of its sheath and presented it to A.

A shook his head, "I'd rather not take my chances. Your sword is like mine. It harms those it rejects."

"Sword from Arceus?"

"Yes."

"Same here. I have two."

A arched an eyebrow, "Two?"

Rick nodded and the Arceus symbol on his left hand began to glow until Sovereign appeared in his hands. Shadowbane immediately changed into its more vicious appearance at the sight of Sovereign. A was surprised by both swords and Rick chuckled at his surprise.

"The light sword is called Sovereign. The shadow sword is called Shadowbane. Both swords were crafted by Arceus's own hands. Shadowbane has been in the Sanctuary for the last 1,800 years, and has cursed all those that took out it. Arceus gave me Sovereign when I accepted his mission. Then I found out that they are sister swords, which is why Shadowbane changes its form when Sovereign is brought out."

"My sword was crafted by Heatran but Arceus gave it to me. It can change its typing at my command."

"My swords can control light and darkness at my will. I'm learning how to use them though, especially Sovereign. They can be offensive or defensive. Sovereign can become a shield that forces enemies back or throws them back when they clash with it. Shadowbane can create protective force fields to protects a certain area. Other than that I need to learn how to use their power a bit more."

A chuckled, "Want to try out our skills?"

"Are you challenging me to spar?"

"I may. If you accept."

"Challenge accepted."

Rick and A got up and immediately walked back to the training field, where all of A's pokemon were still training with one another. They stopped again when they saw Rick.

Rick asked A, "Are they going to keep stopping when they see me?"

"Oh they just don't know who you are. I told them about you, but I didn't explain to them exactly who you were. One moment please." A then told his pokemon, "Guys, this is Warlord Aeruthael. He's our host and for a while, our boss. Please give him the respect he deserves." All of his pokemon immediately gave Rick signs of respect in their own ways. "Anyways, please clear the field. Me and him are going to spar." All his pokemon sweatdropped and moved off the field.

Rick and A walked to their respective positions and drew their swords. Rick put his swords away and teleported wooden swords to his hands. He threw one to A, who caught it and took a battle position.

"So any conditions?"

"Yeah, no powers. Blades and hand-to-hand only."

"Good conditions. Let's go!"

(Battle Music: **Tension Rising from Kingdom Hearts 2**)

They both bowed their heads and then charged at one another, clashing their swords. They exchanged slashes until Rick decided to kick A to the ground. A jumped up and dodged Rick's next attack. He then punched Rick, making him stagger back. A went for another punch, but Rick caught his fist, grabbed his arm and flipped him. A cringed from the pain, opened his eyes, and rolled out of the way from a slash from Rick's sword.

A noticed that Rick had the upper hand in the brute strength department, so he stood still and began to concentrate. Rick noticed and charged at A, to see what would happen. Once he reached him, A shot his hand out and caught Rick's wrist. He tried to punch Rick and succeeded. Rick however shook the hit off and headbutted A. A tried to punch him again, but Rick caught the fist. Rick tried to punch A as well, but A did the same as him and caught the fist. They struggled against each other for a few moments until A ducked his head onto Rick's chest, under his spike, and lifted him into the air and slammed him.

As Rick was on the ground, A reached for his wooden sword and swung at Rick. Rick responded by pulling out one of his arm blades and blocking the wooden sword.

Rick got up and said, "Now that's not a power."

A grinned, "Oh I know...from experience."

Rick chuckled and swung his sword at A, who blocked it and returned the slash. Rick quickly blocked the hit and the two returned to trading blows. Rick was impressed, he didn't expect this level of skill from a human. He was surprised that A was able to keep up with him that well and for so long. When they got into a power struggle Rick was finally able to speak to him.

"You know, you have to be the strongest human I have ever faced."

"Thanks. I've had a lot of training."

"Hmmm...is that so? Then let me test those skills of yours."

Rick immediately grabbed A's wrist and pulled him into a headbutt. He began to swing at him, but A backflipped away and began to spread his legs apart and breathe deeply. Rick arched an eyebrow and ran towards him. A began to move around each swing, in a way that Rick felt was familiar. Rick went for a stab and A moved around it again and kicked him on the side of the head.

A saw that he landed a good hit on Rick and went for a winning shot. Rick, somehow, recovered and wormed his way away from the strike. He grabbed A's arm and began twisting it behind A's back.

A began to scream out in pain, "DAMN IT! NOT AGAIN!"

Rick arched an eyebrow, "Again?" He finally put two and two together. "Ooooooh."

A took what he remembered from his training and let his sword. He then elbowed Rick in the stomach to make him let go. Rick bent forward from the hit and A took the opportunity to drive Rick's face to the ground. A jumped onto his back and began to twist Rick's arm.

"What goes around comes around!"

Rick began to laugh, startling A. "You honestly believe that I this is a problem for me. If my hunch is correct, I've had this done on me more than you know."

"Wait...what?"

Rick, despite A being on his back, jumped onto his feet. By this time A was extremely surprised. Rick suddenly shot forward, making A flip over him and fall on the ground. A rolled and grabbed his sword, which he dropped. He faced Rick and saw him grab his sword and give him the 'bring it' taunt. A stood up and both fighters charged at each other. They clashed in the middle and knocked each others swords off their hands. They immediate caught the swords in midair, spun around, and swung at each other. Both swords met again, but this time their clash was so strong that both wooden swords broke into pieces.

Rick and A looked at their broken swords and said in unison, "It's a draw!"

Both men shook hands and Rick said, "Incredible! No human has ever been able to keep up with me in a sword fight."

"You're not...bad yourself. Hell...you were awesome!" He said out of breath. "You were really tough. If we used powers you would of probably won because of your huge ability pool."

"We're a like in a lot of ways."

"Yeah, but you're the Warlord for a reason."

"So tell me, who trained you?"

A began to think of an answer, trying not to let Rick know that he was an Arceus Knight, "An associate of mines."

"By associate you mean X, right?"

A was surprised again, "How...?"

Rick laughed and interrupted, "The old man trained me too. For a period of six months in a time chamber. I figured that he trained you because you used his sword techniques, and you just so happened to be referred to me by Arceus. I'm a student of X as well. How long was your training?"

"Six months like you. I didn't know any of this."

"Neither did I."

A voice suddenly came out of nowhere, "Yeah, I should of probably explained."

Both men looked at where the voice came from and saw X standing in the middle of the field.

Rick chuckled, "Good to see you again X."

"Hello Aeru. Haven't seen you in about a month." X looked at A. "Now do you see why he's the Warlord? He knows what he's doing."

A replied, "I never doubted that he wasn't the Warlord. I'm just so surprised on how he and his team are so laid back about such serious things."

Rick replied to him, "We are. We just can't let a war scare us. We have lives to live, so we will live them."

"Amen to that! Sorry, there's so much for me to take in and learn about this entire situation. Any advice?"

"Yeah, enjoy yourself. When the time comes to do what we need to do, then we will respond in the way we need to."

X said, "Aeru is right. There's a time to be a soldier, a time to be a leader, a time to be an ally, and a time to be an individual. There are no zombies here." X then thought about A's situation. "...I think. Not important. Anyways, I came to tell you that you should let Aeru teach you how to be a member of this society and that you should help him. Don't worry about anything that happens."

A nodded, "Alright, but what if I don't like something?"

Rick responded to his question, "Then you talk to me about it."

X nodded, "Exactly! You can also talk to me or Arceus. Point is that you're all in this together."

A thought to himself for a second, "Alright. I understand. Thank you X."

"Anytime. Now Rick, you better get going. Your ceremony is going to begin in a few hours and you haven't even gotten ready yet."

Rick's eyes shot open, "Damn! Thanks X! Bye A!" Rick opened a portal and left.

A was left with X and said to him, "I have to learn how to do that."

X began to laugh at A's statement, "Perhaps, perhaps."

[Illia's Memorial, 8pm]

Rick was on the balcony where the ceremony was going to take place. He was with Alara, Amber, and their family, just waiting for the others to arrive. The memorial had a lot of activity. There was a military band playing, the media was everywhere, there was a gigantic horde of people. Rick looked up and saw the statue of Illia and a fire burning on her hands.

Alara was standing at the railing of the balcony, looking down at the massive crowd that was gathering. Rick was with her and he was beginning to get nervous.

Alara noticed and told him, "Dear, calm down. You only have to do this once."

Rick held her hand, "Thanks! You look elegant."

"Thanks! My mom had me wearing dresses all day that she decided to have me pick out my dress for tonight. I like how you look too. It's so rare to see you in your ceremonial Warlord garments."

"They make me feel...stuck up."

They both began to laugh and Alara kissed him.

They soon heard someone behind them, "Isn't that sweet? I hope I'm not too late."

Rick and Alara turned around and saw A standing on the balcony with them, wearing a suit.

Rick immediately walked up to him and shook his hand, "Good to see you again. Nice suit!"

"Thanks. Your mate had it sent over."

Rick looked at Alara and she explained herself, "I didn't know if he had one for the ceremony, so I had one sent to him. I love that it fits him perfectly."

They began to chat as they waited for the others to arrive. It took another ten minutes until Daedalus and Zant arrived. Then another ten for Rick's team to arrive so they could begin the ceremony. A walked to his seat and sat down.

Jean walked up to Rick and said, "Sorry we're late bro! My mom is impossible!"

Rick waved his hand at him, "Don't worry about it. All it did was give me time to work on my speech."

"Oh yeah! Here's a quick tip. When in doubt, quote Abraham Lincoln."

"Why would I do that?"

"It has saved a lot of people giving speeches."

"Jean, just sit down."

Jean got took the hint and sat down next to Seras. Rick then motioned for Dartz to come over. As Dartz walked pass A, Rick could sense something troubling him. He decided to talk to A about it later and just prepare to begin the ceremony.

Dartz arrived at where Rick was and asked, "Yes Rick? What's up?"

Rick gave him a smiled, "I heard about something you did last night with Ashlyn."

"Did the walking KFC tell you?"

"Yep."

"Damn it Jean! Either way, yes it happened."

"Well congrats brother! I'm wondering right now how Ashlyn is feeling."

[Rocket HQ]

Ashlyn was laying down on her bed with a contempt smile on her face. Omega was on her side rolling her eyes.

"Seriously, are you going to keep smiling like that? It's starting to get creepy."

"Don't ruin my mood Omega."

[Illia's Memorial]

Dartz said, "I'm guessing she's feeling good."

"Well I'll leave this conversation for later. Bye!"

"See you!"

Everyone sat down so that the ceremony could begin. Rick was pat on the back by his dad, making his nervousness disappear for a bit. Rick suddenly felt something appearing. He sighed and stuck his arms out to catch a teleporting Maiyu.

Maiyu smiled at him and said, "Hi Aeru!"

"Hi Maiyu! What are you doing here?"

"My mom said that I could go to you for the ceremony. I was supposed to go directly to Alara."

"Well, I'm not Ally."

"Yeah, I kinda missed the teleportation."

Rick chuckled and handed Maiyu to Alara.

Alara's dad got up and addressed the crowd, "Good evening citizens of the Sanctuary and honored guests! Good evening all of you in attendance and the thousands, if not millions watching at home! We have gathered here at our most sacred of places, to inaugurate another Warlord into the great Hall of Illia. On this day of Illia's own birthday, we stand in the sight of our great queen to recognize our next protector and one of our next leaders. Tonight, we honor the next Warlord. We honor a man of great value, not only to the Sanctuary, but to me personally. We honor the Warlord, we honor the son of a former Warlord, and we honor my future son-in-law. Warlord Aeruthael!"

The crowd began to cheer and Alara's dad waved for his wife, Rick, and Daedalus to get up. They stood up and walked to the balcony. Rick looked at the crowd and was met with cheers and applause for the multitude. Rick waved at them until Daedalus told him to kneel to be knighted. Rick looked at Alara's mom and saw her standing with a sword in her hand. He quickly knelt before her and she began to speak.

"Aeruthael, I've had the pleasure of being there for you during your birth. I held you with my own hands. I did not have the pleasure of seeing you grow up, but I was there for your return. At first you were the son of my best friend, then you became our strongest warrior and won your right to become the Warlord by defeating your uncle. However, you did not accept the role until a while after. Then you became our Warlord to lead us through this war we have been dropped in. Then you surprised us all by becoming engaged to my daughter. So not only are you the Warlord, but you are also destined to be the next Chief. Being both in one has not been seen for centuries. I wish you the best on all your endeavors. So to go with tradition, I will knight you as the Warlord, as the queen is entitled to do." She then tapped Rick's shoulders with the sword, and then rested it on his head and said, "You are a leader in the Sanctuary and a leader for pokemon everywhere. Do your job with dignity, distinction, honor, and respect. You may rise Warlord!" She offered Rick her hand, which Rick took and kissed as he got up.

Rick looked at Daedalus as he stepped forward and placed the Warlord amulet around his neck and hugged him. Afterwards, Rick walked to the front of the balcony and met up with Alara's grandfather. Alara's grandfather motioned for Rick to put his right hand over his heart, which Rick quickly did.

Alara's dad then said to the crowd, "The head of councilor shall now oath the Warlord into office."

Alara's grandfather said to Rick, "Repeat after me Aeruthael. I Aeruthael."

Rick repeated, "I Aeruthael."

"Promise to uphold all the laws, regulations, and customs of the Sanctuary to the best of my abilities."

Rick repeated, "Promise to uphold all the laws, regulations, and customs of the Sanctuary to the best of my abilities."

"I promise to be a leader, servant, and protector to the people of the Sanctuary."

Rick repeated, "I promise to be a leader, servant, and protector to the people of the Sanctuary."

"I promise before the people, before the Council, before the royal family, before Illia, and before Arceus."

Rick repeated, "I promise before the people, before the Council, before the royal family, before Illia, and before Arceus."

"With the blessings of Illia and the eternal blessings of Arceus."

Rick repeated, "With the blessings of Illia and the eternal blessings of Arceus."

"Amen!"

Rick repeated, "Amen!"

Alara's grandfather shook Rick's hand, "Congratulations Warlord Aeruthael!"

Alara's grandfather walked back to the group and Rick took his place at the podium. Once he stood at the podium he was met with a roar of applause and cheers. Rick smiled through it all and then lifted his right hand and the crowd settled down.

In the silence Jean was heard yelling, "Drop them dead Rick!"

Rick turned to look at him and laughed silently, followed by laughter from the crowd.

Rick pointed at Jean and said, "Captain Jean-Luc Mercado everybody!" The people laughed and settled down so Rick could speak.

Rick began his speech, "Over eighteen thousand years ago, in a land far away, and no I am retelling the story of Star Wars." The crowd laughed again while Alara shook her head with a smile, "Queen Illia was born on this day. Born to a poor family, in the poorest of conditions. The daughter of a farmer and a dressmaker. Never in her life did she believe she would become the most honored of individuals and our most beloved and celebrated of queens. She did not receive this notoriety by idling about. She worked her hands to the bone, she met her husband, whom she did not know was the prince, and she did not give in to the assault of the Mightyena Alpha Male. For that reason we honor her even now. I can relate to her story. I may of been born here, but as far as anyone is concerned, I'm was a stranger in this land. For a time I had nothing, after the loss of those I loved. But I kept fighting until this day in which I stand before you all. I will never be as great as Illia is, but I would love to know if I may follow in her footsteps." Rick received another applause form the crowd, he rose his hand again for silence.

"I was born as the son of Warlord Xeron and Lady Aldira. I was born here in the Sanctuary, here in the first den, but my family is from the third den. I was not raised here, but that does not mean that I was not a part of you. I was forced to leave for reason unknown. When I did, I found out why this civilization is called the Sanctuary. When I left, I lost everything. I lost my family, my friends, and my home. But Arceus had other plans for my life, I managed to find a good home for a few years, I got a new family, and then I was given the opportunity to return here to the Sinnoh region which led me to meet your princesses Amber, and, my future wife, Alara." Rick received a choir of 'awws'. "Come now. Don't make me blush." Everyone laughed again.

Rick sighed and crumbled the paper where his speech was written, "I guess I should do this from what I really want to say. Not what I jot down. It's true what I've written down. I am born stranger in this land. I didn't know it existed up until six months ago, and I wish I knew how wonderful this place is. I made a life here and I'm adding onto it. I came here believing I was alone. I did not know I had a family and I did not know if there was a place for me. Then I came here and found out that I all these things were waiting for me here. This place is my home just as much as it is all of yours. I just promised to protect it with my life, and thus I shall. I do not know what tomorrow will bring, I do not know what the next minute will bring. However, I know that I promised to all of you and to myself I will make sure we all come out standing in the morning and throughout the next. What does Sanctuary mean? It means a place of safety and a sacred place. To all of us this is the reality and it's my job to make sure it stays that way. So I hope you accept me as your Warlord if you have not already. Thank you!"

Rick received a large applause from the crowd and he waved back at them as he walked away.

[Rick's House, 2 hours later]

Rick was in his living room, playing with Maiyu, while Alara was changing. Rick decided to have Maiyu over his house for the night, just to be able to spend time with her.

Maiyu said to Rick, "Congrats Aeru!"

"Thanks baby girl! I do not like saying speeches."

"Well at least it's over. Yeah and shouldn't I be putting you to sleep."

"Aww! Do I have to go to sleep?"

"Sorry baby girl, but you're still little." He then thought of something. "Hey Maiyu, what say we take a plane ride tomorrow?"

"A plane ride? Your jet?"

"No, way bigger than that."

"Really? Okay!"

Rick laughed, "Alright, but you have to go to sleep."

"Okay!"

"Alright, go to the bathroom and get ready to go to sleep."

Maiyu gave Rick her signature thumbs up and ran upstairs and into the bathroom. Rick laughed at himself.

"Such a cute little girl. She acts and looks like Harmony." Rick's smile slowly faded and he walked upstairs to Maiyu's room to wait for her.

Maiyu eventually came out and walked into her room with Alara following her. Maiyu saw Rick and said to him, "I'm ready to go to sleep."

Rick slowly turned around and put a smile on his face, "So I noticed. Come on!" He said as he picked her up and laid her down on the bed.

Alara walked up to the bed and tucked Maiyu in.

Alara said to Maiyu, "Now go to sleep Maiyu. Sleep well. Love you little one!"

Rick followed Alara's statement, "We both do. Goodnight! Love you baby girl!"

Maiyu pulled both Alara and Rick into a hug and kissed them. They both returned her kiss and began to walk out of the room. Rick, as usual, kept the lamp at the end of the room on, and the door cracked for Maiyu, and she quickly drifted off to sleep.

In the room, Rick sat down on his bed and saw Alara walk into the bathroom. While she was in the bathroom, Rick pulled up his Poketch to see if Maiyu fell asleep. When he saw that she was already asleep he smiled and chuckled to himself. She reminded him so much of his little sister, so much that something actually started to ache inside of him.

Rick sighed and grabbed his locket. He opened it and looked at his family picture, he focused on himself and his sister. He then chuckled again when he compared his sister and Maiyu and realized that they did look so alike. He felt the same heartache again and closed the locket.

"So I get my strong emotions back, now I know how to cry." He sat down on the edge of the bed and covered his face with his hands. "Oh Harmony, if only I could of saved you."

Alara came out of the bathroom and the moment she stepped into the room she picked up Rick's sad emotions. She saw him sitting at the edge of the bed and quickly sat down next to him.

"Rick? Dear, are you alright?"

Rick quickly tried to compose himself, "Yeah. Just thinking."

"About Harmony?"

"Yeah." He took his hands off his face and Alara saw tears on his eyes.

Alara wiped the tears off his face and then hugged him, "You wished she was with you right now, don't you?"

"Of course I do. Since I got my emotions I found myself being more...mournful for her. Now that I know what it feels to being emotionally pained, I can feel myself crying for her. Something I couldn't do before."

"Tears came out, but no cries?"

"Exactly! Maiyu reminds me so much of her."

"May I see your locket?" Rick handed her his locket and she opened it to see the picture of his sister. "The similarity is striking yes, but your sister has way longer hair."

Rick began to laugh, "Yeah, we made a promise to each other. We promised to never cut our hair until one of us got married."

Alara smiled, "Why did you promise that?"

"It's stupid now that I think about it."

"If it's so stupid, why haven't you cut your hair yet?"

"Touche! I just don't want to say it."

"SAY IT!"

Rick sighed and swallowed his pride, "We promised never to cut our hair until our wedding days...because she made me promise that she belongs to me and I belong to her."

"I find it cute."

"We were little."

"But you kept your promise."

"True."

"Are you going to cut your hair once we get married?"

"Do you want me to?"

Alara thought about it for a second, "No, I think I prefer your long hair. It sets you apart from the other Gallades."

"Then I might not cut it. I like that it hasn't grown passed my back, but once it reaches my ass I might want to cut it."

"I'd rather that you keep your hair at its current length. Wait, how in 22 years has your hair not grown to be extremely long if you never cut it?"

"I psychically slowed down the growth of my hair."

"Oh. Anyways, are you calm now?"

"Yeah thanks." He leaned and kissed Alara. "Time for bed, we have a long day tomorrow."

"What are we going to do?"

"We are taking an aircraft ride."

"Why?"

"I promised Maiyu."

Alara smiled, "Alright. Goodnight dear! I love you."

"I love you too. Good night!"

They laid down and drifted off to sleep.

[Rocket HQ, 12 Hours Later]

A grunt ran into Giovanni's office, "Sir, we have learned that Project Alpha might be in the Sinnoh region."

"Is this just a hunch?"

"The last power spike was there, but it was faint."

"Very well. Even if he's not there he will have to respond to this. Release Titan Avion!"

"Isn't that risky?"

"Avion is a test to see how powerful he has become now. If he manages to kill Alpha then it is better for us."

"And to recapture Avion?"

"We'll just have to sent out the Projects. Now go do it."

The grunt gave him a salute, "Yes, sir!" With that the grunt walked out of the room.

"Time to see if you're really a threat Alpha. Let this war between you and I begin."

**Well there it is guys. Yeah I know, the speech was kinda corny but I didn't have time to brainstorm it. Anyways, leave me your reviews, questions, suggestions, contest entries, and votes. Thanks for everything guys. Bye!**


	43. Chapter 43: Enter Titan Avion, Goodbye

**Hey guys, here's Chapter 43 and the anticipated Titan fight. This chapter was a battle against the clock to write. Anyways, I'm going to try to keep it short this week. I want to thank everyone who sent in their contest entries. I forgot to do this last week but I would love to thank Hunter Killer OC production co who gave the 200th review on the story. I do not have a Story Spotlight for this week, sorry. View Rankings: 1st) Brazil, 2nd) UK, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Australia, 5th) The Philippines.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

((Opening Theme: **Still Swingin' by Papa Roach**) I decided to add this opening theme as the theme for the Blade and the Embrace)

It was nine in the morning, Rick and Alara were fast asleep. Unbeknownst to them, Maiyu was up and entered their room. She climbed onto the bed and got comfortable between the two adults. Rick felt her get on the bed, but he decided not to do anything for the moment.

Maiyu got into her usual position in between them and used **Confusion** to move Rick and Alara into the position she's comfortable in.

Rick sent Alara a mental message, _*Ally, are you awake?*_

He received a exhausted reply, _*I am now. What's up dear?*_

_ *We have a Maiyu.*_

_ *Oh...alright. Ready?*_

_ *Whenever you are.*_

Rick and Alara cracked their eyes open and saw Maiyu resting comfortably in between them. They slowly moved their hands to grab Maiyu's pigtails, pulled them up and yelled into her ears, "GOOD MORNING MAIYU!"

Maiyu shot up and covered her ears. She looked at the two adults and said, "That was mean!"

Rick and Alara laughed. Rick said to her, "Sorry baby girl, but we warned you about doing that without telling us first."

"Yeah yeah, I know."

Alara sat up and sat Maiyu on her lap, "I'm guessing you're excited for our trip today."

Maiyu shook her head vigorously, "Yep! I want to go on it already."

Rick pet Maiyu's head, "Let me call to get it ready for you."

Rick reached for his Poketch and dialed a number. The Poketch rang four times until someone picked up. "Hello? Screech here!"

"Screech, it's the Warlord!"

The sound of Screech's voice sounded surprised, "Sir? Wow, I wasn't expecting a call yet, but I'm honored. What can I do for you?"

"We're taking a trip today on the Mercury."

Screech sounded excited over the news, "Wow already? Great! I finally fly the behemoth."

"We'll leave at noon. I'll be there in an hour. Also, I'm taking my baby cousin with me. So make the proper accommodation."

"Will do sir. Headed to the Mercury now. I already sent out a bulletin to the rest of the crew. See you there!"

"Goodbye!" Rick hung up the call.

Alara smiled at him and stood up while carrying Maiyu and said to her, "Come on, let's get you ready for the day."

Alara and Maiyu left the room and Rick stayed there, trying to stay awake. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned as he got off the bed. As soon as he stepped off the bed his Poketch rang again.

"Hello?"

A voice came from the other end that sounded like Nero in pain, "Sir?"

"Nero?"

"Damn! I meant to call Tsu."

By the sound of Nero's voice Rick could tell what was happening, "Are you hung over?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, yes I am."

Rick sighed, "Go drink some milk and get off that couch that I know you're sprawled up on. Then get to the Mercury in a few more hours."

"Wait, what for? Ow! My fucking head!"

"We're taking a trip on the Mercury. So get that milk and head on over."

"Gotcha! I'm going to go bash my head against the fridge...or take half a dozen aspirin. Ow my fucking head!"

Rick hung up and walked into the bathroom.

[Thirty Minutes Later]

Rick was with Alara and Maiyu in the kitchen, eating breakfast. Rick was explaining to Maiyu what the aircraft was like and Alara was texting with Amber.

Maiyu then asked Rick, "So how long will we be gone?"

"A few hours. I'll be showing you the regions from the deck."

"Promise?"

"Promise!

Rick kissed Maiyu's forehead as she giggled to herself. Alara saw them and smiled wide, wondering how her family will Rick will come out like. She drifted deep in the thought and was eventually snapped back to reality by Maiyu.

"Ally, what regions have you been to?"

Alara shook off her thoughts and replied to Maiyu, "Well I've been never been to Kanto, Orre, or Unova."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "When have you been to Hoenn? It wasn't in that list."

"I was little, I say about five or six. Me and my parents went to visit one of their friends. We stayed for a week and returned back here."

"And Johto?"

"Epsilon's Fortress and Goldenrod."

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

An idea popped into Maiyu's head, "Aeru, what if we go visit your childhood home in the Hoenn region."

Rick shook his head, "I'm sorry Maiyu, no can do."

"Aww why not?"

Alara defended Maiyu's idea, "Oh come on dear. It'll be a nice little trip for us all. It'll even give you a chance to walk down memory lane."

Rick's voice grew more remorseful, "I'm sorry girls...it's just too much to take back in. Too many memories, too many things that I buried years ago. Let's not revisit that time of my life."

"How about your trainer's home?"

Rick thought for a second. He couldn't find a reason to why not to go. It will give him a chance to walk on the ground he grew strong in, and maybe he could visit his master's grave. "Alright, that we can do, but only for a little bit. There's something I need to see."

Maiyu sensed a bit of sadness coming from Rick, even though he tried to hide it. "Aeru, are you alright?"

Rick gave her a brave smile and said to her, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I sensed that you were really sad just now."

"Oh Maiyu. Your powers are still developing. It's so hard to hide emotions from you when you're this young. It's just that...my childhood was hard. I grew up with loss and then I found a true home."

"Because your parents died?"

Rick was reluctant to answer, but he sighed and nodded, "Yes."

Maiyu quickly hugged Rick, "It's okay Aeru. At least they're here now. How long until they have to go away?"

"In three days."

Maiyu's smile disappeared, "What!? So soon!?"

Rick knew that Maiyu had begun to grow close to his parents and it pained him to tell her. "I'm sorry baby girl, but they can't stay forever." Tears began to form on Maiyu's eyes. Rick quickly wiped the tears off her eyes and told her, "Hey, they'll be back. We'll see them again. They'll be here for the wedding."

Still sniffing Maiyu asked, "Really?"

Rick smiled at her, "Yes. There's no way they'll miss it."

She cheered up again, "Alright. I just want to spend more time with them.

Aldira's voice then emanated throughout the room, "Aww, we would also love to spend more time with you. Our time is not yet over Maiyu."

Rick looked around and asked, "Mom?"

"Over here!" Rick looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Xeron and Aldira phase through the floor into the room.

"Guys! I thought you couldn't do that anymore?"

"We couldn't, but our time is running out. So our ghost like powers have returned."

Rick sighed, "I'm almost hating the fact that you guys have to go."

Xeron said, "We'll be back for your wedding. Don't worry too much."

"I know, it's that I finally got a relationship with you guys."

"Well if you've forgotten, you have direct access to the Hall of Origin. Just ask Arceus whenever you want to talk to us."

"It's not the same. I now expect to see you guys every morning and spend the rest of the day with you guys...then see mom beat the hell out of you. It was magical."

Xeron chuckled, "You'll get the chance to see that again."

"Anyways, we're going on the SAM today."

"SAM?"

"The S.A Mercury. It's an easier way to say it."

"I prefer just to say Mercury."

"Fine. Anyways, we're leaving in a few minutes." Rick looked at his arms and saw that Maiyu was no longer in them. He looked at his mom and saw Maiyu clinging onto her, not wanting her to leave. Rick chuckled silently, "She doesn't want you two to go. She's grown to like you guys."

Aldira held Maiyu and cradled her, "Aww it's okay sweetie. We'll be back. I promise to play with you a lot in the remaining days. Just don't cry. Maybe Aeru will let you talk to us when he asks Arceus for us."

Maiyu looked at Rick with desperate eyes. Rick couldn't deny her the chance. "Sure thing Maiyu."

Maiyu smiled and teleported onto Rick's shoulders, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go on the ride."

"Wow that was a quick improvement."

"Well let's go I want to go for the ride."

Rick scoffed, "Alright, but the ship's not leaving until noon."

"I can wait."

With that Rick led everyone to the study and activated the teleporter. Everyone stepped through and found themselves in the homing unit of the Mercury.

A voice came through the intercom, "Warlord? This is D.A.S.I. I see that you have arrived. Do you require anything?"

Rick replied, "Yes, can you call up the other members of my team? I want them to tag along."

"Very well. It shall be done...contacting... All but one of your team members has a teleporter."

"Who?"

"The one that goes by the name A."

Rick sighed, "Mom, you forgot to give him one, didn't you? A screw it!" Rick snapped his fingers and two soldiers appeared, "Men, go get A from the 22nd den and tell him to come to the Mercury."

The soldiers nodded and teleported away. Suddenly Seras and Dartz appeared dragging Jean through the teleporter.

Jean was heard saying, "No! I want to stay asleep."

Seras was head saying, "Then go to your room on the Mercury. Stop being a baby."

"No!"

"Jean! Don't make me hit you with **Swift**!"

Jean sprang up onto his feet and walked towards Rick, "Well feels like a great day for an adventure."

A vein appeared on Seras's head and she walked towards the group. Soon after the other members of the team arrived, with Tsu levitating a hung over Nero.

Tsu said, "Where do I put him?"

Rick replied, "Either the Sick Bay or his room."

"Which one's his room?"

"Third floor, second to the left."

Tsu looked at the door of the room and used **Psychic** to trigger the sliding door. She then took aim and threw his into the room, and soon after a crash was heard.

"Problem solved. He should be alright in about two to three hours."

"What about the headache you just gave him?"

"He'll learn to deal with it."

She walked away and soon after all of Rick's team appeared. A arrived soon after with Rose and a Gallade following. Rick took a count of his team and noticed that Gloria was not among the group.

"Umm guys, where's Gloria?"

Dartz answered his question, "Back in the Hoenn region. I opened a portal for her."

"When did she leave?"

"Last night after your inauguration. She wanted me to open it for her."

"Well she'll miss out on the trip, but we're headed to the Hoenn region anyways."

Screech's voice sounded over the intercom, "So we're going to the Hoenn region?"

"Hey Screech! Yeah, we are."

"Alright, just set the destination on the Navigation Map."

Rick walked up to the meeting table and turned on a computer. As he began to type he saw the hologram projector pull up a globe that then zoomed into a map of the regions.

DASI was then heard, "Now you can touch the map to pick a destination or type in the coordinates."

Rick walked up to the globe and touched the Hoenn region and then to his destination.

Screech apparently got the information, "Alright. ETA: Four Hours."

Rick was surprised that the Mercury could make the trip that fast, "Four hours? The Hoenn region is on the other side of the map."

"Oh this thing can go fast. It has multiple settings: Travel, Combat, Defense, and Speed. Depending on what you want exactly it will change its shape to match the settings."

"Let's just stick to travel. Thanks Screech!"

"Don't mention it. You guys should check out the deck of the ship or just tour the parts of the ship that you haven't been to. Anyways, taking off in one minute. You guys should head to the bridge to see it take off."

"Good idea. We'll be there in a minute. Let's just get to the transporter."

"Alright, warming up the engines now."

Rick and his friends waited for a second and could feel the engines turn off, but the sound was minimal, which was surprising. Rick smiled in satisfaction and said, "Let's go."

Everyone nodded and headed to booth-like transporters and five got in each transporter towards the bridge. It was amazing since the ship was so large that it took a while to reach the bridge. Once they arrived they headed towards the bridge, and along the way they saw the workers scrambling around the rooms to prepare for the launch.

Once they reached the bridge they saw Screech fiddling with a holographic computer console. He noticed the group walking in and said, "Hey guys, right on time. We're ready to go."

A asked, "How does the Mercury leave this hangar? I never saw an opening of any kind."

"The opening is on the roof." Screech pressed a button on his console and said, "This is Screech. We are ready to take off. Permission to open the exit hatch?"

He received a reply, "Permission granted! Opening exit hatch! Take care Mercury and congratulations on your maiden voyage."

"Acknowledged! Preparing to rise once the hatch opens."

Rick became curious, "Where exactly is this hangar located?"

Screech replied, "We're found in an underwater hangar. We're actually underneath the ocean South of the Sanctuary. The hatch is actually raised so that water doesn't fall in here."

"I never thought that I'll say this, but..." He turned to Xeron, "You're a genius."

Xeron shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know what to say besides...I'm great!"

"You were going to say something else, weren't you?"

"Yes, but Maiyu's here."

Everyone laughed and then they head Screech say, "Sorry to interrupt the laughter, but we're rising."

Everyone stopped laughing and immediately looked out the windows and saw the long tube that led to the opening hatch. Soon the Mercury emerged from the ocean hatch and everyone saw the forest where the Sanctuary was located.

Rick asked Alara, "If we're in a forest, why can I only see a gigantic clearing and no trees?"

Alara answered, "Those trees are psychic illusions. It keeps the Sanctuary hidden. Like the barrier, you can't see it."

"Nice! A cloaking system..." He stopped when he thought of something and asked Screech. "Wait, won't people be frightened by a giant warship flying over their city?"

Screech replied, "Nope! We have the Silph Co. logo on the side. Also, outside of combat this looks like a company super jet. So people aren't afraid of it."

"That will be pretty hard of an image to keep up with blasters all over the ship."

"Don't worry. When we're on travel mode the weapons are hidden. It just looks like we're cruising."

"Alright, my fears are put to rest."

"Good to know. So are we going to hover motionless in the air, or are you going to do the honors and press the launch button?"

Rick was surprised, "Oh? I didn't know I had to do that." He looked at Maiyu. "Actually, I'll let my baby cousin launch the Mercury's maiden voyage. Go ahead Maiyu!"

Alara smiled at Rick and placed Maiyu on the floor. Maiyu walked up to the control console and pressed the launch button. The ship suddenly took off quickly towards the Hoenn region.

Screech laughed and said, "BONZA! We're off! Okay guys, you can leave the flying to me and DASI. Go ahead and explore the ship if you want."

Everyone nodded and got back into the transporters. However, this time everyone set out to different locations.

Rick, Alara, and Maiyu first went to their room to plan out where they will go first.

Rick asked Alara, "Where to first?"

She replied, "The deck obviously. I want to see how it is outside."

"Alright. Maiyu?"

Maiyu replied, "Outside!"

"Then let's head out."

[Five Minutes Later]

Rick, Alara, and Maiyu were in an elevator for the deck. They were anxious to see how the deck looked like, Rick however was trying not to become uneasy because of his fear of heights. However he put on a brave face and stepped onto the deck after the elevator doors opened.

When they got onto the deck, they were amazed to see it. The deck was three fourth the length Mercury. It had furniture that was bolted down and a beautiful view of the land below, which Rick dreaded to look at. They looked around and saw Rose and the Gallade that came with her and A at one edge of the deck cuddling as they looked at the land below them. They then looked to the other end of the deck and saw A mumbling something to himself. Rick however could hear him say faintly "Green".

Rick walked towards him with Alara and Maiyu in tow. Once he got to him he said, "Thinking hard?"

A snapped back to reality and looked back at Rick, "Oh...hey sir." There was a certain feeling of depression in his voice.

"Are you alright A?

"Yeah, just thinking of a few old friends. Nothing to concern yourself with. So how can I help you?"

Rick leaned on the rail of the edge with A, "Nothing really. I just wanted to take my two ladies to the deck to get some fresh air."

A looked at Alara and Maiyu, "So I've noticed." He concentrated his sights on Maiyu, since he never saw her very well until that point. "Who's the little one?"

"That's my baby cousin Maiyu. She's only five years old and is very close to me and Alara."

A turned around and walked over to Maiyu, who hid behind the skirt of Alara's dress. "Aww it's okay little one. I'm not going to hurt you."

Maiyu stayed hidden behind Alara and Alara apologized for Maiyu, "I'm sorry. She has a hard time trusting humans. She has a fear of them."

"Is that so?"

"Don't worry. I'm not a mean human. I won't try to catch you. You can trust me." He said as he stuck out his hand for her.

Maiyu inched her way from Alara's skirt and reached a tiny hand to touch A's hand, slowly. When she touched it she felt a wave of emotions from him, mainly depressing emotions and she gasped while pulling her hand back.

She then looked at A and said, "You're sad, aren't you? You lost a friend...maybe two."

A was startle by this and said, "How did you...? Don't worry, I'm not sad." He smiled at her, "See? I'm happy."

"You can't hide your emotions from me. You're an open book to me."

A slowly rose back to his feet and looked at the little Kirlia with an amazed look.

Rick then intervened and said, "Alright Maiyu, that's enough for now. Go with Alara and play on the deck for a while. But be very careful."

Maiyu gave Rick a thumbs up and skipped away with Alara following her closely.

Rick sat down on a bench and asked A, "Is something bothering you now?"

"No, I'm fine really."

"You can't hide your emotions from the children of my species. Their powers are still developing so they involuntarily have powers surges. Their psychic power is unrestrained and so they can dig in deeper into your psyche. If she said that something is bothering you then I believe her."

A sighed, "Alright, I have a lot on my mind, but I can deal with it alone. If you don't mind that is."

"You have your own rights. I won't get involved if you don't want me to."

"Thank you."

"But it's not healthy to keep all that in."

A then said in an annoyed tone, "I'm aware of the risks. Thank you!"

"Sorry. I'll be on my way. I need to look after my little cousin. Try to relax a bit."

"I'll try...huh?" Something caught A's attention.

Rick seemed to have sensed the same thing and looked out the edge of the ship. What he saw surprised him.

[Mercury's Cockpit]

Screech was doing his job flying the ship until DASI arrived.

Screech said to her, "DASI, I'm busy. What is it?"

"There is a hit on the radar."

"A hit on the radar? What on Earth can be this high in the air with us, besides a plane, that can set off the radar."

"Pull up the radar and you'll see smartass."

Screech pulled up the radar on the computer console and saw a massive hit on the radar. "What the fuck!? This thing is huge!"

"Worst part is that it's right under us."

"What!?" He called Rick on the communicator, "Sir! We have a situation!"

[Mercury's Deck]

Rick replied to Screech, "Yeah I think I see the situation...and it's huge!" Rick got an intercom signal to his entire team, "Guys, we have a Rocket Titan! Get ready for a fight!"

As he said that the Titan rose from under the Mercury and let itself be seen. The Titan was a gigantic former bird pokemon. It was easily 250 ft long and probably 75 feet tall. It had a long graceful tail with a mace-like end, a hawk-like beak with visible sharp teeth within it. Its plumage was grey and white. The talons were monstrous in size, it had spine-like protrusions on its back, and four glowing sigils. Rick looked at it and immediately identified it.

"Guys! It's Titan Avion!"

A asked Rick, "What's a Titan?"

"A Titan is a former Rocket Colossus that managed to evolve. They are very few."

"What's a Colossus?"

"I do not have the time to explain this to you!"

Screech sent Rick a message, "Should we engage it?"

"YES! It's here to kill us!" He scoffed at himself and said to himself, "So you want to make this war official, do you Giovanni? Well I'm right here. Come and get me!"

Alara saw the Titan and said to Rick, "Rick, I'm taking Maiyu inside."

"Yeah, keep her in there. I don't want any of you out here during the fight."

Alara nodded and carried Maiyu as she ran for the door. Titan Avion noticed them and flew higher into the air and whipped its tail at them. Rick looked at it and tried to reach them before the tail hit them. However the tail was too fast and it crashed onto the ship. Rick looked at where the tail impacted and saw nothing there.

A got his attention, "Don't worry, I got them just in time."

Rick breathed a sigh of relief and said "Nice work! Thank you so much A."

"No problem." He said to the girls, "Go on inside. I'll stop whatever that thing pulls."

Alara nodded and ran into the elevator, while A ordered Rose and her mate inside as well. The Titan didn't attack this time, instead it began to fly around the Mercury, giving a monstrous shriek.

Screech contacted Rick again, "Sir, I'm going into combat mode. Do I engage?"

Rick replied, "Yes! But you have to aim for those glowing sigils."

"Why?"

"By destroying the sigils you destroy its immortality. So once they're destroyed go ahead and end its life."

"Looks like we're going to have quite the fight. Look out!"

Rick looked and saw the Titan sweeping down trying to get him with its talons. He jumped out of the way and saw A firing fireballs at it with his sword. He suddenly heard a mechanical sound and looked to where the sound was coming from. What he saw was the Mercury change shape. All of it's weapons became visible, it looked sharper than usual, and it became more steel plated.

As soon as the Mercury finished transforming Rick grabbed hold of Shadowbane and drew it. Rick was amazed that Shadowbane immediately turned into it's secondary from. Rick suddenly heard what sounded like growling coming from Shadowbane.

Rick spoke to his sword, "Twilight, Dusk, what's wrong?"

Twilight replied to him, "Oh nothing. It's the thrill of the fight!"

"So why are you in this form?"

"You have no idea what is coming up, do you?"

"New Years?"

"The New Year Moon. My time of replenishment. Whatever power I lost I regain around the New Year Moon. I can already feel myself getting stronger. Time for you to learn a new ability!"

"A new ability?"

"DID I FUCKING STUTTER!? YES!"

A looked at Rick with a confused look, "Why are you talking to your sword? It's not going to reply to you."

Rick laughed and asked A, "You mean to tell me that you can't talk to your sword? My sword has an actually spirit within it. I suspect that yours does too. Want to talk to mine?"

"What?"

Rick sighed and said, "Twilight, Dusk, make yourselves know."

Twilight then spoke, "Alright! What's up mortal!?

A was taken a back and then said, "What are you?"

"I'm a sword spirit called Twilight. You can call me Arceus's daughter if you want. He created me with his own hand."

"Can I talk to my sword?"

"It depends on your relationship with your sword. Can't you hear it talking to you?"

"No."

"I mean like right now. It's speaking to you."

A looked at his sword and tried to see if he could hear it, but with no success, "No, I can't."

"Then you must not be very close to your sword. I say a few more months. Anyways, get your heads out of your asses and get back to this fight. I can only stop time for a short time."

Rick was confused, "Huh?" He looked at the Titan and saw it stopped in midair and the Mercury as well. Soon ripple appeared and everything restarted again. "Okay no more dilly-dally. Let's beat this thing! Twilight I hope you know what you're talking about."

Twilight spoke to him again, "Yes! Just concentrate your energy into your blade and swing when you see an opening."

"Gotcha! Now come on Avion!"

Avion flew back towards Rick, but the Mercury began to fire at it, making it change it's tactic. Avion flew around the Mercury, dodging artillery fire from the cannons and turrets. The gigantic bird then charged a beam into its mouth and fired it at the Mercury, hitting it, and making it shake. Luckily the metal was very resistant, but too many of those would be a problem.

[Rick and Alara's Room]

Alara was in the room with Maiyu, who was visibly shaken. She cradled the little Kirlia in her arms, trying to calm her down. "It's okay Maiyu. Nothing happened."

Maiyu looked at her with wide eyes, "We almost died!"

"Maiyu, we're alright. No need to be scared. Your big cousin can take care of that giant mean bird."

"He's in danger! I can't lose my cousin yet. That thing is going to tear him apart! Haven't you seen how big it was?"

"Yes, I saw it. Your cousin has taken worse and survived."

"How can you be so sure that he will?"

"I know because I've seen him do some amazing things. I've seen his power first hand. It's scary, but I know that with him I have nothing to fear. Sure I'd wish that he wouldn't fight so that we can live long enough for us to get married, but I know that he can't do that. He has to fight, mainly to protect us, but also because it's his mission. When I first met your cousin after he left the first thing he did, besides annoy me, was take care of me."

"That doesn't answer my question! How do you know that he will survive?"

"Because he can't be killed that easily."

"Huh?"

"Maiyu, your cousin has had it hard. He's a been a warrior since was seven. He never met an enemy that he couldn't fight, and those he couldn't beat he live to fight another day. He would then get stronger and beat them in their next encounter."

"So Aeru will be okay?"

Alara smiled at her, "Yes. Just trust that he'll be fine."

"I'll try."

"Also Maiyu..."

"What?"

"Go to sleep." Alara's eyes suddenly began to glow and Maiyu was suddenly sent into a deep sleep. Alara sighed, "I hate using **Hypnosis** on people."

[Mercury's Deck]

(Battle Music: **Counter Attack from Shadow of the Colossus**)

A and Rick were standing their ground against the fast and agile Titan Avion. Hitting it was proving difficult for them, Rick's team that had just arrived, and Mercury crew.

Screech sent Rick a message, "Sir, that thing is just too fast to hit. We can't get a lock on it. We need to find a way to make it hold still, but here that's nearly impossible."

"Acknowledged. Then get us close enough so that we can jump on the damn thing."

"Screech was obviously surprised, "Sir?"

"You heard me. Don't worry, this isn't my first rodeo."

"Alright, but that's also hard since it's moving so sporadically."

"When ever you can."

Rick turned his attention back to the fight and saw his mom and dad arrive. Xeron seemed bored over the whole situation.

Xeron said to Rick, "Wow you can't hit that thing? Watch and learn kid."

Xeron pulled out his own Shadowbane and took aim. He then swung his blade and a psychic blade went flying into the air and maneuvered through the air until it hit the Titan in the head.

Rick chuckled, "You love to show off."

Rick looked around for A and saw him firing lightning bolts from his sword. He could feel A's growing frustration when his bolts were missing their mark.

Rick began to fire at the Titan using a machine gun that Jean brought from the armory. The bullets were connecting, but they were only aggravating the beast. Avion gave another shriek and flew higher into the air and whipped its tail at Rick. Rick dodged the attack and rolled back into a firing position. Avion tried another tail attack and this time it destroyed a turret that Jean was firing from, failing to kill Jean however.

Rick saw the tail land and he got and idea. He quickly ran towards it and grabbed hold of the mace-like end. He began to climb it as Avion lifted it off the ground. The team stopped firing when they saw Rick climbing the behemoth, but they tried to distract it from noticing Rick. Rick kept climbing, trying to hold on for dear lift at all of Avion's aerial maneuvers, as it tried to dodged the firing from the Mercury. Rick was being care of not being hit from the firing of the Mercury as he kept climbing until he reached the base of the Titan's tail. There he saw a glowing sigil.

Rick sent a message to his team, "Guys, I'm taking down a sigil. When I hit it Avion will be stunned for a second. Hit the sigil on its chest."

Rick took his finger off the communicator earpiece and lifted Shadowbane before stabbing the sigil and destroying it. Avion shrieked in pain and lifted its chest, revealing the sigil.

Serenity saw the sigil and grabbed hold of a rocket launcher. She took aim and fired the rocket, hitting Avion and destroying the chest sigil.

Rick smiled at the sight of the two sigils getting destroyed. His smile faded when he heard Avion gave a loud shriek. He looked at Avion and saw it fire a beam at his team, knocking A and Serenity back. Avion fired more beams and knocked back more of Rick's team, even Xeron and Aldira.

Rick stabbed Avion another three times to get it to stop firing at his team. Avion stropped and shrieked again. Suddenly Avion shook its lower body and made Rick loose his grip on its feathers. Rick fell and grabbed hold of the mace-like tail end. Avion then lifted its tail to its head and caught Rick in its beak. Once he secured Rick onto its beak it threw him towards the Mercury and fired a beam at him. Rick regained his composure in the air and managed to summon out Sovereign in shield form. He tried to protect himself form the beam, he succeeded but he hit the ship hard.

Jean ran over to Rick and saw that he was unconscious. Suddenly Alara appeared on the scene and she almost shrieked when she saw Rick unconscious on the deck. She ran over to him and checked on him. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was alive.

She got up and asked Jean, "Okay, how do I kill this thing?"

Jean said, "You have to destroy the sigils on it and then it's free to kill."

"Where are the sigils?"

"Rick destroyed the one of the base of its tail. Serenity destroyed the one on its chest. Which only leaves the ones on its wings."

"Alright, how do I hit them?"

"Well you're going to have to find a way to make it stop moving so much. We can't hit the sigils on the wings because we can't get a clear shot, and neither can Screech."

"Way ahead of you!"

Alara suddenly charged a **Thunder Wave** before firing it at the giant raptor (bird of prey, not the dinosaur). The attack hit Avion, but it didn't faze it. Instead it turned its head and glared at Alara.

Jean sweatdropped, "You're going to need something bigger than that. Also, that thing is mad now!"

Avion dove down onto the Mercury and landed on the deck. As it landed it launched some of the team members a considerably distance away, thankfully the deck was gigantic. It rose its upper body to make itself look larger, to intimidate Alara. Jean tried protect Alara, but Avion headbutted Jean out of the way, knocking into a steel wall and knocking him out. Alara began to move back in fear while Avion let out what sounded like a hiss.

A got up from the last beam blast and charged at Avion to stop it from attacking Alara. Avion noticed and swung its tail at him, pinning him to a wall.

Alara was now terrified at Avion's size and sheer power. Avion charged a beam in its mouth and brought its head down to Alara's level and Alara fell onto her back and tried to back away. Before she knew it Avion fired the beam and Alara closed her eyes. She suddenly heard a yell and opened her eyes. When she looked she saw a black blade cut through the beam, dispersing it as it went. The blade then hit Avion within the beak, making it raise its head, stagger back, and shriek in pain.

Rick suddenly appeared with his black aura emanating. Alara could hear him growl and suddenly Rick let out a monstrous roar. Alara saw Shadowbane covered in a black energy and then saw Rick swing it again, launching another blade it. Avion staggered back at the hit and Rick went forward and charged black energy into his blades.

Rick then yelled, "Black Psycho Cut Gatling Gun!"

Rick fired multiple blades at Avion, sending it tumbling off the Mercury and forcing it to start flying again. Rick got a message from Screech, "Sir, what the hell is going on over there? There was a huge power spike on our radar."

Rick picked up the call, "It's me. I went Alpha." Rick looked down to the area where they were flying over. "Where are we exactly?"

"We're above the Mt. Silver mountain range in the Johto region. Epsilon's Fortress is a few miles in."

"Takes us over there."

"Why?"

"I have an idea, but first we have to get rid of sigils."

Screech seemed to notice Rick's voice change, "Sir, are you feeling alright? Your voice sounds a bit...demonic, for lack of a better word."

"That's an effect of the Alpha state. Just go!"

"Aye aye captain!"

Screech suddenly turned the Mercury to head north. Avion followed close by and fired beams at the group. It flew next to the team and fired Rick caught one of the beams with his claws and used it as a whip to hit Avion. Suddenly Rick head someone yell, "I've had enough!", and a giant electric wave shot out towards Avion, hitting it and paralyzing it. Rick looked at where the electricity came from and saw A, cracking with electricity and panting. His face had a look of disbelief.

Rick took his chance and jumped onto Avion and used his claws to climb his way to the barely flapping wings. He immediately stabbed one sigil and then lunged towards the other one and stabbed the other. Avion shrieked in pain and broke of its paralysis. It began to squirm and turned its head to look at Rick. Once it saw Rick it was immediately punched by Rick, making its head turn back around. Rick looked down and saw the ruins of Epsilon's Fortress. He then noticed the obelisk that was found in Epsilon's chamber.

Rick nodded at an idea he thought of in his head and summoned out Sovereign. He immediately plunged both blades onto Avion's back and used the chains from both blades to help him launch Avion to the ground. The two swords dislodged themselves from Avion's back as it went hurdling to the ground. Rick dove down after it, leaving A to try to follow him, bye using his sword's wind ability to fly after him.

As Avion was about to crash onto the obelist it stopped itself by flapping its wings vigorously. Rick suddenly came down, launched his blades into Avion's shoulders, put his feet onto the obelisk, and began to pull with all his strength. Avion was fighting to stay away from the sharp end of the obelisk. Rick dislodged his blades to let Avion gain some height. He suddenly whipped the chains of his blades and they sunk back into Avion's shoulders, and Rick pulled, the momentum sending Avion onto the obelisk, impaling it. Avion gave another painful shriek before finally dying.

Once Rick saw that he killed the monster, he gave a sigh of relief that it was over. He then felt A land on the ground next to him.

"Thanks for that electric attack A."

A stopped to look at the dead Titan, "You're welcome, but where did this strength come from?"

"I went Alpha. It's a form that I can only use when I get furious. It turns me temporarily into a monster of incredible power. It doesn't last long though."

"You're still in that state."

"So I know."

A noticed his voice, "What's wrong with your voice?"

"It's an effect of the form."

"Alright then. So it's over?"

"Yeah. Can I ask what that was? The attack I mean."

"I have no idea. Once I regained my composure from being pinned to the wall...I snapped and fired that attack."

"Oh well, we all fought well."

Rick and A suddenly heard the Mercury hovering over them. They also heard a sound coming from the corpse of Avion. When they looked they saw Avion give a final grunt and begin to disintegrate. Avion soon disintegrated into a gem that was shaped like a pair of wings. Rick walked up and picked it up. He examined it and saw that it was made out of crystal.

A asked, "What's that?"

Rick replied, "It's gem. However, I've never heard of these things appearing when a Titan dies."

Xeron suddenly appeared with Aldira and Alara, "That's because that's what happens when you kill a behemoth with Shadowbane or Sovereign. They become a Titan Seal."

"But Arceus didn't create the Titans."

"Who told you that?"

"Giovanni. He told me that Team Rocket created the Titans."

"False. Giovanni created the Rocket Colossi. Arceus created the actual Titans."

"What was Avion?"

"Avion is a captured Titan that Team Rocket captured."

"This makes no sense to me. How are there Titans and I have never seen a wild Titan?"

"Because they live in certain locations and they are very few. They are protectors of the areas they live in. Avion protected the sky around the Mt. Silver range, which explains why we encountered it here, and Team Rocket managed to catch it. From Avion they were able to find a way to create the Rocket Colossi. However the Colossi aren't as big. Team Rocket only has three of the Titans."

"That's a lot to take in. I'll process it later. For now, can you explain this Titan Seal?"

"Throw it into the air and slice it."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Rick grabbed hold of the Titan Seal and threw it into the air. He jumped up and sliced it with Shadowbane. The gem shattered and a bright light appeared where the Seal was sliced. The light took the shape of the same symbol as the Seal itself. Suddenly the light took a gigantic shape and Avion reappeared, scaring the team, except for Xeron and Aldira. Rick landed on the ground and took a battle position.

Xeron laughed and said, "Calm down! It's not going to hurt you."

Aldira smiled and walked up to Avion and began to pet it. Avion lowered its beak and Aldira pet it as well. She then laughed and said, "See? Harmless."

Rick was confused, "How?"

"Look at your hand dear."

Rick looked at his right palm and saw the same symbols as Avion's Titan Seal. "What the hell?"

"You now command Avion. Avion is yours to be summoned and used."

"How?"

"Arceus made it that if anyone with a legendary weapon kills a Titan, they and whoever they allow, will possess the Titans that they defeated."

Rick tried to see if he caught all of the information that he was just told, "So if I kill a Titan with Shadowbane or Sovereign, I will become the master of the defeated Titan?"

"Exactly!"

"Was dad ever a master of a Titan?"

"Yes, he owned a Titan by the name of Fyrex. It was a dragon Titan. Once a Titan's master dies, the Titan is released back into the world, to face its next master."

"So Fyrex is still out there?"

"Yes, it's waiting to face its next challenger."

"Where is he found?"

"We can't tell you. You have to find Fyrex on your own. Also, who told you that because it's powerful that it's immediately a male. SHE is powerful and SHE'S a girl."

"Okay cool it mom!" He turned his attention to Avion. "So you're my Titan now, huh?" Avion nodded its head. "Alright then..." Rick quickly jumped onto Avion's back. "Then let's head back to the Mercury and continue this adventure."

Avion this time gave an excited shriek and lowered its head so that the others can get on its back.

Xeron laughed and said, "All aboard! Only problem is that this thing doesn't come with seat belts. Hold on!"

Avion took off and was quickly in the air above the Mercury. It suddenly landed, scaring the rest of the team who were still on the deck.

Xeron suddenly jumped off of Avion's back and said, "Sup bitches!"  
Rick then pocked his head out of the side and the team saw him.

Anna asked Rick, "Bro, you do realize that you're riding on that thing?"

Rick smiled and said, "Yeah! Isn't it awesome? Turns out that since I killed a Titan with Shadowbane and Sovereign, I now own it."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously!"

Rick jumped off Avion and caught Alara as she jumped off. He turned to his dad and asked, "How do I recall Avion?"

Xeron replied, "Just call it back in any way you want."

"Alright. Avion return!" Avion then began to glow and the symbol on Rick's right palm began to glow until the Titan Seal reappeared and Avion was sucked back in. "This beats having pokemon by a long shot!" He said as he placed the seal into his pack.

A thought to himself for a second before asking Xeron, "Can I get a Titan?"

Xeron replied to him, "Do you have a weapon crafted by a Legendary?"

"Yes."

"Then yes you can. Just find one."

"I will."

"Good luck finding one, better luck defeating one."

A didn't reply, instead he walked towards the elevator to get back into the Mercury.

[Three Hours Later, Rick and Alara's room]

Rick and Alara were in their room. Alara was checking on a sleeping Maiyu, and Rick was studying Avion's Titan Seal. Alara was concerned because she didn't know how Maiyu would wake up to be.

"Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm worried about Maiyu. She was really shaken from the encounter with Avion."

Rick put the Titan Seal on a desk before he sat down on the bed with Alara, "Don't worry, Maiyu is a tough little girl. Once she sees that I'm okay she'll calm down."

"She loves you very much."

"And I love her just the same."

Rick and Alara stopped talking when Maiyu began to wake up. As she woke up she saw Rick and she immediately lunged at him.

She was crying, "Aeru! I was so scared for you. I thought you were going to be hurt."

Rick chuckled and carried her, "There there Maiyu. I'm okay baby girl. I'm alright."

Maiyu began to calm down and asked, "What happened to the gigantic bird?"

Rick teleported the Titan Seal to his hands, "It's right here. It's a friend now."

Maiyu was confused, "How does that big bird fit in this crystal?"

"I don't know how to answer that Maiyu. Just accept that it's in there."

"Alright."

Rick hugged Maiyu and he received a message from Screech, "Sir! We'll be above the destination in four minutes."

Rick was happy with the news, "Alright! Thanks! We'll be there." He looked at the girls. "Let's go see my old home girls. I haven't been here in years."

[Four Minutes Later, Outside Fortree City, Hoenn Region]

Rick and his team landed at their destination and quickly got out of the Mercury to see where they were. Alara looked around and saw a large house that looked like a dojo.

She asked Rick, "Is that the house you grew up in?"

Rick looked and smile, "Yes it is." He turned to Maiyu, "That's the house I grew up in. From when I was ten until I was seventeen. Seven great years. That's where I met all these guys."

Jean walked up to Rick and pat his back, "Welcome home after five years, going on six."

"It feels good to see the old home." He asked his team. "Does anyone still have the keys to the house?"

Aleerah replied, "Winston, Gloria, and Wayland have keys."

Winston then said, "No need. There's someone in there."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "In the house?"

Everyone quickly went into their human forms and Rick went to knock on the door. When Rick knocked on the door he could hear someone inside making their way to the front door. The door then opened and Rick was surprised to see Gloria in her human form.

Gloria was surprised and said, "Well well well, this is a nice surprise. I thought you would never come back."

Rick smiled and hugged Gloria, "Gloria, what are you doing here?"

"This is still my home. I can't abandon it."

"Well now that Master Ryu is dead, I guess someone has to care for the house."

Gloria nodded, "Right! Now all of you come on in!"

Rick and his team didn't hesitate to walk into the house and many of them cried from the sight of their old home. Many broke away from the group and went exploring the halls that they would walk through when they were younger. Rick was one of the ones that broke away and went exploring with Alara, Maiyu, and Seras. Rick walked down a hall and opened a sliding door to reveal a small room.

Alara asked him, "Who's room was this?"

Rick smiled and replied, "It mine and Seras's room. We used to spend a lot of time together here."

Alara noticed that there was only one bed in the room, "Did you guys sleep here?"

"Yeah, I was small so I would lay down and Seras would wrap herself around me."

Seras laughed and said, "You're too big to do that now."

"That I am. I'm twice your height now."

"Let's show them the back of the house. The other place we spent most of our time."

With that they walked to the back of the house and saw that the porch was pretty much unchanged. Rick looked around and found Jean and Dartz talking in their usual spot. Rick noticed them laughing. It made Rick happy seeing all his friends enjoying their return to their old home. He looked to the pond and saw A sitting down, concentrating on something. Rick decided to leave him alone and led the girls to the garden.

Seras was immediately impressed by the garden, "Wow! It looks the same as back in the say. Gloria did a great job taking care of it."

"That she did."

Maiyu asked, "Where's your trainer Aeru?"

"Master Ryu died five years ago, but we never forgot him. His grave is right here in the garden."

Alara asked, "Can we see it?"

"Yeah, I wanted to come see it."

They walked a small distance in the garden until a tombstone was seen. The tombstone was very well decorated and there was a fresh bouquet of flowers on the grave, obviously from Gloria. Rick fell to his knees and almost cried at the sight of the grave. Seras nuzzled him to snap him back to reality.

Rick took a deep breath and said, "Here he is. Master Ryu."

Alara knelt next to him and hugged him, "He meant a lot to you guys, didn't he?"

"He saved all our lives. We owe him everything. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

Alara took her attention to the grave and said, "Thank you for saving my mate's life." She got up and carried Maiyu, "I'll give you a minute." She and the other girls walked away and Rick stayed in front of the grave.

Rick took the Chaos Scarf, his locket, and his Warlord amulet off and pulled out his master's pendant. He spoke, "You did a lot for me. A lot of things I didn't want, but I needed. You saved my life in more than one occasion. I owe you everything. You gave me a home, a family, a life...I took it pretty hard when you died, but as you told me before, 'even in death, life still goes on somewhere'. I love to think that you made me the prime example of that. I moved on after your death. I went on the road for four years and then I went to the Sinnoh Region, to do as I promised and give Maylene this amulet. I haven't done it yet, there was a little set back. I got a mission from Arceus that I have to make my priority. But I promised you that I was going to keep my promise and thus I will. However, I'm happy for what you did for me, and I'm grateful. Now I have a great mate, a great family, and a great home. I owe you all of that. If it wasn't for you I'd be dead right now. I know it took five years to comeback and tell you this, but...thank you!"

Rick got up and wiped the tears from his eyes and walked back towards Alara, who was talking to Rick's parents.

Later that night, Rick and his team decided to stay for the night. So Gloria, Seras, and Aldira began to cook dinner for the large group and the rest of the team were in the dining room in the same seats they were in the past. A and his pokemon left with the Mercury hours back, so that the team could have their moment.

Jean was talking to Rick and said to him, "We have to come back here more often and do stuff like this."

"Yeah. I have to get a teleporter placed here."

As they were talking the girls came out of the kitchen with a buffet of food. Everyone quick dug in and enjoyed their night in the house. It was great day for everyone.

[New Year's Eve, Sanctuary, 11:59PM]

"3...2...1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone screamed in unison as the new year arrived. All the couples kissed and everyone congratulated each other.

Rick and Alara kissed and looked over to Rick's parents and saw them doing the same. It pained Rick to think that these were the last few moments he will have with his parents for a while. He had to admit that he had grown very close to his parents and he didn't want to see them go.

Rick walked up to them and asked, "Do you guys really have to go? Can't you ask Arceus to bring you guys back permanently."

Xeron and Aldira laughed before Aldira said, "We wish we could. It was so fantastic being with you guys."

Alara said, "Well we'll see you guys again soon, won't we?"

"Yes, we'll be back for your wedding."

Xeron said, "I expect to see a married man by the next time I have to disappear. That or Alara being pregnant. Those work well for me."

Rick laughed and said, "I guarantee the married part. It depends how long you stay next time."

"We'll try to get all the time we can. Well I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Oh I don't want you guys to leave."

Aldira hugged Rick and Alara, "We don't want to go either, but it's not our decision. I hate being dead too. I was getting used to the concept of having a real physical body."

Xeron smiled and hugged Rick and Alara, We'll be back soon. Well bye Aeru! We're proud of you son."

"Thanks dad. Bye guys. Love you both."

"Love you too son."

Aldira followed up, "Bye Aeru! We'll always love you. Also, bye Alara. When we're back you'll be my daughter."

Alara hugged them back and said, "Bye guys!"

As they were hugging Rick could feel them fade away. He looked at them and saw the vanishing. Soon they were gone, leaving Rick sad, but happy that he had the chance to be with them.

"Bye mom, bye dad." Rick said sadly.

**There you guys are. I don't have much to say besides 'Goodbye Xeron and Aldira'. Well send me your reviews, questions, contest entries, entries, and suggestions. Take care guys. Bye!**


	44. Chapter 44: Valentine's Day

**Alright, I'm picking up the pace on my chapters. Soon I will be back at two chapters a week. Anyways, here's the new chapter, the Valentine's Day special. I know that it's a little late but I got it done. I don't have a lot to say this time. Thank you all for your support. Story Spotlight:** **I once again do not have one. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Brazil, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Singapore, and 5th) Indonesia.**_  
_

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

It was Valentine's Day in the Sanctuary and Rick was up early, Alara still asleep on the bed. Rick was in the kitchen cooking for her and preparing to surprise her with a gift he got for her just for the occasion. Rick was working hard to prepare everything and to stay quiet so he didn't wake her up.

There was a knock at the front door, which Rick quickly went to open. When he opened it he saw a Gardevoir and a Gallade carrying some items that Rick ordered

The Gardevoir asked, "Warlord Aeruthael?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well here's your order sir."

Rick took all the items that he ordered and brought them into the house, once again trying to stay silent.

The Gallade then walked up to him with an envelop and handed it to him. The Gallade then said, "So I hope everything was to your liking sir."

Rick opened the envelop and looked at the content. "Yes it has." He then wrote a check to them and said. "And here's a little something for you guys."

The Gardevoir and Gallade bowed their heads and said, "Thank you sir! Happy Valentine's Day! Goodbye!"

They soon left and Rick was left sorting everything out. Rick worked fast and set up the items in the house.

[Alara]

Alara was sleeping soundly, dreaming her usual dreams about herself and Rick. She rolled over and tried to wrap her arm around Rick, but she couldn't feel him. With that she woke up and looked around, wondering where Rick was. She sat up and stretched, looking around the room as she did so. She stood up slowly, while still a little drowsy and walked into the bathroom to wake herself up.

After she walked out of the bathroom she went directly downstairs to look for Rick.

"Rick?" She called waiting for a reply.

She soon got one, "Good morning Ally! I'm in the dining room."

"You never leave the room until I wake up. What are you up to?"

Rick chuckled, "Come downstairs and I'll show you."

Alara was now curious about what Rick was up to and walked down the remainder of the stairs. She walked into the dining room, looking for Rick, but couldn't see him. She turned into the room and was met with a kiss from Rick. Alara welcomed it, but felt a bit suspicious since she's the one that usually assaults him with kisses. Nonetheless, she wrapped her arms around his neck and melted into the kiss.

Soon Rick disconnected from her and Alara asked, "What's gotten into you this morning?"

"It's Valentine's Day. I planned something special for us today."

Alara seemed excited, "Really? What?"

Rick smiled and kissed her again. He then teleported a bouquet of flowers to his hands and said to her, "I'll tell you later." He then gave her the bouquet.

Alara smiled wider and took the bouquet. She pulled Rick back into a kiss and asked him, "What? No chocolate?"

"Of course there's going to be chocolate. I'm trying to be romantic, not pathetic."

"Good! You know the rules." Alara laughed and so did Rick. "So what are doing down here?"

"Preparing our little date day."

Alara giggled, "What do you have in mind?"

"Wait here and I'll show you."

Alara quickly sat down as Rick went to the kitchen to retrieve something. Alara waited for him and looked at the flowers Rick gave her. She was excited to know what Rick had planned for the day. She had to admit to herself that she forgot about the day, which almost embarrassing. However, this was the first time she's had a significant other to celebrate with, so she was really unfamiliar with what could happen.

Rick soon came out of the kitchen with a very well prepared breakfast for Alara. All the food in the breakfast were all of Alara's favorites. Once Alara saw the food she immediately hugged Rick and began to feast.

Rick couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Alara eating. Alara noticed and asked, "What so funny, dear?"

Rick smiled at her and said, "Well your face keeps disappearing with every bite you take."

Alara blushed but then laughed, "Sorry, I just love every morsel on this plate. How did you find out about my favorite breakfast meals?"

"I'm your mate. I have to find out eventually...and I asked Amber and your mom."

"I kinda guessed. So are you going to tell me now what you have planned?"

Rick took a deep breath and said, "Well today I planned it to be just you and me. I planned for us to go through a day in the Sanctuary. Also, we're going to a dinner and a show."

Alara was really excited now, "Really?"

"Yeah." He showed her the envelope, which she opened and saw the reservation receipts and and tickets to a musical that Alara wanted to go to. "I got everything ready for us."

"Really? So what are we doing now?"

"Well I planned for us to join your sister on a shopping day."

Alara giggled, "So you're going to spoil me?"

"Don't I do that already? I already lost so much money on you alone."

"Hey you really love me."

"Most of that was before we got together."

"Hearthome?"

"Hearthome. So when you're ready to go, we'll head out."

"We can leave right now. Wait, are you going to eat?"

"I already ate. Don't worry about me. Let's go before that rabbit decides to make me carry everything."

Alara laughed, "If I know my sister she has Allen carrying everything for her right now. How much spending money did you give her?"

"For dragging her into the military...somewhat, I gave her a $50,000 compensation...I might regret that today."

Alara laughed and leaned forward to kiss Rick. "We'll see. Now where's the chocolate?"

Rick laughed silently, "I knew that you would get to that eventually." Rick then teleported a large amount of chocolate into the room, which he ordered. Alara just looked at all the chocolate in the room and began to drool. "Is that enough chocolate for you?"

"YES! You know that I would eat all of this. You know my love for chocolate."

"Now I'm not going to let you eat all of it. You'll die from sugar shock."

"Kill joy!"

Rick wraps his arms around her waist and said pulled her closer, "I'm going to spoil you all day and yet I'm still the kill joy?"

Alara said in a playful manner, "Yeeeeeees."

Rick shook his head, "Let's just go."

With that Rick let Alara go and she grabbed his hand. Rick then walked up to the door and opened it so they could leave. Once Rick opened the door he saw Jean, who looked like was in the process of knocking on the door, Seras, Dartz, and...Ashlyn.

Rick was surprised to see them, but he was more surprised to see Ashlyn. Rick tried not to draw too much attention to the fact and just greeted his friends, "Hi guys! To who do I owe this visit?"

Jean spoke, "We just wanted to see what you and Alara were up to. Any plans?"

"Yeah, we were about to leave for the day. How about you and Seras?"

"We're having our own little day."

Rick then turned his attention to Dartz and Ashlyn, who were talking to one another. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation guys, but I didn't know that Ashlyn was going to join us today."

Ashlyn smiled and replied, "Nice to see you too Rick. I managed to slip out. Giovanni is focusing his attention here in the Sinnoh region and sent me to look for you. Thankfully he can't track me and I can keep lying to him everyday."

"I should be happy that you're on our side. So you and Dartz are going to have your own little special day as well?"

"Yep. I don't know where it is that he wants to take me."

"Knowing Dartz it will always be a mystery."

Dartz laughed and said, "Well I guess that we should leave you and Alara to your Valentine's Day. Come on Ashlyn!"

Ashlyn and Dartz excused themselves and walked away, but Seras managed to say, "Brother control your hormones today."

She received a reply from an embarrassed Dartz, "Seras! Shut it!"

Everyone laughed even Ashlyn as they walked away.

Dartz waited until they were a good distance away from the group when he decided to ask Ashlyn, "So is there some hope tonight for...you know."

Ashlyn bumped him with her hip and said, "Depends on how today goes. By what I picked up from your sister, everyone pretty much knows about us now."

"Yeah...not like I care. That day was awesome."

Ashlyn blushed and laughed, "Oh let's not bring this up in public. But still, your actions today decide what happens tonight."

"Then I better do good today."

Ashlyn laughed as the two disappeared from view, leaving the rest of the group wonder what they were talking about.

Jean broke the silence and said, "Well we'll be leaving you two to your date."

Seras followed up by saying, "Try to give Alara a great time Rick."

Rick replied, "I will sis. Bye!"

"Bye little bro!"

Jean and Seras then left and Rick and Alara were able to get on with the beginning of their Valentine's Day date. They jumped into Rick's car and took off towards the mall, where they were supposed to meet up with Amber. Once they arrived at the mall they found Amber...with Allen, Serenity, and Sage. Rick saw the boys and shook his head when he saw them carrying all the things that Amber and Serenity were buying.

Rick and Alara got out of the car and flagged the group down. Once Amber and the group got to them Amber hugged Alara and threw a few bags at Rick. Rick sighed, knowing that he would regret the decision to go shopping with Amber.

Amber spoke to Rick and Alara, "I'm glad to see that you guys were able to make it. Allen and Sage here could hold any more of my stuff."

Allen protested, "You know this kinda counts as slavery or cruel and unusual punishment."

"Shut up Al!

"This is still messed up!" He then told Rick and Alara. "I was sleeping in my house when she knocked on my door and told me that she wanted me to go shopping with her. Unfortunately, I couldn't see that I was going to become a pack mule. I wonder how I missed that."

Amber glared at him and then began to argue with him. Rick, Alara, Serenity, and Sage looked at each other and then began to back away slowly, but not too far.

After about ten minutes Rick finally stopped their argument, "Okay stop children!"

Amber and Allen responded, "We're not kids!" They resumed arguing.

Rick was quickly losing his patience and grabbed Amber and lifted her by her ears making her cry out. "Ow! Rick let go!"

Rick replied, "Will you stop arguing with Allen?"

"YES YES YES!"

Rick put Amber down and put Allen in a headlock, "And you, will you stop arguing with Amber?"

Allen tried to break out of Rick's hold but was unable, "Ow! Alright, I'll stop. Now let go of me asshole!"

"Good we understand each other. So shall we go and enjoy our day?"

Everyone nodded and went on their day, Alara still anxious to see what Rick had planned for them.

[Dartz and Ashlyn]

Dartz and Ashlyn were at the banks of a creek in the Sanctuary. Ashlyn was enjoying her day with Dartz. They were sitting on the banks, cuddled up against one another.

Ashlyn asked Dartz, "So what are we going to do?"

Dartz nuzzled her and said, "Well I first wanted to relax for a bit today. We have an entire day to ourselves."

"Dear, we have an entire week to ourselves."

Dartz was happily surprised, "A week? Really?"

"Yeah. Giovanni ordered me to be here for a week. So I'm here until I'm ordered back."

"This is amazing news. However, how's Omega taking that?"

"She's super close to me, but she doesn't need me all the time. She'll be okay."

"You know that I'm still very freaked out that Omega is a girl. However, I'm letting that go for now. I'm just going to enjoy this week."

Ashlyn giggled and kissed Dartz. They stayed there for a while, enjoying each other's company, talking about everything and anythings, and looking at the nature around them. Ashlyn soon laid her head down and Dartz rested his head on her back.

"Hey Dartz, what will you do when I finally leave Team Rocket?"

"Well I'll immediately get a bigger home for the both of us. I'm going to be very happy of course and will make sure we live well together."

"Why a bigger home? You home seems to have enough room for you and me."

Dartz nearly blushed as he said, "Well for you, me,...and our pups."

Ashlyn's eyes shot open and lifted her head to look at Dartz, "Dartz?"

"What's up?"

"You actually want to have pups?"

Dartz nuzzled her, "Of course! We mated, you think I just wanted to do that for fun? I really do want a life with you."

"Now I really want to leave Team Rocket!"

"The question is, are you sure you want to be a mother if you leave Team Rocket?"

Ashlyn thought for a second. She had never thought about this before and didn't know how to answer the question. She wants to be with Dartz, but she didn't know if she was ready to be a mother. She gave it a bit more consideration and said, "Yes! If I leave Team Rocket I will be more than ready to be a mother."

Dartz smiled wide and kissed her, "I'm so happy to hear that. I guess I should start looking for a house then. Next question, how many pups do you think we'll have?"

"That's a question for another day Dartz. However, I would like at least one."

"Boy or girl?"

"Girl."

"I'd like a boy."

"Listen dear, whatever comes out of me will come out how I want it to be."

Dartz laughed, "It doesn't work that way. It's a fifty-fifty chance on both sides. I want someone to represent the Y chromosome."

"Sorry, my first child will come out representing the X chromosome."

They then heard someone talk, "What the hell are you two talking about?"

Dartz and Ashlyn turned their heads to look at where the voice was coming from and they saw Lucian and Miranda walking towards them.

Dartz replied, "Hey Lucian! Hello Miranda!"

Miranda replied, "Hello Dartz dear! Hello Ashlyn! What were you two saying about X and Y?"

Dartz explained, "Oh it's Biology talk. Males carry X and Y chromosomes in their genetic makeup, while females carry two X chromosomes in their genes. Guys are Team Y and girls are Team X."

"Good to know. Also, sorry for intruding. Me and Lucian were taking a walk and we found both your auras and got curious as to what you two were doing this deep into the forest. However, this is a very beautiful spot."

"I found it by chance a few days ago and I wanted to bring Ashlyn here to see it herself."

Ashlyn then said to Dartz, "Well I love it dear."

Lucian chuckled and said, "Well I guess we'll leave you two to your date. However, I have to know, why were you two talking about those chromosomes?"

Dartz blushed lightly and Ashlyn answered, making Dartz blush even more, "Oh me and Dartz were just trying to decide what gender we want our first pup to be."

Dartz closed her mouth with his paw and said, "You're saying too much."

Ashlyn moved his paw from her mouth, "Oh come now. It's alright, no need to be bashful."

Dartz sighed and looked at Lucian, who said, "Calm down boy, it's natural to think of that. When me and Miranda got together we thought about having Allen."

"Really?"

"Of course! All mates think about children. Mainly because they know that one day they will have them."

"So did you plan for Allen to be your only child?"

"No, but we decided that considering our situation, only one child would suffice. I wanted more, but Miranda had a hard time in her labor and I didn't want to bring it upon her again. Seeing her in that much pain was too much for me to take. She almost died because of it and I was very afraid of it happening again. However I was happy to have my son and my wife being alright. To me that was a miracle and a blessing from Arceus that I was able to keep both."

"Well I'm really happy for you two. Knowing you, there's pretty much nothing that scares. I bet you were really afraid that day. I'm happy both of them were alright."

"Thank you. Now to give you a bit of parental advice. Now that you two are together, it's ideal to plan out your future. It's better to be ready and prepared rather than lost and clueless."

"I'll remember that."

Lucian bowed his head, "Good to know. Well goodbye!"

They all dismissed themselves and Dartz and Ashlyn went back to their planning.

Ashlyn asked Dartz, "So what do you want to name our daughter?"

"Good Arceus! This again? I'm telling you our pup is going to be a boy."

"If you don't say that our pup will be a girl, then you get nothing tonight."

Dartz stopped arguing and sighed, "Damn you women and your abilities to exploit men's desires for your own personal gain."

Ashlyn giggled, "Never mess with those that know too much about you. Also, say it!"

Dartz sighed, "Fine! We're going to have a daughter first. There! Happy?"

Ashlyn smiled, "Very! Now what should we name her?"

"Let me just make it simple and call her Ashlyn as well."

"Nah! My name is my own."

Something then clicked in Dartz's head, "Well I know you hate it when I call you this, but what about Ashley?"

"Ashley?"

"Yeah, just something that always makes me think of you. I want our daughter to have the name since I can't use Ashlyn."

"I love it!"

"I'm glad you do."

Ashlyn immediately kissed Dartz and the two laid back down on the banks of the creek, relaxing, and enjoying their day.

[Rick and Alara]

Rick and Alara were in a park after going shopping with Amber and company. They were doing something Alara was wanting to do all day, playing chess.

They kept playing until Rick said in a bored tone, "Checkmate!"

Alara was surprised, "What!? How!?"

"Even if you move your queen to protect your king from my rook, I'm still going to get the king with my bishop, and if you move your king to the left or the right, I'm still going to get you with my knight or one of my pawns. I win!"

"Rematch!"

"Ally, we've been playing for the last two hours. I won every time. Can you just accept that I'm better at this game than you? I'm a master strategist. You won't win dear."

"Just one more game."

Rick sighed, "Alright."

Rick teleported all the pieces back to their original positions and Alara prepped herself, "You go first Rick."

Rick smirked and knocked his king over, "I surrender, you win. Can we keep going with the date now?"

"That win doesn't count. Now pick that king back up and strategically fight me like a man!"

"I already strategically fought you and beat you like a man...seven times."

"Let's play an eight."

Rick sighed again and then thought of something, "So let me get this straight, you want to play this game instead of eating chocolate?"

Alara stopped and looked at Rick, "Chocolate?"

"Yeah. I had a little event planned for the both of us at a chocolate factory. They want us to taste some chocolate."

Alara quickly teleported the chess set away and grabbed Rick's hand, beginning to drag him. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Rick laughed, "Dear, the factory could be that way." He said as he pointed in the opposite directing to where Alara was dragging him.

Alara looked in the direction he was pointing and then began to walk in the said direction. Rick couldn't do anything but laugh at his luck of getting a mate that would do anything for chocolate.

[The Chocolate Factory, Fifth Den; Twenty Minutes later]

Rick was sitting at a chocolate testing table with Alara, who was devouring all the chocolate that they brought to her. Rick was looking at her with a face full of astonishment.

Rick said to Alara, "Ally, breathe dear. Don't die of sugar shock."

Alara stopped eating chocolate and said, "Sorry dear. I just really love chocolate."

"Oh I've noticed. Try to control yourself." Rick began to laugh, leaving Alara to wonder what he was thinking.

She asked Rick, "What's so funny Rick?"

"I just thought about something. I think I now know what flavor our wedding cake is going to be."

Alara began to laugh with Rick and hugged him, "You know me too well." She kissed Rick and then suddenly said, "Are we still going to sample the chocolate?"

Rick rolled his eyes, "Yes dear."

Alara cheered and Rick motioned for a worker to bring a special treat that he ordered for Alara. When the order arrived Alara looked at it. In front of her was a pile of chocolate strawberries, which Rick knew that she would love.

Alara looked at Rick and said, "I was expecting the strawberries, but not so soon."

"I wanted to do things a little quicker. Tonight we're going to have some fun."

Alara picked up a strawberry and began to eat it, indulging in the taste. Rick reached for one but Alara grabbed his hand. Rick sweatdropped, believing that he was now in dangerous territory for trying to eat what Alara probably considered as hers.

Rick asked, "Can I not eat some?"

"You can."

"Alright then." He went for one again, but Alara stopped him again. "Okay Ally, what's up?"

"What?"

"Are you going to let me eat some or not? Come on, they look delicious."

Alara giggled, "Oh they are. They are very delicious."

Rick was now confused, "Then let me eat some. I'm the one that bought them and I seriously want to eat some." Alara giggled again and ate another one. Rick was now completely confused, "What do I have to do to eat one?"

"Go ahead and get one."

Rick looked at her suspiciously, "You better not be teasing me again." Rick reached for another and Alara grabbed his arm again. Rick was now very lost on what he had to do. He knew that Alara was playing with him, but he didn't know why. "Alright, I give up. What do you want?"

"Open your mouth."

Rick looked at her even more suspiciously, "Why? What are you planning?"

"I promise you it's nothing bad. Hell, I have to kiss that mouth."

"So all I have to do is open my mouth?"

"Yes."

"If anything happens..."

Alara interrupted, "Nothing bad will happen. Stop being scared." Rick sighed and opened his mouth. "And close your eyes dear."

Rick motioned 'What the fuck!?', but decided to close his eyes anyways. Rick waited anxiously to see what Alara was planning and then he felt something on his teeth. He then heard Alara say, "Bite down and tell me what it is."

Rick worked up his courage and bit down. All he could taste was chocolate and strawberries. "Chocolate coated strawberries?"

"Yes! Don't open your eyes yet."

Rick sighed, "Fine!" He then felt Alara kiss him. "Ummmm...and angel's lips."

Alara giggled and wrapped her hands around his neck, "More like a goddess's lips, but that was a good guess."

Rick laughed and kissed her, "You just wanted to feed me the strawberries, didn't you?"

"Yep. I just wanted to tease you for a bit and see if you would take the hint."

"Dear, there was no way I could of read that."

"Well, I just wanted to feel you the berries. Now you do the same."

"All you had to do was ask."

Rick grabbed a strawberry and brought it up to Alara's mouth. She quickly opened his mouth to eat it the strawberry, but she bore a devious smile and bit forward until she bit on Rick's fingers.

Rick snapped his hand back and yelled, "HIJO DE PUTA!(Son of a bitch!) What was that for? Your supposed to eat the berry, not the strawberry stem and my fingers."

"I just wanted to see your reaction...and it was priceless."

Rick looked at her with an angry smile, "Oh I'll get you back for that one later."

Alara gave him a smug look, "I'll be waiting to see what you have in store."

Rick began to laugh, "Oh you'll find out. However, nothing is going to ruin this day and I'm not going to get you mad at me for today."

Alara then fed him a strawberry and he stopped before he bit into it and looked at Alara. Alara quickly said, "Don't you dare. If you do it, you'll be looking for your front teeth all night."

Rick chuckled and bit into the strawberry.

Rick and Alara spent about another hour in the chocolate factory before they decided to leave. Rick and Alara walked out and made their way back to the first den.

Once Rick and Alara arrived back at the First Den they ran into two soldiers, one being Lang, Rick's cousin.

Lang said to Rick, "Cousin Aeru, the Chief and the Queen want you and Lady Alara to meet them at their home."

"Why?"

"They wouldn't say. They just want you guys to head on over there and go to the balcony."

"Alright, thanks Lang. What you and your girlfriend aren't doing anything?"

"Aeru, if I don't do anything Amy will kill me. So now that that's been said, can I get out of work early today?"

"Sure! But you owe me."

Lang sighed, "Fine! Also, Maiyu says that she'll call you later."

"I'll be waiting then. Thanks Lang. Now go to Amy before she kills you."

"Noted! Thanks cousin Aeru!"

"Don't mention it and go."

Lang and the other soldier then left and Rick sighed, "Alright, looks like we're headed to your folks."

Alara replied, "Yeah. Let's just go see what they want."

"I'm just mad that the car is at home right now."

"Dear, it's not that far of a walk. Besides, we can just teleport."

Rick then realized that she was right, "Oh yeeeeeeeeeah! Okay hold on to me."

Alara nodded and hugged him. Rick then teleported away to Alara's parents' house. Once they arrived Alara ran up to the door and rang the door bell.

She received a reply, "We're at the balcony in the back Ally! Just use your key."

Alara teleported a set of keys to her hand and unlocked the door, allowing her and Rick to enter the house. They then made their way to the balcony, where they saw Alara's parents sitting down talking to one another. Alara's parents noticed them and got up to greet them.

Alara's dad walked up to Rick and hugged hum tightly, "Good to see you boy!"

Rick replied, loosing air, "Sir! I'm happy to see you too...I can't breathe."

He let Rick go and said, "So sit down and talk to me son." Saifer said as he sat back down.

Rick sat down with Alara on a bench and said, "Well sir I'm not your son. Also, what do you want to know?"

"Well in three months you will be my son in every right but birth. Anyways, how has your Valentine's Day been?"

Alara answered for Rick, "So far it has been amazing. Rick made me breakfast, took me out on the town, and fed me chocolate...lot...and lots...of chocolate."

"Yeeeeeeeaaaaahhhh...never do that."

"Yeah, I know. I found out the hard way."

Keera then asked Rick and Alara, "So are you guys excited for your wedding? It's getting really close."

Alara answered her mother, "Of course! There's so much that I still need to get done though. I need to find the perfect dress, I need the decorations to be all set and done, I need..."

Rick stopped her, "Dear, how about you let me worry about a few things."

"Why? You already have enough to worry about."

"I can handle a bit more. Anything to keep the wedding stress off of you. You honestly believe that I couldn't tell that you were stressed about it."

Alara hugged him and told him, "Thanks for worrying about me, but I can handle it."

Keera began to laugh, "Ally, you have a keeper there."

"Do I really mom? Either way, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Well he's a male that worries about you a lot. Hell, he's willing to take on some of the stress of wedding planning."

Rick chuckled and said, "Actually I can take it all and set the wedding up. However, me and Ally had an agreement."

"And what might that agreement be Aeru?"

"I let her plan the wedding and in return she lets me have a bachelor party."

Everyone began to laugh, and Saifer asked Rick, "Good news for you?"

"For Jean. He's been dying to throw me one."

"Well that's the role of the best friend."

"Yeah, but I gave him specific rules."

Saifer laughed, "You mean Alara's specific rules?"

"Yep."

"Don't tell me, no strippers?"

"Precisely. But I gave her the same conditions about her bachelorette party."

Alara then quietly said, "Asshole."

Everyone laughed and Rick suddenly got a call on his Poketch from Maiyu, "Hello?"

Maiyu replied, "HI AERU!"

"Hi Maiyu! What's up little one?"

"Nothing just checking on you and Alara. How's your Valentine's Day?"

Rick chuckled, "It's been great baby girl. I'm guessing you've been having a good Valentine's Day at school?"

"Yes, we passed out a lot of Valentine's Day cards and I got a lot of candy."

"Now don't eat all of it at once. You hear me Maiyu?"

"I hear you. Is Alara with you?"

"Yes."

"Can you put her on please?"

Rick took off his Poketch and handed it to Alara, "Yes Maiyu?"

"Hi Ally!"

"Hello Maiyu, is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No, I just wanted to say hi."

"Well hi Maiyu."

"Are you and Aeru going to do anything today?"

"We're having dinner tonight."

"Oh, well that's all I wanted to know. I have to go visit a friend, so bye Ally!"

"Bye deary!"

Alara hung up the call and passed the Poketch back to Rick.

Keera looked at them and said, "Aww! She really loves you guys."

Rick replied, "And we love her. I've grown so close to that little girl."

"And apparently she's very attached to both of you. It makes me wonder how it will be when you and Ally have kids."

"Me and Ally have been through this many times. She's made up her mind that I'll be a good father and I'm positive that she will be a great mother."

"And what do you believe about yourself? Do you believe that you'll be a good father?"

Rick didn't respond, he just looked at his hand and sighed. Soon he replied, "I would really like to hope so."

Saifer asked him, "And why is that Aeru?"

Rick once again didn't respond and so Alara answered for him, "Rick fears that he won't be able to do his job as a father because of his past. He fears putting our child's life in danger because of his past."

Saifer sighed, "Aeru, Aeru, Aeru, that shouldn't be a reason to doubt yourself. Anyone can be a father, but not everyone can be a parent."

Rick and Alara looked at each other and then back at Alara's dad and said, "Huh?"

"Let me explain. Any male can be a father. We all know how that happens. However, being a parent takes the commitment and love that the child deserves and needs. By what I've seen with you and Maiyu, I believe that you have the qualifications to be a great father. I'm a busy man myself Aeru, but Ally will tell you that I was always there for her."

Rick nodded and said, "Yes sir, but I have powerful enemies."

"And so did your father and you can't say that he wasn't there for you."

"Okay you got me there."

"See? You'll do fine. Anyways, I expect a grandchild by next year."

"Nooooooo promises."

Keera the said, "Well that's up to Ally to decide as well. Anyways, we will leave you and Ally to your Valentine's Day. So goodbye guys."

Alara hugged her mom and dad, "Bye guys!"

Alara and Rick dismissed themselves and left the house. Rick was now lost in thought and Alara was noticing. She knew how much Rick hated to talk about his ability to be a father. Alara hugged him close, catching him off guard.

She said to him, "Come on, don't be like this now. Let's enjoy our day."

"Yeah, you're right." He said with a smile.

"You know what I want to do?"

"What?"

"Let's go visit A."

"Do you really want to? He hasn't been very...lively lately."

"Then let's go see what's wrong with him."

Rick shrugged and said, "Alright. Let's see what's up with him."

[22nd Den, A's House]

Rick and Alara finally arrived at the 22nd Den and Alara got her first glimpse of the den. She was amazed about how beautiful the den looked. She immediately wanted to walk along the lake of the den and she then saw the mansion where A lived.

She asked Rick, "Does A live there?"

"Yes, he does." He said with a smile. "Let me tell you now that he lives with all his pokemon."

"Oh? Because I was wondering why he would have such a big house for just himself."

"Want to go?"

Rick then grabbed Alara's hand, "Yes, but let's take a walk on the banks of the lake on our way there."

Rick chuckled, "Sure!"

They took off towards A's mansion and soon made it to the lake. Alara was happy to be on the backs and held onto Rick's arm as they walked. During their walk they saw many of A's pokemon, who were both surprised and curious by their presence there. Alara was very surprised by the sheer number of pokemon in the den, and wondered where A kept them all before Rick told him to have them all outside their pokeballs.

It took a few minutes for Rick and Alara to finally arrive at A's house and the moment they did they heard someone yell, "EVERYONE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND DON'T BOTHER ME!" They suddenly heard a door slam shut.

Rick looked at Alara, who was confused, "Well looks like A is even more depressed today. Something must be bothering him and I'm about to find out."

Rick walked up to the door and knocked on it. He waited a few moment until Rose answered the door.

Rose asked Rick when she saw him, "Warlord? What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to see A. I even brought my mate with me."

Alara walked up to Rick and introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Alara. I'm the Chief's daughter and princess of the Sanctuary. I'm pleased to meet you after all this time."

Rose bowed her head, "The honor is all mine."

Rick asked Rose, "Is something wrong with A?"

"No, he's usually like this on this holiday."

"Mind if I come in?"

"Oh not at all. However, I wouldn't recommend going to see A."

"Actually, that's why I'm here. I'm getting to the bottom of this." Rick said as he walked inside and made his way to A's room. Rick knocked on his door and said, "A, this is the Warlord. Open the door."

He received a reply, "With all due respect sir, get the hell out of here and leave me alone."

"A, stop acting like a child and come out here!"

"Leave sir! I don't want to get even more irritated."

Rick snorted and smoke came out of his nostrils, "Just tell me what's wrong with you."

"Sir, I'm just going to ignore you now."

Rick began to mumble something in Spanish that Alara could barely hear, but she knew that he was getting irritated. Rick sighed and gave up trying to get A to talk to him.

Rose sighed and said to Rick, "I'm so sorry. He's usually this irritable during this time of the year."

Rick nodded and looked on the floor and saw an empty champagne bottle, "How much of this has he been drowning himself in."

"He's drank a good number of those almost everyday since New Year's. We usually leave him to his depression until it subsides around a week later."

"Rose, tell me about A. Tell me about his past and who he is."

Rose seemed apprehensive, "I'm sorry sir, but I can't tell you."

"Rose, if you want me to help A, you're going to have to trust me with the information. Who is he and what happened?"

Rose thought hard for a second, she didn't want to betray A's trust, but she knew that Rick might be the only person that could help. "Alright, but this information stays between you, me, and Alara. Promise?"

"I promise. Alara?"

Alara nodded and said, "I promise."

Rose sat down on a chair that was in the hall and began to tell Rick about A, "A has always hated this holiday, even before I was part of his team. What I could pick up was that he has a lost love. He used to go under the alias Red when he was younger, in the Kanto region. However, that was decades ago."

Rick was surprised by the news and said, "I've of a Red. He took down Team Rocket for a while. Also, decades? How old is he? He looks no older than late teens or early twenty."

Rose seemed conflicted and then said, "He's almost a century old. Arceus brought him back from the dead because of us and gave him eternal youth. Arceus made him a pokemon protector for our own sake. We're actually from a different time and we came to the past to help you by Arceus's command."

Rick nodded. He was really surprised by the news but made no effort to dwell upon the thoughts, "That explains why Arceus wanted me to recruit him. He works for Arceus. Continue. Let me hear why he's like this."

"All I know is that it's about a girl called Green. I don't know much else. However, I think I know someone who does. Let me call him for you." She sucked in a long breath of air and yelled, "Loiue!"

An older Alakhazam suddenly teleported to where they were and said, "You know you could just call me mentally."

"Yes, sorry."

"What can I help you with?" He suddenly noticed Rick and Alara, "Oh! Hello Warlord Aeruthael." He looked at Alara, "And I believe that you are his mate. Pleased to meet you my lady!"

Alara bowed her head and Rose said to Loiue, "I need you to tell the Warlord about A and Green. Tell him about A's adventure in Kanto and why he hates this day."

"But..."

Rose interrupted him, "I already told him everything I know. He's the only one that can help A."

Loiue took a deep breath and motioned for everyone to come with him. They followed him to the back of the house where Rick and Alara saw destroyed earth mannequins, hundreds of them.

Rick went up to them and saw that they were all in the shape of people, "I'm guessing this is how he blows off some steam. He really is depressed."

Louie said to him, "He's been doing that for a while now. It concerns us very much, but we can't tell him otherwise. Please take a seat."

Rick nodded and sat down on a chair across from Louie. Louie began, "Alright, A was called Red in Kanto. There he battled Team Rocket and shut down their operations for three years. However, A had a bit of help. During his adventure in Kanto he met a young lady by the name of Green. They quickly struck up a friendship and worked together during his campaign against Team Rocket. They met up a few times to help one another, but after A defeated Giovanni and the Pokemon League in Kanto, Green disappeared. He looked for her for a few years, trying to tell her about his feelings for her. But A decided to leave Kanto and go elsewhere. Everytime he would become the champion of a region, or if he heard that she was back in Kanto, he would go back to look for her in Kanto. Needless to say, he fell in love with the lass. He kept this cycle going for many years. Disappointment after disappointment, until he finally gave up. He never really moved on. He never really got into any other relationships and never married. We were all pretty sad for him. He chased a girl all his life, but she still managed to elude him. What I remember about the girl was the fact that she was so much like A, and she was very beautiful to his eye. That's pretty much it."

Rick nodded while processing the information, "So he hates Valentine's Day because he lost the love of his life?"

"Yes, we believe so."

Rick began to think. He suddenly asked, "Do you have any idea where she may be?"

"No sir. In our time she is most likely dead."

Rick then smiled, "Well I guess I'll have to do something about that, now won't I?"

Alara quickly asked him, "Dear, what are you planning?"

"I'm going to fix this problem." He turned to the others, "Everyone, back inside. I'm going to talk to the big man."

As soon as he said that everyone walked back inside. Rick began to meditate until his consciousness went straight to the Hall of Origin to talk to Arceus.

Arceus seemed to have been expecting him and said to him once he arrived, "Hello Aeruthael! Haven't seen you here in a long time. Let me guess, you have a favor you wish to ask of me?"

Rick bowed down to Arceus and said, "Yes! I have a request."

"So how is it that you want to help A?"

"My lord, I know that you know everything I'm about to ask before I think it. However, I ask for the human female named Green to be brought back for A."

"I understand your reasoning, but why?"

Rick took a deep breath and said, "Lord Arceus, you made two of everyone. One to belong to another. You gave every living thing their mate. You even gave me, a being that wasn't supposed to have a future, a mate. You gave me Alara. Why shouldn't A have one? He has served you well and now he's depressed. I can't help it, I'm always willing to help. This is my way of helping. To ask...no, to beg you for it."

"Hmmm...you have made a good point. I made everything to have a mate. I even gave the tiniest of my creations a mate. I never wanted any of them to be alone. Very well, I will bring back Green. She will appear outside the Sanctuary once the sun disappears on the horizon. You will find her on the beach, sleeping."

Rick bowed down again, "Thank you so much!"

"A does deserve this. However, your job is getting him to her. Which is a battle in itself. Green will only wake up when A gets to her."

"Understood! Thank you my lord!"

"Don't mention it. Now go!"

Rick quickly returned to his head and quickly barged into the house. He saw Rose and Alara talking and they stopped when Rick walked into the house.

Rick said to Alara, "Come on! I think I fixed the problem." Rick looked at Rose, "Don't worry, this should blow over by tonight."

Rose bowed her head and thanked Rick.

Rick grabbed Alara's hand and they began to walk out of the house. Rick then summoned X, "X, appear to me."

X appeared and said to him, "Arceus briefed me on what's going on. You sure this will help?"

"Of course. Now, I need you to get A to the beach by any means necessary."

"And what if he fights?"

"Then knock him out if you have to. Just get him there. How long until sundown?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Alright, let's go people!" Rick opened a portal and he and Alara passed through it.

X was left to deal with A. X sighed and said, "I don't understand kids anymore. Well let's get this over with." With that he vanished.

[A's Room]

A was in his room, drinking his heart out. He was obviously depressed and after he finished a bottle of champagne he would throw it onto a wall, where it would break. A seemed to no longer care, instead he picked up another bottle and chugged it down. He sighed and throw it at the wall, just as X was appearing.

X appeared and saw the bottle flying towards him. He caught it and looked at A, "Well that's quite the introduction. You know, being drunk and depressed is a bad combo."

A scoffed at X, "Well this is a surprise. I don't remember asking you for a visit. What do you want X?"

X glared at A, "Mind that tone of voice with me boy! You are like this because of your own decisions. Now I'm about to help fix that. Come with me!"

"I don't have to go anywhere with you."

"Don't make a mistake now boy. You're drunk, so I can't blame you for that. Now just calmly come with me."

"And if I refuse?"

"You're going to come one way or another."

"Whatever." A turned around and looked at himself in the mirror. His voice turned a bit more remorseful "I've always hated this day. There's no use in trying to fix anything now. It's too late."

X calmed down and said, "I wouldn't be too sure of that A. Come on, just come with me. Things will be better."

"No, it's too late for help right now. As far as I'm concerned Green's dead."

X said to him, "There's ways to cope, but drowning yourself in liquor and misery won't help."

"I know. I just don't know another way to cope."

"Just come with me."

"I can't."

X sighed, looked at the bottle in his hands, and thought of an idea. He held the bottle in his hands, baseball bat style, walked up to A and swung the bottle at his head, and broke the bottle over his head. A was still conscious and fell to the floor. X quickly chained him up in shadow chains, opened a portal, and through him through.

[Outside the Sanctuary, Beach south of the Sanctuary; Rick and Alara]

Rick and Alara were at the beach where Arceus was going to bring Green back at. Rick had just finished explaining the situation to Alara, who was all for helping A.

Rick said to Alara, "All we have to do is wait for A to come. I sent X to get him here by any means necessary."

"Aren't you afraid of X going overboard?"

"X can control himself."

They kept talking until a portal appeared in front of them and A was thrown through, all chained up. X followed after him and picked A up.

X said to Rick, "Order up!"

Rick looked at A and saw the large gash on the side of his head, "X, what the hell did you do to him?"

"He wouldn't come willingly so I had to improvise. I smashed a champagne bottle over his head."

A suddenly shook his head and seemed to be aware of his surroundings, "Ow! What the hell!? Untie me!"

Rick replied, "Sorry, but we had to kidnap you so that we can help you."

"I don't need a damn concussion!"

"Shut up and come one." Rick looked at the horizon and saw the sun disappear. "It's time!"

"Time for what?"

"You'll soon find out A." He turned to Alara. "Ally, heal him and get that smell of liquor off of him. Try to see if you can sober him up too."

X suddenly said, "Oh I'll take care of the liquor smell and drunken part." X charged a small ball of light into his hand and grabbed A's head. A began to pulsate and soon he was sober and no longer smelled of liquor. Alara went to him and used **Healing Pulse** on him, healing the gash.

"Good! He's presentable. Let's go!"

A was beginning to flail, forcing Rick to hit A with a **Thunder Wave**. Now that A motionless, Rick and X carried him over to the beach.

A was still talking and was asking Rick, "Dare I ask what the hell you guys are doing to me?"

"We're taking you to see an old friend."

"Who?"

Rick chuckled, "You'll find out. Now be quiet for a little bit. We're almost there."

"You know this is illegal in almost the entire world."

"Diplomatic immunity is a bitch, isn't it? Besides, it's for your own good."

X followed up by saying, "This might change your opinion of this day." He suddenly got rid of the chains that were wrapped around A.

They walked for a few more minutes, A continuing to complain, and Rick and X suppressing the urge to beat him senseless. Rick was wondering how A would react towards his reunion with Green, but he knew that he had to wait and see.

Once they were at the beach Rick looked around and soon found a human girl sleeping on the beach. She had long brown hair, a blue shirt, and a red skirt on. Rick knew that it had to be Green and so he got rid of A's paralysis.

Once a was free he immediately tried to punch X, but X caught his fist and kicked him back.

X said to him, "Calm down and look at the beach."

A glared at him, "You brought me here to look at the beach? Do you think of me as an idiot!?"

Rick sighed and said to him, "Idiot! Look at who's on the beach."

A was suspicious and slowly turned around to look at the beach. When he looked his jaw dropped and was frozen in complete disbelief. "How...how did...G-G-Green?"

"Yep, I had to ask for a favor from Arceus. I don't like doing that, but if it helps you then I guess it's okay."

"How did you find out about her?"

"Rose and Loiue told me. More like I kinda forced them."

A didn't respond, instead he stood in place, looking at the unconscious Green.

Alara walked up to him and slapped him to snap him out of his phase, "A, get to her. She won't up until you approach her. Arceus told Rick so."

A rubbed his cheek and said, "Thanks, I needed that. All I have to do is walk up to her?"

"Yes. Go before I throw you there."

A was not about to test Alara and made his way to Green. He looked at her and knelt down besides her. By the look on his face Rick could tell that felt very surprised, but somewhat excited.

Suddenly everyone held their breath when they heard Green stir and begin to wake up. Green opened her eyes, Rick turned on his translator app, and X vanished.

Green suddenly said, "Am I in heaven?"

Rick replied to her, "Not quite yet."

Green heard him and shook her head. She suddenly looked to her right and saw A kneeling next to her, "And you are?"

A replied, "Green?"

"Yes...can I get a name here?"

"You really don't know who I am?"

Green shook her head, "No, which is why I'm asking."

Rick laughed and said, "She probably doesn't recognize you now. You probably look way different than you did back in the day."

Green heard Rick's voice and looked at him. Her eyes grew wide when she saw him, "Did that Gallade just talk to me?"

A replied, "Yeah he does that."

"How?"

Rick replied, "We'll get to that at another time. For the moment, look at yourself."

Green was confused, "Why?"

"Okay let's do this another way. What is the last thing that you can remember?"

"Ummm being in my home in Kanto, dying, and now waking up here."

"Were you old?"

"Yes, I am an old woman."

Rick chuckled, "Look at your hands and tell me otherwise."

Green arched an eyebrow, but decided to look at herself. Once she saw her hands she was immediately dumbfounded. She began to look at the rest of her body and said, "How? I'm young again."

"Interesting, isn't it? Hey A, tell her who you are!"

A heard him say that and gulped. Green turned her attention to A, "Well...um..."

Rick sighed and said, "Don't let my efforts be in vain. Just tell her."

A took a deep breath and said, "Green...I'm Red. I know that I don't look like him anymore, but that happens with time."

Green replied, "So you're Red?"

"Yes."

"Prove it to me."

Rick whistled, "Well with that I will be leaving you two alone. Let's go Ally!"

A yelled out, "Rick, wait! Don't leave!"

"Bye!" Rick immediately teleported away. Leaving a confused Green and a nervous A.

A turned to Green and said, "Take a walk with me."

[Later that night; Rick's House]

Rick and Alara were arriving home from their date. Alara had a smile of content, having enjoyed the dinner and the show. Rick had a fake smile, he enjoyed the dinner, but was hiding from Alara the fact that he did not enjoy the show.

Alara hugged and kissed Rick once they entered the house. "I had a great night. Oh if only you would let us mate."

Rick laughed, "Oh wow Ally. We're only three months from that."

"This has been a great Valentine's Day. I enjoyed it so much."

"I'm glad you did. I kinda wonder how A has been doing with Green. I hope everything went alright."

"Why did you make us leave?"

"I wanted him to do it on his own. Why would I get involved?"

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Arceus would not of brought Green back if it was going to be in vain. I want to believe that."

"So no worries?"

"No. I'll get an update tomorrow."

Alara held him close, "So we're going to bed now?"

Rick laughed, "Well no...not yet. I have one more thing planned."

"What?"

"Come to the garden with me."

Rick grabbed Alara's hand and walked her to the fountain in the garden.

[Dartz and Ashlyn]

Dartz and Ashlyn were at his home, lying on his bed. They seemed to have finished their dinner and now were trying to relax for a while.

Ashlyn said to Dartz, "Well this day was memorable."

Dartz cracked one eye open and replied, "Yeah it was. I never had to celebrate it before, but I'm happy I did."

"The creek was very beautiful Dartz."

"It took me a while to find it. I was searching all week for a good place for both of us to spend our Valentine's Day at. It was a nice place for you and me to have a picnic. It still doesn't beat our tree back home."

"It doesn't. That tree holds too many good memories."

"So did I do good today?"

Ashlyn laughed, "You did great!"

"So do I get a reward tonight?"

Ashlyn rolled her eyes and giggled, "Sure. You earned it."

Ashlyn immediately rolled on top of Dartz and began to kiss him. Dartz was just happy that everything went alright that day and he was able to spend time with Ashlyn.

[Team Rocket HQ]

Giovanni was in his office reading over Ashlyn's fake reports. He seemed to be very frustrated by Ashlyn's claims that she could not find Rick. He felt as though he was up against a god. He couldn't seem to beat him, nothing he sent out to kill him has succeeded, he defeated a Titan, and apparently now he couldn't be found. Giovanni was quickly running out of options, and he couldn't send out an all out attack without knowing where Rick was.

"Damn it Theta! Is he really that hard to track? You probably need some help." He pressed a button and spoke, "Project Omega, prepare to go to the Sinnoh Region tomorrow morning."

[Rick and Alara]

Rick led Alara to the garden's fountain. Alara was anxious to see what Rick had in store for her now.

Alara asked Rick, "So what are we doing here?"

Rick smiled at Alara and said, "Well it's Valentine's Day. I should treat you to one more thing that I know you love."

Alara got a wide smile on her face, "We're dancing?"

Rick chuckled and pulled Alara close, "Yeah!"

"Can I choose the song out of your head?"

"Go ahead."

Alara put her forehead to Rick's and sifted through his mind until she picked a song.

(Music: **Faithfully by Journey**)

Rick smiled at the song selection, "The first song we danced to?"

"Yeah. Come on!"

"Gladly!"

Rick and Alara got into their dancing positions and danced slowly to the song. They danced for a few minutes and Alara kissed Rick. Rick returned the kiss passionately. They kept dancing while kissing, their bodies only separated by their spikes.

Alara said to Rick mentally, "_Happy Valentine's Day! I love you!"_

_ "I love you too. Happy Valentine's Day!"_

**There you go guys =], the Valentine's Day Special is up. I know it was a little cheesy, but I liked how it turned out. You can expect a new chapter by next week or by Friday. Thank you all for your time. I'm still taking all forms of requests, suggestions, and questions. Also, I kept forgetting to state this but my Beta Reader profile is up for anyone that wants help. Before I forget, _A Deal With A God by Emerald Dragon_ is going to do the continuation to Green and A's night. Thanks guys! Bye**


	45. Chapter 45: The Two Top Projects

**I am back with the longest chapter I have ever written. Over 15,000 words and two Project battles into the mix. This one was the first chapter that took me over a week to write and I'm sorry for that. I got sick and then I hurt myself. Anyways, I finally finished it...this very annoying to write chapter. Thanks for being patient with me guys. Also, I added a new poll on my profile. Vote for your two favorite couples from my story. February View Champions: UK. View Rankings: 1st) Australia, 2nd) UK, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Philippines, and 5th) South Africa.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

The day after Valentine's Day Rick and his friends were in the Chief's court, celebrating Jean's 25th birthday. Rick was sitting on a throne that was brought for him by his soldier, Alara was next to him on another throne, and her parents right next to both of them. They were all watching as Jean was talking to his parents, via his Poketch.

Jean was responding to his mom rather agitated, "Yeah mom. Ye...Yes mom. Thanks mom. Yes mom. Yes mom. Okay mom bye. Yes mom. Okay mom I get it. Yes mom. Mom I know. I know. Mom! Yes mom! Alright I will! Love you too mom! I said I will mom. Alright bye! Yes mom I know. Bye!"

The Chief laughed, "Your mom doesn't know when to end a conversation, does she?"

"Nope. However, I expect that from mothers. They like to check in on their kids. I excuse it on this day since it's my birthday."

Rick then asked, "So Jean, did you finally choose what you want to do for your birthday?"

"Yeah! Something I've been dying to do with you and the gang for a long time. Let's go camping!"

Rick didn't seem very enthusiastic about the idea, "Camping Jean? Why camping?"

"Come on! We haven't done it since we were kids. We used to love doing it. Spend a few days, maybe even one. Remember the good old days? We would all go up into the mountains for a few days and enjoy nature. What do you say Rick?"

Rick thought for a second. He definitely remembered all the fun he had with his friends when they went camping. He just wondered if he could just leave. He's tried to stay committed to the army as much as he could and didn't know if he should take a few days off to humor Jean. However, he knew that he should do something for his best friend, it was his birthday after all.

"Alright, but only if Alara is game for it."

Alara nodded and said, "I would love to go camping. I'm also sure that Maiyu would like to go too."

"Maiyu?"

"Oh please Rick, you know we always take her with us."

"That's true, but we have to ask her parents first."

"We will, but let's plan as if she's going."

"Alright. So there you go Jean."

Jean cheered, "Thanks man! I can't wait."

Seras, who was next to Jean, said, "Well we have some plans. Here's an idea, why don't the Chief and the Queen join us?"

Alara's mom waved her hand and said almost flattered, "Oh no! You kids have your fun, me and my husband have too much to worry about here. Besides, you probably wouldn't want us old heads to ruin your camping trip."

Alara's dad then said, "You may be old, I'm still young."

Alara's mom glared at him, "Auron, you're older than I am."

"I'm young in spirit."

Alara's mom sighed and said, "You are so lucky that I'm not Aldira...I miss her so much!"

Rick followed up by saying, "I miss my parents too. My extreme mom and my goofball dad."

Alara's mom laughed, "Alright, that they are. They've been that way all their lives. I mean, your dad was a bit more serious when he was younger, and your mom was a bit less violent."

"So I've heard. I guess time does weird things to people...or marriage."

"You have no idea...yet"

"Oh let's not go into the wedding subject. Let's focus on Jean today. So Jean, when do we leave?"

"Today."

Rick sweatdropped, "Today? All of us?"

"Yep. Get everyone ready. We leave at this afternoon!"

Rick sighed, "Where the hell are we going?"

"The forest northeast of Solaceon Town."

Rick sighed again, "You are lucky I can't say 'no' today." He snapped his fingers and two soldiers appeared, "Please go get A in the 22nd den. Tell him to come to the Chief's Court immediately. Make sure to escort him and his friend Green here. Also, send a message to my team to come here as well." The two soldiers saluted Rick and teleported away.

Jean saw them and said, "I need to get that power in this city."

Alara laughed and said, "I can do it too." She snapped her fingers and two soldiers appeared. "Go get my sister. Tell her that I'm expecting her here in the Chief's Court." The soldiers bowed and teleported away.

"You did that to mock me, didn't you?"

"Not at all. I just wanted Amber here. I need to hang out with her more."

Jean snorted smoke out of his nostrils and then said, "I'm a Captain. Let me try." Jean snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. He tried again multiple times to the same results. "Damn it! Rick can I get that ability?"

Rick chuckled and said, "Sure!...if I ever decide to promote you to a Sergeant. Also, no! I am not going to promote you because it's your birthday."

"What the hell do I have to do?"

"Wait. I'll see if you qualify for a promotion. You need to learn to lead troops, not shoot them with Debilitator bullets because they took the last shotgun in the simulation room. Honestly, why do you think I that I don't let you run drills anymore?"

A vein appeared on Jean's head, "Oh come on! They're asking for it when they take the shotgun, I called an eternal dibs on it. Also, I'm the only one of the team, besides you, to kill a Project."

"True, I never said that you were not powerful. However, there's no such things as dibs in combat. You use what you get. If I give you a stick and a rock, I expect you to fight with them."

"That's cold bro."

"I can't give you freebies because you're my friend. I can't hold biases."

Jean sighed, "Alright, you got me there."

After Jean said that the doors to the Chief's Court flew open and Amber walked into the room, "Hello family!"

Everyone then gave a collective, "Hi Amber!"

"So what did I miss?"

Alara replied, "Nothing, Jean wants to go camping...so we're going camping."

"Why?"

"It's his birthday."

"Aww really." She jumped up and pat Jean on his back. "Good for you! Congrats Jean! How old are you?"

Jean replied, "Twenty five."

"You're getting old. Wait, who's older? You or Dartz?"

"Dartz is twenty seven. So he's older."

Amber stopped to think, "So who's the youngest member of the team?"

Rick replied, "I believe it's Serenity. She's barely sixteen."

"Oh yeah! What about Sage?"

"Seventeen."

"Hmmmm..." She suddenly made a call.

Someone answered the call and their voice sounded as if they were woken up, "Hello?"

"Allen, it's Amber."

Allen's voice sounded drowsily irritated, "Amber, what the hell? I was still sleeping. Leave me alone! I swear, I can't get away from you when I'm awake and now I have to deal with you in my sleep."

A vein appeared on Amber's head and she yelled at him, "Oh shut up and answer a question, why don't ya'!? You're nineteen, right?"

"Yeah, did you really just call me to get my age?

"When is your birthday?"

"Good Arceus in heaven! It's two weeks from today."

"Oh so you are older than me."

"Yes, goodbye Amber!" He hung up the call.

"Well he was in a bad mood."

Alara said to her sister, "You have been dragging him through everything. Anyways Amber, you're the second youngest member of the team. Deal with it! Anyways, you down to go camping?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Great! All we have to do is wait for the others to arrive so we can ask them."

They then saw the doors open again and a tired A and an amazed Green walking into the room. A looked at Rick and asked, "What's up? Your soldiers came out of nowhere while I was at the beach with Green. Needless to say, I thought I was in trouble for something."

Rick looked at A and laughed. A gave him a disconcerted look until Rick said, "Sorry, but you should realize that you're in no trouble. If you didn't do anything, that is. Have you?"

"No, I've been at home, enjoying some time with my pokemon and Green." A took a moment to think and remembered to thank Rick. "I forgot to tell you this, but thank you so much for asking Arceus to bring her back. I owe you one!"

Rick waved his hand, "No need to thank me. I needed to get you out of your emotional ire."

"Well it worked."

"I'm glad it did."

Green looked at Rick in awe and said, "You're the reason I'm alive now?" Rick replied but forgot to turn on his translator. Green then said, "Ummm...I can't understand what you're saying? All I hear you saying is 'Gallade' over and over again."

Rick remembered and gave a dumb laugh before turning on his Poketch, "Sorry about that. What I said was that yes it was me. I'm happy to see that you and A here have become friends again."

"Well I thank you so much for the new chance at life and the new chance to be friends with A again."

"You are very welcome. However the thanks is to Arceus, he could of denied my request at any moment."

A immediately thought of another thing he forgot to do and said to Green, "Green, that's Warlord Aeruthael. He's our gracious host and the one that's providing for me while I reside here. He's also the most powerful individual here so far."

Green nodded and said, "Well it's an honor to meet you."

Rick bowed his head, "The honor is all mine."

Green asked A, "And who are the ones around him?"

A looked and said to her, "Well the Gardevoir to his right is his fiancé and the princess of this city, Lady Alara. The Gallade and Gardevoir to his left Lady Alara's parents, the Chief and the Queen."

Green looked in awe and then curtsied to show her respect. Rick waved her off and said, "Don't worry, they're easy going. You're not insulting them by not bowing."

"Well I just wanted to show them my respect. I didn't think I would be in front of royalty."

"You get used to it after a while." A soldier suddenly appeared next to Rick with a report paper, which he handed to Rick. Rick read over the report, laughed, and looked at A, "You broke your wall? How on earth did you do th...Don't answer that, I just read it."

A sweatdropped and laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head, "When you're depressed you do a lot of stupid things."

"Well that's true. I'm not going to dwell on this any other. It will be repair in a moment's notice."

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll pay you back for the wall."

"No need! I have enough money to build that den many times over. No charge." Rick wrote an order and snapped his fingers, summoning a soldier. He gave the report to the soldier and dismissed him. He looked back at the two humans and asked them, "Alright, so now to tell you why I summoned both of you."

A smirked and said, "I was wondering when we would get to this."

"Yeah, sorry for the wait. Anyways, today is Jean's birthday."

"Oh is it?" He turned to look at Jean, "Happy birthday!"

Jean replied, "Thanks A!"

Rick continued, "You see, he wanted ALL of us to do something together. So he decided that we should go camping. But what do you say?"

A pulled Green into a small conference to see what they should do. They seemed to of made a decision and A said to Rick, "We'd like that. We grew up traveling and camping out in our adventures. So doing this will be a walk down memory lane to us."

"That went by better than I thought."

"So when do we leave?"

"This afternoon. So I'm ordering all the camping equipment I can get."

"How are we getting to the campsite? Are we using the Mercury?"

Rick chuckled, "No need to use the Mercury on this. I have a little thing called Titan Avion."

"How are we going to pack things on that thing?"

"I have my ways."

"Alright! Me and Green will return to the house and pack our things."

Rick stopped him, "No, worry about that later." He suddenly threw a bag at A, who caught it. A opened the bag and saw a slew of cash in it. "There's $50,000. Take her shopping for clothes and whatever she needs. If you want to get something for the trip then get it with the money. Also..." Rick got up and walked up to Green. He then handed her a necklace. "This is a Silph Co. official translator. It's still a prototype, but it can translate pokemon speech for you. However, it needs to be recharged everyday so that it continues to work. Also, here's the charger." He passed a charger to Green. "Just take the battery out and place it in. You'll need electricity though, but A's sword has that covered for you while we're camping. We'll be camping for two nights, so be prepared to buy some stuff."

"Got it! Thanks! Let's go Green."

Green nodded and bowed her head in thanks to Rick. Rick waved goodbye at them and sat back down on his throne.

Alara then said to him, "She's pretty, isn't she? He picked a good one."

"I guess. I'm just thinking about the fact of what the hell we'll be doing while camping."

"Oh well. We'll worry about it when we get there. So are we taking Maiyu?"

Rick thought about the decision for a second. "Alright, we'll ask my aunt if she can go."

"I'm sure Maiyu will be excited."

[An Hour Later; Celenia's House]

Rick and Alara were in front of his aunt Celenia's house. Rick knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer the door. A few moments later his uncle Rile answered the door.

Rile smiled at the sight of his nephew and his mate, "Aeru! Good to see you again boy! Alara, looking as pretty as ever. What can I do for you two?"

Rick hugged his uncle and said, "We were just stopping by. We also wanted to ask you and Celenia something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"First of all, is Maiyu home?"

"Yeah, I just brought her home from school."

"Good, so let's talk inside."

"Sure, please come in."

Rick and Alara walked into the house and sat down in the living room. Rick said to his uncle, "You know, I need to visit more."

"I'm sure you're a busy man Aeru. What with leading the army and preparing for a wedding. Speaking of which, how is that coming along?"

Alara answered for him, "Well the pieces are falling into place. There's still a few things that we have to work on before the wedding, but it's all looking good. I'm super excited."

"You should be little lady. Your wedding day is the single most important day of your lives. Well that and the birth of your children. However, you have to start somewhere, don't you? Anyways, I let me call Celenia and Maiyu for you." He looked away and yelled out, "Celly! Maiyu! Aeru and Alara are here to visit!" He looked back at Rick and Alara and said, "Wait for it."

Rick immediately knew what he meant and held his arms out to catch a darting Maiyu. Once he caught her she pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek. She then jumped onto Alara and did the same.

Maiyu was very happy to see both of them, "Aeru! Ally! This is a happy surprise. What are you guys doing here?"

Alara replied, "We're here to ask a question deary."

"A question? About?"

"You'll see Maiyu."

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Celenia, who was walking into the room, "Maiyu disappeared so I knew that it really was Aeru and Alara. How are you two?"

"Me and Rick are great."

"Getting ready for the wedding?"

"Yes, we're very excited for it."

"I bet you are. So to what do we owe this visit?"

"We actually have a question to ask you guys."

Celenia sat down next to her husband and asked, "What kind of question?"

Rick replied, "You see today is Jean's birthday and he wished for us to go camping with him. Us and the entire team."

"Oh so I think I know what you're about to ask."

"I'm still going to ask. Is it okay if we take Maiyu camping with us?"

Maiyu was instantly excited and looked at her parents saying, "Please momma!"

Celenia stopped to think for a second and then said, "Excuse me and my husband for a second." Celenia and Rile got up and left the room, leaving Maiyu with Rick and Alara.

Maiyu asked Rick and Alara, "Do you think they'll let me go?"

Rick replied, "It depends really. If they say 'no' then they have their reasons and we have to respect that. Don't worry, I'm still going to take you camping one of these days if they deny it."

"I still want to go."

Alara then said, "Well you still have to go to school and I guess that's one reason they have to think about their decision. Also, you're their little baby, their youngest child. As parents they should be worried about your safety, even more so in the wilderness."

"But I have you two to protect me, and Rick is very strong."

Rick sighed and said, "I'm strong Maiyu, but I'm not invincible."

"Still strong enough to protect me."

"Let's just wait for your parents' answers Maiyu. If I don't take you camping then I'll treat you to a day at an amusement park."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

After a few moments they stopped talking when Maiyu's parents walked back into the room. Maiyu's anxiety was growing as she awaited the answer.

Her mom then said, "We'll let her go camping with you and your friends..." Maiyu began to cheer, but her dad grunted, making her go silent, "However, she must still do her school work and you two must promise that she will be safe."

Rick nodded, "I promise. I'll take good care of her."

"Very well. I just want her to be safe."

"And as her mother you have the right to worry. We're going to the wilderness, a place she's not too familiar with. However, me and Alara will be there to protect her from anything. Also, our entire team will be there, so she'll be very well protected. I won't take my eyes off of her for even a minute. I can promise you that much."

Alara followed up by saying, "I can promise the same."

Celenia sighed and then said, "I trust you both. When do you leave?"

"In an hour."

"Alright, Maiyu come with me. Let's pack your things."

Maiyu quickly teleported to her mother's arms and kissed her, "Thanks momma!"

"You're welcome sweetie. However, I expect you to be on your best behavior for your cousin."

"I will."

The two then left the room, leaving Rick and Alara with Rile.

Rile said to Rick, "Take good care of my little lady make sure she stays safe."

"Will do. You have nothing to worry about."

"I trust you. Make sure she has fun."

"That I can guarantee."

[An Hour Later; Outside the Sanctuary]

After assembling the team at his house, Rick led them all outside the gates of the Sanctuary, where Avion was waiting. Avion was apparently saddled and prepped to carry a heavy load.

A said to Rick, "You saddled that thing?"

Rick chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I figured that it's best to take Avion since he doesn't need fuel to keep going. Besides, Avion needs to stretch his wings. I'm not going to recall him for the time we're camping. He'll be somewhat of a guardian for us while we're there."

"Good idea."

Maiyu suddenly ran forward towards Avion yelling, "Avion! It's so good to see you again!"

A sweatdropped and said to Rick, "You're just going to let her get close to that thing?"

Rick chuckled again, surprising A, "Once you possess a Titan they become quite tame. Maiyu seemed to have kicked up a friendship with Avion. Look!"

A looked and saw Maiyu hug Avion's leg and Avion nuzzling her with its beak tenderly. When Maiyu felt him nuzzle her she turned around and hugged his beak. Avion gave a happy screech and lifted her up until she was sitting on his head.

A gave a sigh of relief and said to Rick, "Wow it's pretty docile now. And to think, it was trying to kill us a month and a half ago."

Rick pat his back and walked forward to Avion. He then heard Maiyu say, "Let's go! Avion wants to fly. Don't you boy?" Avion gave a happy shriek again, "That's a yes!"

Rick looked back at the team and said, "All aboard the giant bird...guardian...thing."

With that Avion lowered his head and let the team mount its back. Once everyone got situated safely on its back and all the gear and bags put in its cargo bags, Avion prepped itself for flight. Everyone held onto Avion's back spikes as he began to flap his wings and lifted himself off the ground. Avion then flew off towards the camping area. After twenty minutes, Avion was beginning to fly over the camping area and the Mt. Coronet mountain range.

Rick looked down at a clearing in the forest and said to Avion, "Down there Avion!"

Avion chirped and descended into the clearing. Avion landed quickly and lowered his head so the team could dismount. Everyone quickly got off and took everything out of Avion's pack.

Maiyu hugged Avion before getting off, by sliding down his long tail and being caught by A.

Rick then said to Avion, "Alright Avion, you can remain out for the duration of the trip. Go ahead and fly around. I'll call you when I need you."

Avion chirped and flew off into the mountains, leaving the team to unpack.

A turned to the team and said, "Alright, let's set up!" He then put Maiyu on the ground, and she hopped onto Alara's shoulders.

Everyone began to set up camp, all with their own tasks. One group was helping put up tents, some were looking for firewood, others (somehow) set up a tv, and others were fixing up food.

Rick walked up to Jean, who was talking to Serenity and asked him, "Satisfied?"

Jean smiled, "Very! Thanks bro! Just like old times. Hell, we even have some new faces. I like what you did for A, he told us about it at your house."

"Did he now? Well it was the least I could do for him. He needs some form of companionship. He was the only human here. So I did him a favor."

"Well I'm happy you're a good person. Anyways, I'm going to go on a hike with Seras for a bit."

"Don't go away for too long. It's still winter, even if it is warmer this year, but the night comes early."

"Brother, how old do you think I am? I'm a full grown adult. I think I can handle myself well."

"I know how old you are, dumbass! It's your 25th birthday."

"Yeah! You better not forget it."

Rick looked at him with an unamuzed look and said, "Jean, don't make me drown you and make you disappear like I drowned Robert Evan."

"Who?"

"Exactly!"

"Okay I'm out psycho! Seras, let's go on our hike."

Jean and Seras then disappeared into the forest and Rick walked up to A and Green, who were talking by a creek. Alara followed him, with Maiyu still on her shoulder.

As Rick was getting close she could hear Green laugh because of something A was saying, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. As soon as soon as he got close A looked at him.

A greeter Rick, Alara, and Maiyu, "Well hello guys! Need anything?"

Rick replied, "No, we just wanted to check on you and Green. How is she holding out so far?"

"Well it'll take some time for her to get used to living among pokemon, but she's okay so far. The translator you gave her helps out a lot."

"Good to hear. Be careful, it doesn't live for very long. The battery dies very quickly. So she should just use it when she really needs to."

"How long does it live for?"

"I give it four hours before it beeps, which tells you that it'll be dying soon."

"So I guess I should translate for her every now and then?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, the people in Sanctuary can just talk to her telepathically, but it's somewhat of a pain. That's why I gave her the translator. So she can communicate."

Green then said, "I'll keep that in mind. However, I like being able to speak to you guys directly. It makes me feel a little less lonely."

"Lonely? A's here."

"True, but I love to interact with a lot of people."

"Well there's no shortage of people here for you to interact with."

Green smiled at Rick and said, "I can see that." She suddenly noticed Maiyu. "Oh! I didn't notice her earlier today."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "Who?"

"The Kirlia on your mate's shoulder. Is she your daughter?"

"Oh no! She's my baby cousin Maiyu. She wasn't with us earlier today. Me and Alara went to pick her up at her house. We now tend to not leave the Sanctuary without her. However she is like a little sister to me or a daughter. Me and Alara just love her so much."

Green looked at Maiyu and held out her hand to her, "Hello there Maiyu! My name is Green." Maiyu ducked her head behind Alara's shoulder. Green then said, "Oh I won't hurt you. You can trust me. You trust A, don't you. In as much you can trust that I won't hurt you as well."

Maiyu, lifted her head out from behind Alara's shoulder and jumped to the ground in front of Green. Maiyu inched her way into Green's open arms. Green picked her up and cradled her.

Green giggled and said to Maiyu, "See? Nothing to worry about. I'm not a mean person."

Maiyu finally said, "I guess not, but time will tell." Maiyu stopped to sense her emotions, "You're confused. Why?"

Green was immediately surprised, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I can tell by your emotions. I can also sense that you have a..." Rick immediately closed her mouth with **Psychic**.

Rick said to her, "Maiyu, what did I tell you about diving through the emotions of others without their permission?"

Maiyu began to speak, but she was still muffled by Rick's **Psychic**. Rick sighed and dismissed it letting her respond, "Not to do it. Sorry!"

"It's okay Maiyu, but remember what I told you."

"I can't help it. My powers are still developing. I just pick up the emotions when I'm near someone."

"I'll have to teach you how to control that. Come on! Let's go get housed in our tent. We'll see you later A and Green."

A replied, "Alright sir, bye!"

"Goodbye!"

Rick and Alara dismissed themselves and went to see how the crew set up their tent. They made it back to the campsite and saw that the campfire was burning and all the tents were set up. Alara separated from Rick, with Maiyu in her arms, and walked over to Amber. Rick made his way to what looked like a medical tent and looked inside. He saw Anna setting up her supplies.

Rick laughed and said to Anna, surprising her, "Hey Ann! Setting up all the first aid?"

Anna turned to look at him and smiled, "Hello Rick! Yes. I have to make sure that everyone is alright if they get hurt."

"It's odd to see a Flygon as a medic, but you're the only one with medical training."

"If you don't remember my story, when I was a Vibrava I had my wings sliced off by a Garchomp. I was found by a Nurse Joy, who somehow found all four of my wings. I was transported to a Pokemon Center, where I woke up with Nurse Joy finishing attaching my wings back into their place. A few months later my wings fused back together with the cells regenerating. I was still not able to fly though, so I spent my time helping Nurse Joy take care of the other pokemon. So I guess that the love of the medical field just rubbed off on me."

"Well we're happy that you're on our team. So I'm guessing you'll be sleeping in this tent as well?"

"Yes. Well Rick, I need to finish unpacking. I'll see you and the others by the campfire later. Bye!"

"Bye sis!"

Rick walked out of the tent and saw his team begin to gather around the fire that Amber started. He looked and saw A and Green nestled up together and sitting by the fire. Rick began to silently laugh when he picked up A's emotions and could feel that he was blushing, obviously Green was the one that was leaning against him. Rick also saw that Jean and Seras were back from their hike. He didn't see Alara and Maiyu, however, so he decided to walk over to his tent.

When he walked in he saw Alara and Maiyu playing a clapping game. Rick smiled at the sight and made himself know, "I love seeing you two playing together."

Maiyu smiled, "Wanna play Aeru?"

"I'll play Patty Cake with you later. Let's go roast marshmallows and make smores."

"What are smores?"

Rick could feel his I.Q dropping and his faith is the new generation dying, "Baby girl, get to that campfire. You will know the deliciousness known as a smore."

"What is it though?"

"It's two graham crackers with melted marshmallows and chocolate in between them."

"Sounds tasty."

"Oh it is. Now go to the campfire."

Maiyu gave Rick her signature thumbs up and skipped out of the tent, leaving Rick and Alara alone.

Alara walked up to Rick and said to him, "You're planning to make this a great trip for her, aren't you?"

Rick pulled Alara close and said, "Of course!"

Alara giggled, "That's why she loves you so much." She then kissed him. "And I love you just as much."

"Sucks that Maiyu's here. I would of enjoyed tonight."

"Hey we don't regret bringing her. Don't worry, we'll be having our adult time when we get back home."

Rick chuckled and kissed her, "Alright, I'll hold you to that. Let's go to the others before they have too much fun without us."

Alara giggled again and took his arm as they walked out. They walked up to the campfire and sat down. Maiyu quickly sat on Alara's lap as Rick began to make her a smore. Rick soon finished making the smore and handed it to Maiyu.

Rick warned Maiyu, "It's really hot. Make sure to blow it to cool it."

He then looked at her as she blew it and began to devour it. He picked up that she loved the taste. That was proven when she asked, "Can I have another?"

A laughed and said, "Hey little lady! Leave some for us to enjoy."

Everyone laughed and began to enjoy each other's company until Jean threw a guitar to Rick. He said to him, "Go ahead and play something Rick."

Rick nodded and began to play the guitar (Song: **Longing by Michael Mucklow**) and everyone began to relax at the soothing sound that emanated from the instrument. Rick almost chuckled as he felt A's blush increase with Green resting her head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the music.

Rick soon finished and some of others pulled out instruments to join in on the fun. Dartz had his shamisen, Ashlyn her shakuhachi, Wayland his drums, Alara her harp, Celand his keyboard, Lucian his bass, Bolt his guitar, Jean his ocarina, and Rick pulled out his violin. They had a small impromptu jam session for a few minutes and they all suddenly stopped and laughed at themselves. A and Green instinctively joined into the laughter.

Wayland suddenly pulled the nearest two team members (Dartz and Bolt) close and said, "Man it's great to have our family back together! It also feels good to have new members into it: Alara, little Maiyu, Serenity, Amber, Nero, Tsu, Ashlyn, A, and Green. I say things have gone for the better. We have to do something like this every year."

Dartz escaped from Wayland's grip and said, "Well that's not for us to decide nowadays. Rick took the leader role. It's his decision."

"I don't mind doing this every year. Maybe once every season."

Winston laughed and said, "That sounds like a good plan to me."

"Then it's settled. Once every season we'll go camping for at least a day. If our family grows then more power to us."

Everyone agreed and began to relax and socialize with one another. Rick, Alara, and Maiyu laid down to look at the stars. Rick began to explain to Maiyu the constellations, A and Green were chatting, Dartz and Ashlyn were cuddled up together, as were Jean and Seras.

After a while Rick and other members of the team got up to go to bed. "Well guys, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow, we're going hiking...or whatever you guys want to do."

Sage then asked, "Wait, who's rooming with who?"

"Well I know with whom I'm rooming with. All couples together and the rest should play the dice game. A and Green, you will be rooming together."

A then replied, "Why?"

"Because you're the only humans and she can't communicate with us without your help or the use of the translator. So she should stay near you."

"I understand. Alright, goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" Rick turned to everyone else. "Goodnight everybody! I have to take Maiyu here to a bed." He said as he pointed to a sleeping Maiyu, who was asleep in Alara's arms.

Rick and Alara turned away and dismissed themselves. They went into their tent and quickly went to sleep. Everyone else eventually broke off from the group and went to sleep.

[The Following Day, in the afternoon]

Rick and the team were all on their own individual hikes in the middle of the afternoon. The sun was still in the sky, but it was beginning to set. Rick and Alara were walking through a trail, while Maiyu was holding their hands. Rick was showing Maiyu all the different pokemon in the area. There were Swablus, sleeping Hoothoots and Noctowls, Bagons, Staravias, Bonslys, Kricketunes, Budews, Roselias, and Bibarels. Maiyu was enjoying their little nature hike.

Alara asked Rick, "So I was thinking, for our wedding reception, where should it be?"

"Probably at the garden back home." He suddenly thought of something, "Oh! Ally, have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Your house was rebuilt the other day."

"Was it? I wasn't told."

"That's odd."

"Well that's good news."

"Are you moving back?"

Alara stopped to think for a second. She wasn't expecting that question to ever pop up. She soon made a decision, "No, I'm staying with you. I already chose that as my home."

"What about Amber?"

"Oh please, she'll be 20 before the wedding. She'll be fine."

Rick smiled at her and said, "So that takes care of that."

Alara laughed and looked down from the hill they were walking on. She the said to Rick, "There's A and Green."

Rick looked and saw A and Green sitting on the grass of an open field. He couldn't tell what they were doing since they were so far away to tell. "I guess they're catching up."

"Green has been acting very affectionate towards him though."

Rick chuckled, "Let's leave them alone for a while. We'll see where this goes."

"Well let's keep walking."

[Dartz and Ashlyn]

Dartz and Ashlyn were by a creek, fishing together. They were catching Magikarps and releasing them again. Dartz was enjoying his time with his mate, something he never really got to do normally.

Ashlyn noticed him looking at her and said, "If you stare at me any harder I might get paralyzed." She said with a giggle.

Dartz laughed and pulled her close, "I don't think I want to stop looking at you."

"Well you have to because your fishing line is going off."

"What?" He turned to look at his fishing rod and saw that he caught something. "Crap! Crap! Crap!"

Dartz quickly took hold of his fishing rod and began to pull on it. After a few minutes of a fight he managed to pull whatever it was to the surface.

Suddenly a Gyarados lunged out of the water and yelled, "The fuck you doin'!?

"I was just fishing...how do you fit in this creek?"

"Don't worry about it! Why were you trying to fish me out?"

"Just trying to spend quality time with my mate."

The Gyarados looked at Ashlyn and back at Dartz and said, "I'll be watching you." The Gyarados then slowly descended back into the water.

Dartz turned to Ashlyn and said, "Let's go for a walk."

Ashlyn laughed and threw the rods into a portal. She turned around to walk away. Suddenly the Gyarados peaked his head our of the water and said, "Nice ass!"

Dartz glared at the Gyarados and fired a **Shadow Ball** at it, hitting him in between its eyes and knocking it out. Ashlyn giggled at the sight and walked back to Dartz.

She said to him, "Well that's one way of blowing off some steam."

"Sorry. It got me so mad."

"I understand dear. Let's just keep going on our little hike."

"Agreed!"

They began to go on their way. They hiked for a few minutes all around the forest. They were enjoying each other's company and sat down on the edge of a cliff, looking off into the distance.

Ashlyn rested her head on Dartz's back and said, "I wish I didn't have to go back to Team Rocket by the end of this week."

Dartz replied, "Then don't and stay here with me. Giovanni won't find you in the Sanctuary."

"That may be true dear, but I can't abandon Omega."

"Oh yeah. Why can't Rick and Omega just fight already? I want them both to live though."

"Well Omega has not hunted Rick down for a while. Hopefully she will get over her mission and I'll be able to defect."

A voice suddenly appeared from behind them, "That's not going to happen Ashlyn."

Dartz and Ashlyn turned around and saw Omega standing behind them. Ashlyn jumped to her feet and asked Omega, "What are you doing here? This was supposed to be a solo mission."

"Yes, but Giovanni grew impatient. Thus, he sent me here to aid you in your mission."

"Omega, you know the true reason why I'm here."

Omega nodded in affirmation, "Of course! I've been helping you lie to Giovanni this whole time."

"And I thank you for that, but what are you doing here at this moment? Alpha is around."

"Precisely what I'm here for."

Ashlyn sweatdropped and said, "Omega, now is not the best of times. You'll get your chance soon, but not now is not the best time to go fighting him." Omega ignored her and darted off through the forest to where she sensed Rick's presence.

Dartz quickly pulled out his Poketch to warn Rick and Ashlyn suddenly went running after Omega.

[Rick]

Rick was with Alara and Maiyu, exploring the mountain trail that led back to the campsite. He wanted to return to camp badly after walking for hours, teaching Maiyu about everything they saw.  
Alara's feet were killing her from all the hiking and she couldn't wait to lie down to rest. She couldn't lie that she enjoyed their little trip, but her body could only take so much abuse and her feet were screaming in pain. Maiyu, on the other hand, was alright and wanted to continue the walk.

As the campsite was finally in sight, Rick got a call from Dartz, "Hello?"

Dartz's voice sounded desperate, "Rick! Oh thank Arceus that you picked up!"

"Dartz? What happened?"

"You have to start running!"

Rick was now confused and told Alara, "Ally, take Maiyu back to the campsite, I have to deal with something really quick."

Alara immediately understood from listening Dartz's yells to Rick through the phone. "Rick, promise me you'll be okay."

"Don't worry dear. I will."

Alara nodded and kissed him before teleporting back to the campsite, which she wondered why she didn't do that earlier. Rick took a deep breath and concentrated so that he could sense where Omega was. After a short moment his right hand got the Omega symbol and Rick knew that Omega was close. He took one final breath and began to run, just as Omega pounced out of the treeline. Rick took off as fast as he could to the mountains, with Omega hot on his tail.

He looked back and saw Omega and yelled, "Oh come on! I was having a nice family moment! Couldn't this wait?"

All Rick received as replies were roars and growls from Omega. Rick kept running until he decided to hop onto some tree branches and swing from place to place.

He turned around to look at Omega and said, "Climbing is my thing. I'd like to see you do that."

Omega scoffed and said, "You think you're safe in trees."

"I never said that. It's just that, as like our previous chase, I am very agile and I know parkour."

"Don't consider me inferior." Omega suddenly jumped onto branch, surprising Rick. "I suggest you run."

Rick didn't protest and took off again, jumping from tree to tree. Omega was using her tentacles to swing herself to match Rick's speed. Rick stopped and looked back at one branch and jumped out of the way of a claw attack from Omega, splitting the tree in half. Rick quickly turned around and fired a **Psycho Cut** at Omega. Omega quickly caught the blade with her hand and threw it back at Rick, who ducked under it.

Omega roared and fired a **Shadow Ball** at Rick. Rick was still swinging and was hit by the ball, knocking him to the ground. Rick staggered to his feet and then heard Omega land. Rick shook off the pain and began to run again. Rick quickly thought that he could lose Omega in a dense system of trees. Rick easily slid through the trees and made it back to the hiking trail, where he stopped to take a breather. after seeing that Omega couldn't fit through tree system.

While he was resting he heard someone walking near him. Rick unsheathed Shadowbane and pointed it at whoever it was that was near him. He stopped his suspicion when he saw that he had Shadowbane to A's neck, and neck slowly stepping away.

A asked, "What the hell man!?

"A? Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"Who?"

A roar then came from the trees and tentacles shot out and ripped many of the trees off the ground. Omega roared towards Rick and A, stunning A because of the monster that was before him and Green cowering behind A.

Rick whistled and began to move back quickly. Before he hauled ass he said to A, "That thing. Project Omega. Hauling ass bye!"

Rick immediately took off running and Omega ran after him, passing A and Green, leaving them wondering what just happened. Suddenly they saw Ashlyn and Dartz running out of the forest.

Ashlyn saw A and Green and asked A, "Have you seen Rick and a hulking beast running through here?"

A replied, "Yes, they ran towards the mountains. What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it." She turned to Dartz and said, "Dartz go back to the camp and tell the others what's going on. I'm going to stop Omega."

Dartz nodded and ran towards the campsite. Ashlyn followed the trail and hoped to find Rick and Omega. A was left trying to piece together what was happening. He then noticed Wayland walking towards them.

Wayland asked A, "What was that roar I heard?"

A shrugged, "Rick was being chased by some sort of monster."

"Damn! Omega! I'm going to go see if he needs help."

"No! Stay here with Green. I'll go check it out."

"Alright, but be careful."

A nodded and then said to Green, "If anything happens, go back to the campsite. Don't worry, I'll be okay."

A ran suddenly disappeared and left Wayland with Green.

[Rick vs Omega]

Rick was still running from Omega through the mountain trail and kept dodging all of her attacks and tentacles. He kept trying to hit her with his attacks, but nothing was phasing the beast. Rick then decided to try to slash Omega with Shadowbane, so he unsheathed his sword and swung at Omega. However, Omega caught his arms with a tentacle and slammed him through a mountain wall and knocked him into a covered cave.

Rick staggered to his feet saying "Not my best idea." He cracked his neck and shook the rocks off his body. He looked at his surroundings and saw the cave. It was full of crystals and he was surprised that it even existed. He tried to rest and then heard Omega roar at the mouth of the cave.

Rick sighed and said, "What are you gaining from attacking me?"

Omega responded as she jumped into the cave, "Mainly it's because it's my mission, but also because it's personal to me."

"What did I do to you?"

"It's just my goal. Now fight me already and no more running!"

Rick chuckled, "Alright! Let's do this!"

Omega roared and charged at Rick, who jumped out of the way and fired a **Night Slash** at her, hitting her on her back. Omega spun around and whipped Rick with her tentacles. Rick shook off the pain and charged his energy into Shadowbane and fired the energy at Omega. Omega jumped over the attack, startling Rick. Omega landed in front of Rick and headbutted him, sending him flying to the cave wall.

Omega wasn't going to give Rick a chance to get back up and wrapped her tentacles around Rick, disabling his movement. Rick flailed like crazy trying to get free, and his flailing increased when he saw Omega charging a beam in her mouth.

Omega was about to fire the beam until she got hit by a medley of elemental attacks from a recently appearing A, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! What the he...OW!" Omega turned and roared at A, "Who the hell are you!?"

A replied to Omega, "The name's A! And I'm guessing you're Project Omega? At least that's what Rick told me."

"You have no business here! Away with you insect!"

Rick said to A, "A, you don't stand a chance against Omega. Get out of here!"

A glared at Rick, "We wouldn't know until we test my power out against this thing."

"I'm warning you, but go ahead and try."

Omega growled and said, "Fine! I'll take both of you on."

A scoffed and jumped into the air to slash down on Omega. Omega, however, took Rick and threw him at A, knowing both at the cave wall.

Rick growled at A, who was underneath him, "When I tell you to back off, I mean back off! I have more experience battling Projects."

A pushed Rick off of him and got up saying, "What are Project anyways? And I doubt they're that strong if they are man-made."

Rick growled again at A and said, "Listen here! I don't have the time to explain this to you. You won't stay conscious from one hit from Omega. It's stronger than me." Rick then calmed down, "Listen, the tension is high, just try to be careful."

"Understood, sorry for yelling sir."

Omega got their attention, "Hey Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass!"

Rick and A looked at Omega and managed to barely dodge two sharp crystals that Omega threw at them. A used Savior to make earth braces to hold down Omega and Rick hit Omega with a **Focus Punch**.

Rick said to A, "Nice thinking!"

A replied, "Thanks! I thought that might help! Look out!"

Rick looked back at Omega and dodged an attack from the tentacles. Rick fired a **Signal Beam** to keep the tentacles at bay, while A struggled to keep Omega pinned to the ground with Savior. After a few moments of a struggle, Omega gave a mighty heave and freed herself from the ground brace and fired a beam at A, knocking him back.

Rick tried to slash Omega to protect A from the raging beast, but was kicked back almost immediately. Omega then tangled up A in her tentacles and slammed him onto Rick.

A asked Rick, "Any bright idea? We're getting our asses handed to us."

Rick said, "Well I do have a 'bright' idea. But I'll need you to distract Omega for a few moments so I can summon the power to use the ability. It's called Rising Sun and it supposedly weakens Omega or hurts it."

"So I just have to distract the beast?"

"Yep."

"Alright, it shouldn't be too hard considering that it just kicked both our asses with little effort."

"Fine, let's just keep going the same way we've been fighting."

"But that hasn't helped."

"So it's either plan A or plan B."

"I'd rather do plan A then."

"Alright. Be careful, if I see that you can't handle it, I'll help."

"Thanks."

Rick summoned Sovereign and began to concentrate, while A jumped to the opposite end of the cave.

A took a deep breath and got Omega's attention by striking her with a fireball. Omega slowly turned around and glared at A. A suddenly vanished and repeated the process a couple of times. Omega eventually caught on to the pattern and vanished herself, shocking A.

A suddenly heard a growl behind him and instinctively bowed his head to dodge the claw attack from Omega. A scrambled away from the beast and fired more attacks towards Omega, only succeeding in enraging her more and more. A kept the process going until Omega wrapped one of her tentacles around A's legs and dropped him to the ground. Omega then stood over him and drew her claws.

A suddenly heard Rick yell, "A close your eyes!" A complied and Rick used the ability.

Sovereign began to glow brightly and then fired a ball of light at a point in the cave, enveloping the room in a bright light. Omega roared in pain and staggered to stay standing. Rick opened his eyes and saw what was happening. He quickly closed them to avoid any damage to his eyes.

Unexpectantly, Rick fell to his knees gasping for breath and the light ball shattered, leaving Omega panting from the pain. A slowly opened his eyes and saw the scene before him. He staggered up to his feet and went to check up on Rick.

He asked Rick, "Sir, are you okay?"

Rick replied, "I thought I could of held the ability. But I was only fooling myself."

"Sir, don't worry about it. You hurt Omega. It's incapacitated."

Rick rose his head and looked at Omega. His eyes shot open and he yelled, "Look out!"

A looked and was unable to dodge a monstrous punch from Omega. The punch made him fly through the mouth of the cave and land many yards away, near Green and Wayland, unconscious Green immediately went to check on him, but Wayland decided to take him to Anna to have him healed.

Rick was now left alone with Omega. He grew angry at what Omega just did and jumped to his feet, holding Shadowbane and Sovereign in a battle pose.

Omega laughed at the sight and said, "So your little stunt didn't work and now you want to face me head on? I think I may of hurt you a little too much."

Rick scoffed and said, "Was that a joke?"

"Take it as you will."

Omega suddenly charged towards Rick and tried to tackle him. Rick jumped over Omega and dove down to stab her, but Omega turned around and knocked him away. Rick quickly got back on his feet and vanished. He reappeared kicking Omega on her head and making her stagger back. Rick took another opportunity to punch Omega with a **Focus Punch** in the gut.

Omega roared and swung at Rick, who blocked the hit with Sovereign's shield form and jumped back. Omega roared one more time, charged a beam at Rick and fired it. Rick opened his locket after remembering that he had an attack that could block the beam.

He charged the attack in his hands and fired it while yelling, "Aura Blast!" He fired the blast and blocked Omega's beam with it.

Rick and Omega charged at one another and clashed in the middle. They exchanged blows for a few moment until they punched one another and were sent back. Rick and Omega quickly shook the hits off and began to size each other off (if that were possible).

Rick charged his energy into Sovereign and Shadowbane and Omega drew her claws. Their energy were causing sparks to go through the crystals and some crystals exploded. They suddenly charge at one another again, but they were stopped by Ashlyn, who yelled "Both of you enough!". Ashlyn was in her human form and plunged her spear into the ground, causing a ice wall to come between Omega and Rick.

Ashlyn walked up to Rick and told him, "Sorry I'm late. Also, I'm sorry but I didn't know Omega was coming."

Rick nodded his head, "It's okay. I'm just happy you came when you did."

They stopped talking when they heard Omega roar. They looked at her and saw her punch the ice and crack it. Rick took another battle position and waited for Omega to break through the ice. With one more mighty punch Omega broke the ice wall, but with an unexpected consequence. Suddenly an ice shard went flying through the air and sliced Ashlyn's shoulder, making her cry in pain and Omega stop berserking.

Rick saw what happened and immediately went to check on the downed Ashlyn. He looked at her wounded shoulder and took a towel from his pack. He made a makeshift bandage and wrapped her shoulder up to stop the blood. He helped her to her feet and could see that she was crying from the pain and Rick helped her walk.

Omega walked up to Ashlyn and looked at her apologetically, prompting Ashlyn to say, "It's okay Omega. You didn't mean it. Why did you attack though?"

Omega tried to explain, "It was my job. I must of just lost myself there for a minute."

"You have to learn to control yourself in that form. It makes you turn into an animal."

Rick said to Omega, "If you want to check up on her at our camp then I won't stop you. But no attacking. Are we understood?"

Omega reluctantly agreed and followed Rick and Ashlyn back to the campsite.

[An hour later]

Omega was in Anna's infirmary tent with Dartz, looking at a sleeping Ashlyn. Omega's presence in the campsite was alarming, but everyone soon realized that she wasn't going to be a threat.

Omega apologized to Dartz, "I'm sorry for harming her."

Dartz sighed and said, "I forgive you. I understand what happened. I just wonder if this will shorten my time with her. What are you going to tell Giovanni?"

"That we found Alpha and fought him. However he got away and managed to hurt Ashlyn."

"So that means that you'll be taking her back. to Rocket HQ when she wakes up?"

"I don't think so. I think we can hold off for a few days. I'll just tell Giovanni that I took her to a Pokemon Center and got her patched up."

"Thank you so much Omega."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do."

Dartz looked outside and saw A's and Green's tent and saw Green kneeling next to an unconscious A. He walked to the tent asked her, "Hey Green, how is he?"

Green replied, "Your friend Anna told me that he has a concussion and some bruising from the fall. However, he's supposed to be okay in the morning. He's been sleeping peacefully for a while now."

"That's good to hear."

Green suddenly gasped when a glowing red 'A' appeared on A's forehead. Dartz saw it and walked over to check it.

Green asked him, "What's going on with him?"

"I think I know, but I'm hoping I'm wrong."

"I need more of an explanation than that."

Dartz suddenly said, "You should get some sleep. You've had a long day. Don't worry, when you wake up everything should be normal. Don't tell anyone about this though."

"Why?"

"I'd rather Rick not know about this."

"Alright, but what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to view his dream through his mind. We Dark types can do that and my minimal psychic abilities help improve the skill."

Green nodded and laid down on her sleeping bag. She then said, "Please make sure that he'll be okay."

"I will. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

With that Green drifted off to sleep and Dartz concentrated on entering A's subconscious.

[A's Dream]

Dartz opened his eyes and saw himself in a city, which he quickly recognized as Cerulean City in the Kanto looked around and saw A and Green standing on a bridge.

He then heard A say, "Alright, you can see it now." Green fumbled with the blindfold she had on for a moment, and then looked at her surroundings. She gasped when she saw the sunset disappearing in the on the clear ocean, and A asked her "Do you like it?"

She turned to him and threw her arms around him, shouting, "I love it! You prepared this surprise ahead of time, didn't you?"

A smiled and said, "Guilty as charged. I would do anything for you, you know. I love you."

Green giggled and blushed, but said seductively, "Why don't you show me just how much you love me?"

A chuckled and placed his hands lovingly around Green, and they both closed their eyes and leaned in. Dartz stood at the edge and though about what he and Ashlyn would be doing if she was awake.

Dartz's train of thought was interrupted when he heard A say, "Green?! Where are you?! Where did you go?!"

Suddenly the scenery began to dissolve around them, and Dartz saw A whip out Savior out of its sheath, still turning and trying to find Green. The ground shifted beneath them and they fell a few yards down, which Dartz couldn't understand. When Dartz opened his eyes again he saw that they weren't in Cerulean City again. Instead he saw a mess of dead, blackened trees. He looked forward and saw A inspecting one and saw they were still solid, just dead.

Dartz heard A yell, "Hello? Can anybody hear me? Green, are you here?"

He received no answer, so he began to walk through the trees. The scenery didn't change, though, Dartz looked back at A and saw him begin to mark the trees so he wouldn't get lost in the dead forest. Dartz began to follow him and saw him cut ten more trees until he stopped and looked at one of the trees. Dartz looked at the tree watched as the tree healed itself, despite its dead appearance. Dartz was confused but immediately realized the situation, but he decided to stay hidden so he wouldn't interrupt the situation. He crawled forward and saw that the road had disappeared. He looked at A and saw that he realized the same thing.

He heard A say, "What in the Distortion World is going on?"

A voice suddenly came from the trees, "Maybe I could help"

Dartz looked at the direction of the voice and saw an Umbreon appearing out of nowhere. He was wondering who the Umbreon was until he heard a say softly, "Umbra?" The Umbreon nodded and said, "Good to see you too, Michael."

Dartz thought to himself, *Michael? That's A's name? I smell a rat...more like a demon.*

He looked back at A and the Umbreon and saw A following him through the forest and trying to make small talk with the Umbreon, but with no avail. Dartz decided to jump onto the branches of a tree and follow from the height.

After a short walk Dartz saw A and the Umbreon disappear through some trees and he decided to wait before following. This idea was quickly thrown out the window when he heard laughing, not from one person but from hundreds. Dartz quickly jumped on top of another tree and was horrified with the view of hundreds of pokemon corpses laughing at A.

Dartz then heard A yell, "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?! I SWEAR WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU WILL FIND NEW MEANING FOR THE WORD PAIN!"

A familiar voice then emanated out of nowhere, "Oh, is that right? And just what do you think you can do to me, whelp?"

Dartz's eyes shot open when he saw Alpha appearing in the form of a shadow.

A whirled around and saw Alpha behind him. A pointed his sword at him and asked "Are you the one who killed all my friends, you bastard?!"

Alpha laughed derisively and said "Weren't you listening to your friend? You are the cause of their demise! But don't worry, you'll soon join them. Of course, I wouldn't depend on their forgiveness when you reach them." A reacted and fired an inferno at Alpha. It simply passed through him, and Alpha laughed again, saying "Despite your training, you aren't thinking clearly. Don't you know shadows are insubstantial? Bah, no matter. Even if that weren't the case, you could not hope to match me. The irony of this place is that I cannot be destroyed here, since this is your mind. You, on the other hand, are at my mercy. Too bad for you I don't have any."

A ignored this and began dashing to and fro through Alpha, striking with various elements. For five minutes he did this, executing all sorts of complicated maneuvers. When he finished, he stood in the same place and watched incredulously as Alpha made no movements. In fact, nothing had happened, as if A had never moved against him at all. "What did I say to you weakling Arceus Knight? I cannot be defeated in here. This isn't your nightmare, it is my reality! You can do this again and again, but it will be the same song and dance. And this is a tango you can't dance!"

A growled and replied "Bastard! It doesn't matter how much I have to do it, I will hit you until you no longer stand!"

Alpha snorted and said "Oh? So what if I don't stand? What if I crawl?" Alpha form shimmered and crawled, and after a short period,he was revealed as a large spider, slightly larger than an Ariados. "Crawl into my web, said the spider to the fly."

A narrowed his eyes and retaliated "Do you know what happens to spiders when you put them into a fire? They die, just like everything else!" He slashed Savior in the direction of Alpha, releasing a torrent of flames.

Alpha didn't move; instead he replied "If everything dies with fire, then you are no exception." Webbing emanated from both ends of Alpha, and a shiny mirror was created in front of Alpha. The mirror absorbed the attack, then threw it back at A, who barely managed to dodge. He growled in frustration, and Alpha said "What's wrong? A little singed? Haven't you learned? You can't burn a demon, hellfire is natural to us." Suddenly, tight bands restricted A's movements, and he saw very thin but strong webs surrounding his body, nearly invisible. "And now a little roach is nothing but lunch."

A growled again and shouted "Damn it, do I have to say it again?! I will not stop until you learn a new meaning for pain! But I suppose if that has to be heartburn, then come and get it, you son of a bitch!"

Alpha chuckled and crawled his way toward him. When he was merely five feet away, A ripped out of the webbing and stabbed Savior in his direction. Alpha began to laugh and transformed into Rose, and A impale the imposter with Savior.

A stood in horror. Then he shook his head, shouting, "No, I won't fall for it! You're nothing more than a manipulative monster, relying on the fear of others to survive." A stared the imposter deep into the scarlet eyes he was currently using and said "Without that, you are nothing more than a pathetic weakling, and I'll prove it." A pulled his sword out of 'Rose' and jabbed to the monster's head. Savior skewered the imposter in the head, and it screamed, ominously sounding like Rose. 'Rose' fell to the ground and Alpha appeared next to A.

Then he looked down at the scene, saying to A "That was brutal. Don't tell me that you thought that was me. How heartless! I wonder, you refuse to kill pokemon, so why would you do that? That wasn't me."

A whirled around and slashed at his foe, yelling "Because you only prey on fear! I know in my heart that isn't really Rose, and none of my pokemon are gone, except for Blitz and Umbra! And to make sure that never happens, I will kill you here and now!"

"Oh?"Alpha began to laugh, and then he said sarcastically "You're just too smart to fall under my illusions. But what if I bring someone that isn't part of this? I drew you into this dream I can draw 'her' in as well." Alpha then closed its wings, then opened them revealing a startled 'Green'. "You can't say she's not real. Just watch." He slapped 'Green', making her cry out and bleed from her nose.

A darted forward and grabbed Green, slashing at his enemy at the same time. "Even if she isn't real, you still won't win over me. Good doesn't always triumph over evil; I'm not naive."

Alpha snorted again and said "In case you keep forgetting, you don't have the strength to take me down. I'm the perfect Rocket Project. I outmatch the power of the Arceus Knights themselves. But you will not win this fight!"

A positioned Savior above his head and behind his body, saying "I forgot nothing, I'm simply going to prove you wrong." Then he swung Savior down, striking the earth below him and sending an earthquake toward Alpha.

Alpha waited for a second, then stomped on the ground, dispelling the earthquake. "How pathetic! Did you really expect a weak attack like that to harm me? Let me show you pain." Alpha suddenly teleported in front of A and knocked Savior out of his hands. He unexpectedly grabbed A by his neck and slammed him through one of the trees. Alpha, still holding his neck, stretched his arm to an incredible length and slammed A through many more trees before slamming him on the ground.

A lay still for a moment, then chuckled and began to push himself up, saying "You call that pain? I suffered far worse from a paper cut." A stood and spat blood to the ground. "If you're going to fight, put up or shut up." A summoned Savior back to his hand. The sword flew from its place on the ground, and when A had it securely in his hand, he fired a **Dark Pulse** at Alpha. Alpha stood in place and caught the dark twister in his hand; he morphed the attack into a ball, then forged it into a sword.

Alpha said to A, "Put up or shut up? I've been the one dealing blows so far."

He suddenly vanished and reappeared slashing at A, who ducked under the slash. The force of the swing sliced an entire few acres of dead trees behind them. A covered Savior in electricity, secured his grip, then swung upward, shouting "But you're not the only one who can!" Alpha smirked and let A's sword phase through him, as if he was a ghost.

He began to laugh at A's failure, then taunted him. "You're not going to hurt me in here. Either way, I already cut you." A regarded him with a confused look. "You'll feel it soon." Suddenly A's shoulder exploded with blood. A jumped back, grasping the shoulder but ignoring the pain.

He transferred Savior to his right hand, saying "This is my strong hand anyway." He twirled Savior through the air, creating a hurricane, tearing up the trees and sending them all at his enemy. Unknowingly to A, Dartz was on one of the trees and jumped off, landing on his face and dazing him.

Alpha began to grin, then started to spin in the air, creating a twister. The twister immediately smashed the trees into pieces, and Alpha roared, directing the segments of trees towards A. A smirked and didn't move. The segments tore through his body, and the remainder of his face smirked as he crumbled to earth and red water.

Alpha appeared surprised until he was skewered through his back. He turned to see that A threw his sword.

A smirked and said "You think you're the only one who can manipulate the elements?" A disappeared, reappearing behind Alpha and ripped his sword through him, then jumping back before Alpha could retaliate.

Alpha looked back at A, and then at his wound. He let the blood run until a hellhound appeared from the pool of blood. Alpha then yelled. "Get 'em boy!".

The hellhound, crouched and leapt toward A. He secured his grip on Savior and began twirling around, holding his sword up and slicing the hellhound up. He stopped and smirked, then raised an army of earthen mannequins. His sword lit up, he pointed it at his enemy and shouted "Charge!"

Alpha cracked his neck and raised his right hand, stopping the mannequins in their tracks. He suddenly made his hand into a fist and the mannequins crumbled. He yawned and laid down on the air, then called out to A, "Hey Michael! When you begin to really fight, please tell me. I'm falling asleep here."

A vein pricked up on A's head, then he calmed down. He used **Psychic **on his sword to send Alpha flying and dashed behind him, hitting him with **Night Slash**.

Alpha yawned again and stood up, brushing the dust off himself, "Okay, looks like you're no fun anymore."

He then pointed at A, who wondered what he was doing until he saw a black energy ball charging at the tip of his finger. A braced himself for the attack and saw a large black beam flying at him. A held his breath and took the hit after seeing that there was no dodging it. He covered his sword with an extra layer of steel and twisted his feet into the ground to gain leverage. Then he tilted his sword up as he was being pushed back, deflecting the worst of the move. He fell over from the energy exerted during the maneuver.

A got up off the ground in pain and opened his eyes to be met with a punch from Alpha. He lifted him up and said, "You know, Arceus Knights are supposed to be powerful." He punched A again. "You, on the other hand, are the weakest so far." He punched A again, this time making A cough blood. "I don't see why Arceus chose you." This time he kicked A back onto the floor and pressed his foot onto his chest, then shouted, "Pitiful Arceus Knight, don't you understand?! All your efforts are for naught! I dwarf your power; your weak blade has been the instrument of your loss! You rely too much on a blade that hasn't completely accepted you yet!"

A stared daggers at Alpha, then spat blood in his face, with yet more defiance. "Screw you! How could I expect you to understand matters that you don't take the time to look at? Real power isn't determined only by physical strength. It's also determined by one's willingness to stand up for themselves, their willingness to fight for those they hold close. But most importantly-" A spat more blood in his face again, then continued, "It's determined by one's ability to never give up, no matter how grim the situation. Look at you; how many have fallen to your feet and begged for mercy? Hundreds? Thousands? Well, I'm breaking your streak. You'll never get me to give in, no matter what you do. This may be an old song and dance, but it doesn't matter to me; I've never been much of a dancer anyways. I refuse to play by your rules."

Alpha wiped the blood off its face and took his foot off A's chest. He walked around him for a second, giving A a chance to catch his breath. Then he spoke again, "Alright. Let's me guess, you think that you'll defeat me because you've faced bigger enemies before? Cipher and Team Rocket? Those fools are nothing compared to me. You believe that you may win this war by your will power. However, the fact of the matter is that you will lose." A staggered up to his feet and looked at Alpha as he ran its claws through the fabric of space as it walked, causing the scenery change. "Let me show you what the future has in store for you.

[Dartz]

Dartz was finally waking up after landing on his head. He looked around and noticed the scenery change and said to himself, "Okay, I'm taking Alpha out RIGHT NOW!" He looked around again, "Alright, how far did I drop? Better start running. I can sense that A won't last much longer." Dartz got up to his feet and took off running.

[Alpha and A]

Once the scenery changed A noticed that the area changed into a barren wasteland… if that was even possible. A noticed that they were in the middle of what looked like the Sanctuary, only that everything was destroyed and ravaged. There were corpses everywhere, mainly of Rick's team. Alpha chuckled at the sight and led A to another area of the Sanctuary, where he saw the corpses of dead Ralts and Kirlias. A backed from the disturbing sight and threw up.

Alpha laughed and said evilly, "This is a reality that you will have to accept. You will fail and all their lives will be at your fault. A reminder that no one is invincible, not even you and that ridiculous sword." He smirked. "But the best is what happens to Green." A immediately glared at his foe. "Oh yes, Team Rocket's shooting target." A immediately swung Savior at Alpha, but he disappeared and reappeared behind A saying, "Do you know how much blood she will shed? It surprises me how much blood such a young girl can carry."

A whirled and shouted, "But it never surprises me how little a bastard such as yourself carries! And if you weren't scared of being hit by my sword, we'd see that! But you know as well as I do that you are too weak to deal with pain. Oh, you act high and mighty now, but what happens when you actually get hurt? Face me like a man, not a coward!"

Alpha smirked again and held his arms out wide, taunting, "Very well! Attack me, I won't move or dodge." A suddenly lunged forward and plunged Savior through its chest. Alpha chuckled and said, "See? Nothing happened to me." He grabbed A's wrist, "But I can't say the same for you."

He immediately slashed A's chest with his claws. A retaliated by firing a beam through Alpha's chest. He laughed and slashed him again. Alpha then lifted A and threw him to a building, which shattered the scenery sending them back to the dead forest.

Alpha appeared again and launched Savior out of its chest. The sword flew and spun through the air and stuck into the ground next to A. Alpha walked up to the wounded A and brought out tentacles from its body. A lifted his head to look at the enemy and was whipped by the eight tentacles repeatedly. The tentacles then held A down and kept him away from Savior. Alpha's' smirk disappeared as it charged another beam on its finger and pointed it at A's head, point blank.

[Dartz]

Dartz finally arrived back to the area A and Alpha were fighting in. His head was killing him, but he knew that he had to carry on. He looked at the battlefield and saw A, severely injured, on the ground with Alpha charging a beam right over his head.

Dartz yelled to himself, "Shit! I have to stop him. If A dies here he dies in real life."

Dartz's rage grew and he ran out, snarling, and managed to tackle Alpha off of A. A breathed a sigh of relief and looked at what was happening.

Alpha regained his composure and finally looked irritated. He then yelled at Dartz, "You! I don't remember inviting you!"

Dartz replied snarling, "I don't need an invitation to kill you!"

A saw them arguing and took the chance to hit Alpha with a fire slash, making him roar in pain and step back. Alpha suddenly retaliated by punching A in the head and making him roll back to his original location.

Alpha and Dartz then lunged at each other and wrestled on the ground for a few seconds until Alpha kicked Dartz off of him.

Dartz landed next to A and asked him, "You okay?"

A laughed, either from the pain or from all the hits to his head, "I'm alright. Just a little beat. What are you doing here?"

"Green was worried so I came here to see what was going on with you. I didn't expect to ever see Alpha again though."

A said to him with a surprised tone, "You know what this thing is?"

"Yeah, he's called Alpha. He's the strongest Rocket Project. I'll explain that to you later. For now I have to beat him out of your head and reseal him."

A tried to stop him, "You're not planning to fight him alone, are you?"

"I've done it in the past. I know how to fight him." Dartz suddenly turned into his human form and summoned his spear. "I'll make it quick! You rest."

"How did you summon that spear?"

"I'm not answering questions. Stay out of the way A."

A nodded and rested while Dartz stepped forward and took a battle formation.

Alpha was waiting and said with a laugh, "So you came here to protect the human? When did you grow a heart Dartz?"

"Ever since you hurt my sister!"

"Oh please, all I did was scratch her. She didn't die now...barely."

Dartz growled and said, "I'm going to get rid of you from A's head and eventually we'll find a way to get rid of you."

"Threats, but empty ones nonetheless."

"Are you going to fight me or not?"

(Battle Music: **Belmont the Legend from Castlevania Curse of Darkness**)

Alpha laughed and nodded. Alpha then lunged for Dartz, but Dartz quickly slashed Alpha. While Alpha was dazed he kicked him and hit him with the blunt end of his spear. Alpha charged a beam in his mouth and brought his head down and fired the beam, surprising Dartz. Dartz quickly spun his spear and deflected the beam.

Alpha charged towards Dartz and tried to slash him with his claws. Dartz got back into his battle position and deflected many of the hits, dodging the rest. After dodging a claw slash, Dartz hit Alpha with his spear and charged his energy into the blade of his spear yelling "Shadow Strike!". Dartz hit Alpha with the blackened blade and it launched him into the air, sending him crashing through many trees.

While Alpha was still int he air Dartz vanished and repeatedly hit him from place to place, like a pinball. After the seventh hit he charged more energy into his spear and fired a black blade at Alpha, sending him crashing back down to the earth.

Dartz landed and smiled after seeing what he did. His victory was shortlived when tentacles shot from the rubble and lunged for Dartz. Dartz quickly tried to block the tentacles, but they managed to wrap around him and crashed him into a tree. The tentacles then proceeded to beat Dartz and then Alpha slammed him onto the ground.

Dartz staggered to his feet and heard Alpha laugh at him, "In case you've forgotten, I can't be beaten by you."

Dartz spat on the floor and said, "Says you!"

Alpha then pointed to A, "What's wrong with your friend there?"

Dartz looked back at A and saw him on the ground, his eyes glowing, and his veins bulging. Dartz said to himself, "What the hell?"

Dartz looked back at Alpha and was met with a punch to the gut. Alpha saw his pain and grinned. He punched Dartz again and then pressed his head onto Dartz's head.

Alpha then said to Dartz, who was fighting to get Alpha off of him, "Never take your eyes off your enemy. Now your head is going to pop like a balloon."

Dartz began to scream in pain as Alpha pressed down on his head. Suddenly a bright light came from A's direction, making Alpha shift his focus to the light. Dartz and Alpha looked over to where the light came from and saw A wearing silver plated armor, a flowing cape with his badge symbol on it, and a claymore in his hands.

Alpha looked at him and roared, "NOT AGAIN!"

A didn't speak, instead he challenged Alpha by pointing the claymore at him. Alpha roared again and lunged for A, who suddenly punched Alpha, launching him into a tree. Alpha jumped back on his feet and charged for A. A tilted his head and sighed. He stuck the claymore into the ground and a rock fist shot out of the ground and hit Alpha before he could reach A.

A grabbed Alpha's leg and slammed him on the ground multiple times before throwing him into the air and firing an ice blade at him, freezing his wings. A waited for a few seconds and began to count down, "3...2...1". Once he finished Alpha crashed down hard onto the ground.

A walked up to Alpha and kicked him, forcing him to roll on the ground until he stood up. A lunged for Alpha and repeatedly slashed Alpha. Alpha fell on his back in pain, and A stood over him.

Alpha still defiantly laughed, "When did you grow a backbone?"

A growled and lifted his claymore to end Alpha, but suddenly his form shattered and he was left wondering what just happened.

A then thought out loud, "What happened!? I thought I could hold that battle form."

He looked down at Alpha who was now laughing and jabbed his claw through A's gut and began to lift him up. Alpha got up as well and said, "Oh your trump card just failed you. Nighty night you sham!"

Alpha charged a beam onto his finger and aimed it at A's heart. However, he was suddenly thrown off by a shadow blade from Dartz, who looked at Alpha and chuckled.

Dartz then said to Alpha, "I wouldn't do that."

"Oh? So the mangy mutt lives?"

"You'll be surprised. I needed some time to prepare."

"For what?"

"Look behind you."

Alpha looked back and saw his sarcophagus in the middle of the field. "What!? How!? The Sealing Spell!"

Alpha looked back at Dartz and was met with a flying kick from the Umbreon. As he was kicking him Dartz yelled, "Never take your eyes off your enemy!"

Alpha staggered back and A managed to get on his feet. Dartz then said to A, "Hey A, want to help me with this?"

A looked at the sarcophagus and then at the staggered Alpha and nodded, "Gotcha!"

They both then swung their weapons at A, baseball style, and they sent Alpha flying into the sarcophagus. The barbed wire in the sarcophagus held Alpha in place and the doors of the sarcophagus closed as Alpha was saying defiantly, "A, really soon you will make a mistake that will anger Arceus. You think yourself as so good, let's see how you react when the judgement comes down at you."

Dartz ran up to the sarcophagus and closed the doors yelling, "That's enough out of you!" He then sealed it shut and let out a sigh of relief while saying, "It's over!"

A walked up to Dartz and pat him on his back, "Thank you so much for saving me!"

"I couldn't of just let you get killed. Then how would I of faced Green?"

A then sweatdropped and said nervously, "Umm...by any chance were you here for the beginning of my dream?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm keeping my mouth shut. I expect you to keep your mouth shut about this dream too."

"Just trust me, don't speak of it."

"Alright. Now what?"

"Wake up! I'll see you on the other side." Dartz then suddenly vanished.

[In the real world]

Dartz woke up and looked around, everything was normal and he sighed in relief and looked towards Green and saw her hugging a now awake A. Dartz chuckled at the sight and then heard Ashlyn calling him, "Dartz!"

Dartz immediately took off for the medical tent and saw Ashlyn awake and with Omega. Dartz walked up to Ashlyn and kissed her.

Ashlyn giggled and said, "Well good morning to you too."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm way better. That friend Anna of yours is amazing. How are you?"

"Could be better."

Ashlyn was confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

Dartz chuckled and said, "I had a long night."

**Thank God! It's done! My fingers are crying out in pain! Well thanks for everything guys. Keep reviewing, sending me your requests, contest entries, questions, and suggestions. Love you all. Bye!**


	46. Chapter 46: Dossier: Neil Cross

**Finally here's chapter 46. In this chapter I tried to focus more on a bit of combat and the relationship between a few characters. Sorry for all of you that I angered or disappointed for not posting sooner, but things came up and I was not able to get this chapter done. I am trying to cut back on chapter lengths, so don't expect much more long as hell chapters. Anyways, keep up the love guys. The story is going to have a twist happening really soon, so watch for it. The poll for favorite couples is still up. This is a warning about the contest, it will end on the 30th of March. I received a lot of entries and the competition is close. View Rankings: 1st) Canada (HAVE MERCY! Where did they come from?), 2nd) UK, 3rd) Myanmar [Burma] (Nice! A newcomer), 4th) Philippines, 5th) Australia. **

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

It's been two and a half weeks since the camping trip, Rick was in his office thinking about his next move. In front of him was a dossier file for another recruit. He sat back and planned out his next move, not knowing how to proceed. His train of thought was interrupted by a call coming in on his Poketch. Rick looked at the Caller ID and smiled when he saw it was Alara.

He answered the call, "Hello?"

Alara replied, "Hi dear!"

"Hi Ally!"

"Just calling to chat. I'm pretty bored here at home."

"Oh? Amber didn't go to hang out with you today?"

"She did, but she got a call and had to go back to work."

Rick was immediately curious, "What is her job anyways? I know I made her an honorary soldier, but what is her true job again?"

"She's a lawyer dear."

Rick laughed, "You see, I would of never of guessed that."

Alara joined him in the laugh, "I know, her personality is so opposite to her profession. Oh well, that's enough about Amber. How are things at work?"

"Pretty slow really. I'm going to unveil the new combat unit today."

"Oh really? What unit?"

"I can't tell you yet."

"Stupid confidentiality."

Rick laughed, "Hey I have to do my job. I have to bring the money home."

"You have enough money that we can live peacefully without working."

"That is true."

Alara's tone changed to an excited tone, "Two more months."

"I know, our wedding is so close. We need to do so much still."  
"I know, we have to finish with the preparations."  
"Technically, we're having dinner with my parents tonight, to discuss the wedding preparations."

Rick was now confused, "We are?"

Alara's voice sounded annoyed, "Don't tell me you forgot."

Rick sweatdropped and replied, "Of course not!" He then pressed a button on his office phone and covered the microphone on the Poketch. He then spoke through the office phone, "Sorry guys, I can't go to the sim room match tonight. I have a family dinner to attend to tonight, sorry but the wife-to-be has me deadlocked."

He received several replies through the phone, "Oh Come ON!" "You suck Ally!" "We're so gonna lose today for sure man!".

Rick went back and said to Alara, "Why would you think that I've forgotten?"

Alara replied, "Really? Nothing with the guys?"

"No, not tonight."

"Good!" Her voice returned to its excited tone. "Oh Rick, we're almost here."

"I know dear. I trust that you've begun sending out the invitations?"

"Yes, I have. They have been sent to all our friends, family, and special guests."

"By special guests you mean the civilization leaders?"

"Of course!"

"What about Mr. Silph, Dawn, May, Cynthia, and Jasmine?"

"I sent invitations to them too. They will be very surprised when they get the invitations."

Rick chuckled, "Mr. Silph will be so proud of me. He always has been."

"Well I'm sure we'll give him a front row seat."

"Thanks love. Say, have you found the perfect wedding dress yet?"

"No, my mom is going to pick me up later to take me to the royal tailor to have one custom made to my liking. I guess you can say that I will always be indecisive about clothes."

Rick laughed, "No, it just means that you're a female."

"So what? I just can't choose a proper outfit. Hell, I have an excuse this time. I want our wedding to be perfect."

"So do I."

"Well I'll leave you to your work. I'll expect you home late today and I'll make myself something to eat."

"What are you having?"

"I don't know. I have to go check what we have so I can cook it. If I can't find anything then I will go grocery shopping."

"Alright. I hope you enjoy what you make."

Alara giggled, "Do I ever make anything that's bad?"

Rick chuckled inwardly and replied, "No, you don't."

Alara then asked Rick, "Is there something bothering? I can feel something in your voice."

Rick sighed knowing that he was unable to lie to Alara, "There is. There's a recruit that I want to get out of the way. He's the one in the Team Rocket prison."

"Rick, do you really have to do that one?"

"Yeah, but I feel I have the man power to get him now."

"How do you expect to do this?"

"I don't know, but I'll have a meeting with the team later. If we can't find a good course of action, then we'll call off the attempt until another time."

Alara gave concerned grunt, but she knew that Rick had a job to do so she let the subject go, "I'll let you deal with that. When are you coming home?"

"In a few hours. Don't worry, I'll be home soon."

"Alright, so I'll leave you to your work right now. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye Ally."

"Bye Rick."

Rick waited for Alara to hang up and once she did he sighed and put the dossier file away. He rested his mind for a second and tried to get comfortable until there was a knock at his door.

Rick groaned and said, "Come in!" To Rick's surprise, A walked into the office. "A? This is a surprise. You never come to my office...or to the Military District for that matter. Is everything alright?"

A smirked and said, "Does something have to be wrong for me to come visit?"

Rick chuckled, "I guess not. What can I do for you?"

"I just came to see how you guys are doing here at your job. There's nothing really to do back home right now. My pokemon are doing there own little thing, your friend Gloria went over there to take Green on a tour of the Sanctuary, and I was wondering what you guys were up to."

Rick sat back on his seat and said to A, "We're all pretty spread out right now, everyone is doing their own thing."

"And the rest of the army?"

"Either doing their tasks or in training. They are all separated into different squads, however today I'm going to set up more divisions."

A looked at him curiously, "Divisions?"

Rick answered his question, "Different squadrons, spec ops, and the like."

"Oh so you're getting this army in line? What was it like before?"

"It worked in an old fashion army. One giant group split into sections. Now I'm making multiple groups with multiple specialties. Thus when they are needed they will be deployed accordingly. My father made an army order that has worked up until now. My uncle continued his work. However, I am going to add to it, as my father wished me to do."

"He asked you before he left?"

Rick nodded, "Yes. I don't know exactly what he wanted, but I know he wanted me to keep the army organized and working on their own specialties."

A smirked and sat down, "I can respect that. Obviously your father was a warrior, and a strong leader as well."

Rick chuckled, "You couldn't tell that by how he acts, but if you force him to do his job then he will do it...with amazing results."

"So when are you going to announce the new divisions?"

"In a little bit. Let me make the bulletin and get everyone to tune in into the military broadcast or to head directly to the courtyard. Speaking of which..." Rick pushed a button on his phone and said, "All troops, this is an all points bulletin. An announcement will be made to the entirety of the army. It will be brief, so please, anyone whose shift ends, please stay for five minutes for the announcement. The announcement will be made in ten minutes. That is all!" Rick looked at A and said, "And they are rallying now. They should all be rounded up in the courtyard right now."

Rick then grabbed a remote and turned on the tv in his room, showing a camera view of the courtyard. As he said, the army was already standing in attention in the courtyard, impressing A.

"Wow, they're on point."

Rick followed up by saying, "Yep! They have to be."

"I bet they do. When you have to protect a city this massive, you can't afford to be deterred. Also, I've been meaning to ask, how was this place even built? I don't understand how I can live underground but there's still a sky, clouds, rain, the moon. One more question, how were the dens built?"

Rick shrugged and gave a dumb look, "If I'd knew I would tell you. I'm just as lost."

A looked at him with a surprised expression, "You don't know?"

"I haven't even been here for a year. I'm still learning myself."

"You've only been here for less than a year?"

Rick elaborated, "Alright, let me explain. I was born here, but my family moved to the Hoenn region when I was a baby. I came back eight months ago and took over as the Warlord about a month later."

"So let me see if I have this all correct. You were born here," Rick nodded. "You left as a baby and came back as an adult," Rick nodded. "And then you just took over the army."

Rick nodded and then said, "Yes, but it was more complicated then that. I fought my uncle...who I didn't was my uncle at the time...then I got my mission from Arceus and took over."

"Alright, it makes sense now. Where is your uncle now?"

"On vacation with his wife, my uncle Zant, and Zant's wife."

"Where to?"

"Somewhere in Spain."

[Daedalus and Zant; Pamplona, Spain]

Daedalus and Zant were standing in the middle of a street with a crowd or humans and pokemon alike. Everyone was wearing white clothing and red bandannas, as were Daedalus and Zant.

Daedalus sighed and asked Zant, "Zant, why do I ever listen to you?"

Zant replied, "Because we're best friends."

Daedalus sighed again and said, "That's not a good reason."

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you're the craziest son of a bitch I know."

They looked forward at a closed gate that had a herd of angry Tauros ready to charge at them. One of the Tauros then yelled at Zant and Daedalus, "DOOMED MOTHERFUCKERS!"

Daedalus then said to Zant, "If I live, I will kill you. If I die, I will haunt you. If we both die, I will drag you to hell with me."

Zant laughed and said, "Calm down! We'll be fine. Only 15 people have ever died from doing this...amazingly."

"How many have been injured?"

"Too many to count."

Daedalus then yelled at him, "WHERE, IN THAT WALNUT THAT YOU CALL A BRAIN, DID THIS REGISTER AS A GOOD IDEA!?

"Relax, we'll be fine."

Daedalus's wife then yelled out to them from a balcony, "Break a leg guys!...Wait, don't do it. You're running and the Tauros might tear you apart."

Then a voice came over an intercom that got all the runners' attention, "Suelten los Tauros! (Release the Tauros!)"

The moment the voice stopped, the gate was lifted and the same Tauros yelled out, "Rape them!" The other Tauros stopped and looked at the Tauros that yelled out. The Tauros then said, "I mean...Kill them!"

Zant took the moment to say, "Alright, but I'm not becoming any other male's shaft puppet."

Another Tauros then laughed and said, "Yeah right! You're the small one here, you'll be the first one raped in jail."

Zant then replied, "And you'll be the first one on my burger after this."

Daedalus suddenly punched Zant and a Tauros then yelled, "Kills this motherfucker!"

Daedalus yelled to Zant, "Run you idiot!"

They began to haul ass with the stampede behind them.

As they were running Zant said to Daedalus, "You're not going to regret this vacation Dae."

Daedalus replied, "I already am."

[Rick and A; The Sanctuary]

"I'm sure they're having fun."

"Oh well I guess that you should go announce this to the army now."

"Oh yeah! Thanks! Let's go. They're probably growing impatient right now."

Rick and A got up and walked out of Rick's office. They walked out to the courtyard, where A broke away from Rick and stood next to Dartz. Rick then sat down on a throne that two soldiers brought for him and all the soldiers saluted him, surprising A.

Rick took a deep breath and said, "You are all probably wondering why I called you all here. So I'm not going to waste any more of your time. Anyways, the army has been fighting as a unified fighting force with only one task. That task being go in and destroy. That's an okay task and all, but our specialists are too spread out in the battlefield. So I devised new divisions for you guys, to organize you guys. I created three general divisions so far: The Tomahawk Stealth Operatives (TSOs), the Sanctuary Blackhawk Shock Troopers (BSTs), and then we have the Sanctuary Army Rangers."

There was suddenly excited chatter in the courtyard and Rick rose his hand for silence, which he immediately got.

Rick continued, "Now, don't go thinking that I've placed you guys into the divisions already. You don't just get placed in...well very few of you have been placed. To join the current divisions, you must meet the requirements and go through their training programs, tryouts if you will. For all of them, except the Rangers, there will be an immediate training period. For the Rangers you have to be a veteran of at least five years into the Sanctuary army. Then you have to bring a letter of recommendation from any of your superior officers, preferably your sergeant or captain. Finally, you have to go through a grueling training process. Finally, you become a Ranger and will be deployed accordingly. So that's it for now. If you want to apply to join any of the divisions then take an applications that will be provided for you at the barracks. That is all! Good day everyone!"

Rick got up from his throne and saluted the army, with the army returning the salute and going on their ways.

Rick went back to his office and started to type on his computer. He then said tiredly, "Well I've got some work to do."

[Rick's House]

Rick was just arriving home after a long day at work. He got out of his car and made his way to the house. As he walked up the steps he was welcomed with the warm sight of Alara sitting on the front porch looking at the sunset that was radiating in the sun.

She heard Rick coming up the steps and looked to see who it was. Once she saw him she smiled and got up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him and said, "Welcome back home!"

Rick hugged her and kissed her back, "It's good to be home and good to be with you again."

"Sit down. Tell me about your day."

Rick chuckled and sat down on a chair next to Alara, "There's not much to say...oh! A visited today."

"Did he really? Well that's odd. He usually doesn't leave the 22nd den unless he has to."

"He went to check up on us. He was there when I announced the new military divisions."

Alara was curious now, "Are you going to tell me about these new divisions?"

Rick humored her, "Sure I will. I made three new divisions. I made a stealth division, a shock trooper divisions, and a ranger divisions."

"Oh, so spec ops?"

"In a way, yes." Rick sat back and looked at the sunset with her. He then looked at the coffee table and saw a book on top of it. He picked up the book and Alara blushed as he read the title. "What's this? 'The Guide To Motherhood'?" He looked at Alara and saw her blush harder and smile. "Ally, something you want to explain?" He said with a chuckle and a smile.

Alara tried to explain herself, "Well...umm...the thing is that...umm..." She stopped and took a deep breath before saying, "I'm just planning ahead. We're getting married in two months and with that one more milestone in our lives will be completed. I'm just preparing for the next milestone, one that I'm really looking forward to and that I have convinced myself that I'm ready for." She looked at Rick and took his hand. "I took a long time to think about this Rick...and I believe without a doubt that I am ready. I'm ready to be a mother."

Rick couldn't hide that he was surprised but he chuckled and understood Alara's feelings, "I understand Ally. You decided to be a mother, it's only natural for a female to have that desire when they're getting married."

"Have you finally made a decision? You know, about being a father?"

Rick knew that the question would come up again in the future, and he had a lot of time to think about it. He was still uncertain about the subject, but he knew that he should go through with it. "I've given it a lot of thought in the last few months. As for a decision, I'd like to think that I have one."

Alara anxiously wanted an answer, "And what might that answer be?"

Rick got up and walked to the end of the porch, thinking on how to reply. Alara walked up to him and took his hands in hers.

Rick sighed and said, "It hard for me to give you a clear answer and that's what bothers me."

"What do you believe though? What does your heart tell you?"

"My heart says yes, but my mind says no."

"Which one do you want to listen to?"

Rick thought for a second and closed his eyes. He then said in his head, _"Oh Arceus, what do I say? What do I do? I don't want to disappoint her, I don't want her to think any less. I love her too much to do that."_

He received a reply from Arceus, _"You know the answer to that one. Did I not bless you? You are my paladin that runs from no fight, but the thought of being a father quakes you to your bones. Have you no pride Aeruthael? If you do, then accept your task. I promise you that you will not fail as a father."_

_"Thank you my lord!"_

_"Now return to your betrothed and give her your decision. Also, if I hear of this problem one more time I will ignore your plea. I won't abandon you, but I'll step aside and leave you be."_

_ "I understand."_

_ "Good! Now return to Alara."_

Rick opened his eyes and saw Alara waiting for a reply, he then said, "Ally, I made a final decision."

Alara said to him, "I hope it really is final."

"It is. I'm ready to be a father."

Alara squealed and kissed him, "I'm so happy to hear you say that. I'm even more excited for our wedding."

Rick chuckled and said, "And I'm scared about what's going to happen to me during the night of the wedding and during our honeymoon."

Alara laughed and then she remembered something, "Oh yeah! We're supposed to go to my parents' house."

Rick sweatdropped, "I'm not going to rest today, am I?"

Alara giggled, "You'll get some rest when we get home later on tonight."

Rick sighed, "So let's go."

[Alara's Parent's House; After dinner]

Rick, Alara, and her parents had recently finished their dinner and Alara's dad got Rick's attention, "So Aeru, I heard some new things about the army today."

Rick replied, "Have you really?"

"Yes, and to say the least, I'm impressed. So what does this mean for the army?"

"It means that we're more organized and I can better fight in this war."

"Great to hear! I'm proud of you boy."

"Thank you sir."

Alara's dad laughed, "Why must you continue to call me 'sir'?"

"Is there anything else that you want me to call you?"

"Well I can't have you call me 'dad' right now. You're not married to Alara yet."

"Even then I think I'll keep calling you 'sir'."

"Oh well, it's not my title to call. So onto what we came to speak of. What have you two decided for your wedding?"

Alara replied, "Well we decided that it will be an outside wedding."

Alara's mom then asked, "Oh? So it wasn't going to be within the Hall of Illia? That's what we were assuming."

"No, it's going to be at the memorial itself. Where Rick was inaugurated."

"Alright, so we'll make sure to have it decorated."

Rick then said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to pick the decorations."

Alara's mom was surprised and said, "You would like to waste your money for that? It's usually the bride's parents to pay for the wedding."

"I've been told, but I wanted to surprise Alara."

"How about the reception?"

"That can be left for whatever it is that you will like."

Alara's mom smiled and said to Alara, "Ally come with me to your room."

Alara laughed and said, "Mom, I don't live here anymore."

"Then go to your old room, which I turned into my own personal lounge."

Alara chuckled and got up with her mother and left the room, leaving Rick with Saifer. Rick was not sure what to say to the Chief so he waited until he finally said something to respond.

Saifer got up from his seat and told Rick, "Aeru, follow me."

Rick did as he was told and followed Alara's dad through the house and down a flight of stairs. Soon they reached a room which was very large and had a lot of mementos from the old days.

Saifer said to Rick, "This room was where me and your father would hang out when we were teenagers. Our little man cave, when I lived here with my parents. Then I moved into the house that Amber and Alara...well Amber lives now. When I became the Chief I moved back here and had this place renovated. This place holds a lot of memories of me and your father."

Rick chuckled, "You and my dad were close, weren't you?"

"We were a regular David and Jonathan. We were as close as brothers. He was raised poor and I was raised rich, but hey we met in school and struck up a powerful friendship. We were extremely loyal to one another as well."

"Why show me this?"

"Just to tell you the story of our families. However, I know you're a busy man, so I'm going to make it quick. No two families have influenced this city more when they are together. Your family has influenced the Sanctuary military wise, and my family have influenced the Sanctuary politically. Now both families are about to merge with your marriage with Alara. I can only wish and expect the best. Do you understand Aeru? I'm not going to tell you anything you already know."

Rick nodded and thought about what he just heard, "I understand perfectly."

"With your marriage to Alara, you will be taking up another task and I am not talking about being a husband and the eventual father of my grandchildren. I'm talking about the highest title you can have here. I'm talking about the future Chief of the Sanctuary."

"The Chief? Why me?"

Saifer explained, "Because you are going to marry Alara and she was the heir to the throne, thus making you the heir."

"So what does that mean for me?"

"The moment you marry her, you will be crowned a prince and the heir."

Rick shrugged his shoulders and sighed, "It's always one thing after another in this city."

Saifer laughed, "For you yes."

Rick was now curious, "What happens if I'm the Warlord and then become the Chief?"

Saifer smiled and said, "That hasn't happened in centuries. Because the title for that is King."

Rick's eyes shot open and he felt his heart sink, "King?"

Saifer explained, "As you are aware, the Chief and the Warlord take different powers here in the Sanctuary. The Chief takes care of the political conflicts and the ultimate power in the Sanctuary, while the Warlord takes control of the military and the powers that come with it. Both together share the same powers of a king. A Warlord only stops being a Warlord until they are defeated by someone in Sanctuary, they resigns, or they die. Nothing changes if none of those happen and you keep the power if you become the king since they can't lose their power in the usual way."

"So you're telling me that I'm destined to do this forever?"

"Until you step down from the throne and give it to your first born, or you give the Warlord power to someone else you deem worthy."

Rick thought about it for a second and then said, "I'm guessing that's not really what you wanted to tell me."

Saifer chuckled then began to laugh, "You're smarter than I. What I really wanted to tell you was that soon our families will be joined together because of you and Alara. You have made this old man proud and happy. Then again I'm in my mid-40s, I'm not that old."

"How long do you expect to be on the throne?"

"A very long time still to go. However, give me about another twenty years and you'll most like will be on the throne. Maybe less."

Rick smirked and said, "I understand."

"The point is son, you will become the son I never had and I know you will make my daughter very happy. Give her the greatest years of her life. I know I should be saying this the day before the wedding in your bachelor party, but I couldn't wait."

"Speaking of which, I gave Jean specific instructions on that."

"I'll hear them from him then."

Rick smiled wider and said, "Sir, I promise I'll make your daughter happy."

"I don't doubt that. Not one bit. You've been doing that since you two were babies. Just make sure to always do it. Of course a relationship will always has its ups and downs, but make sure never to go to bed angry at one another."

"Will do sir."

Saifer smiled wider and opened his arms, confusing Rick. Saifer then said, "Well hug me boy. You've never done it willingly."

Rick sweatdropped and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not much of a huggy person."

Saifer said with more authority behind his voice, "Boy get over here."

Rick sighed and hugged the older Gallade.

Saifer then said to Rick, "Take care of her for me."

"I will sir."

[The following day; S.A Mercury meeting table]

Rick and the team were on their way to the Johto region, to recruit their next member. Rick had everyone meet at the table and was going to explain to everyone the mission. Everyone was already lost on what they were going to already.

When everyone got to the table Rick said, "Glad that you all could make it. I was going to need all the man power I could get."

A asked Rick, "What was the purpose of going on this mission? What are we going to go do?"

"I'm glad you asked A. We're going to recruit a new member and add them to our team."

Jean asked, "And you needed all of us to come for this? Is he dangerous?"

"That has yet to be discovered, but this mission can get dangerous considering where it will be taking place. Ladies and gentlemen, were are going to a Team Rocket maximum security prison to get a recruit by the name of Neil Cross. He's a Team Rocket defector that was experimented on, thus giving him psychic powers. However, he's pretty unpredictable and Mr. Silph does tell me that he's very dangerous when crossed. We should treat this mission with extreme caution."

Winston asked, "That's no place for the girls, I say that they should stay in the Mercury. Well those that aren't properly trained in battle, especially close quarters."

Alara then said, "So I'm guessing that I should stay here."

Rick followed up by saying, "You, Green, Amber, Anna, Fang, and Gloria."

Nero then said, "What Tsu's not staying?"

"Tsu was trained in close quarter combat. She's also extremely valuable in this mission."

Tsu stuck her tongue out at Nero and said, "In your face!"Anyways, charging in is suicide so we have to find a different approach."

Dartz asked Rick, "So how do you expect us to get in?"

"That's one reason why I've called you all here. I need ideas." He pressed a button on his computer console. "Screech, how long until we arrive?"

He received a reply from Screech, "Give or take two and a half hours sir."

"Thank you Screech!"

"Of course sir! You're welcome!"

Rick then said to his team, "Alright we have that long to think of a strategy."

A suggested, "How about we sneak in?"

"That would work if this place wasn't crawling with guards. We can try vents, but unless this place has a good way of getting to the roof we're not getting very far. Hell, we can't take the Mercury too close or we'll be discovered."

Jean suggested, "How about we mess with their computer systems? Can't DASI double as a computer virus?"

DASI suddenly appeared from the center hologram projector, "I can, but that will put them on high alert Captain Jean."

Rick sighed, "So I guess that's one more plan that gets thrown out the window."

Rick sat back on his seat thinking of a plan until DASI said, "Warlord Aeruthael, may I make a suggestion?"

"I'm kinda open to anything right now."

"How does this sound? How about you take your team and disguise yourselves as Team Rocket members and you as a Team Rocket executive? Your Team Rocket clearance should still work and you can also send one Team on a stealth run to disable the security systems and to release the recruit."

Rick seemed to have loved the suggestion, "That's a great plan DASI! Thank you!"

"All in a day's work!"

A wasn't very thrilled, "You mean to tell me that you expect me to wear a Team Rocket disguise?"

Rick sighed and said to A, "Yes, I do. We have disguises here. It's only for until we reach the command center and release the recruit."

A sucked his teeth and nodded his head, "Alright, but let's make it fast."

Rick nodded and thought for a second. He had a good plan, but he knew he should probably choose the members of the stealth team, "Alright, now to choose who's going to be in the stealth team. Tsu, you can hack anything. I need you on the stealth team."

Tsu nodded and said, "Will do."

"Nero and Shadow, you two are born stealth fighters. So you guys should go in this team." Both males nodded. "Alright, let take at least one more."

Allen didn't hesitate to volunteer, "I'll go!"

Rick was surprised at his offer to help, "You Allen?"

"Yeah, I'm a trained electrical engineer. I can help by bypassing security grids, powering down processes, and make repairs to consoles. I can help."

Rick looked at Lucian and asked him, "Are you alright with that Lucian? I mean, he is your son and all."

Lucian sighed and said, "I don't like him being on the battlefield...but I want him to grow up. I'll allow it."

Allen cheered and said, "Thanks dad!"

"Don't think that this means that I'm letting you act like a fool now. You better come back alive. Otherwise, what do I tell your mother?"

"I understand dad. I'll be careful."

Rick got everyone's attention, "Alright, so we should rest up and prepare for the mission. We have two hours, then we suit up and get ready. We should go in with our human forms, except the stealth team. When we get to the armory and get ready, pack up with all the gear you need and wear it under your disguise."

Everyone nodded and got up. They all went to their rooms to prepare themselves for the fight. A went to his room with Green, obviously not liking the fact that he had to disguise himself. Rick just shook his head, knowing he was doing something he didn't like. Rick shook off the feeling and went back to his room with Alara.

[Two and a half hours later]

The team touched down on the Johto region, in their human forms and disguised as Team Rocket members. Everyone made their way to the Team Rocket prison. As soon as they arrived they were stopped by Team Rocket guards.

One of them said to Rick, "Halt there! Who are you?"

Rick replied by saying, "I'm a Team Rocket executive, or can you not see that?"

"Any proof?"

Rick handed them a file and said, "Here's my clearance. I was sent to check up on a prisoner named Neil Cross."

"The psychopath?"

"Is he really that bad?"

"We have to sedate him to move him around. Hell, we keep him in a special confined space to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." The guard red the clearance file and said, "Alright, everything checks out. Go right in." The guard saw the other members of Rick's team, "Are all these members with you?"

Rick nodded, "Yes, they are my own personal guard and friends, if you will."

"Alright, go right in and a guard will be notified about your business and lead you to Prisoner Zero."

Rick was curious, "Prisoner Zero?"

"That's our codename for Neil Cross. He was called Experiment Zero during his experimentation. So just go in and continue with you inspection of the prisoner."

"Thanks you. As you were."

Rick and company walked into the prison and were met by a grunt that guided them to a different wing of the prisoner. As they were walking there, Nero opened an invisible portal so that the stealth team could break away undetected.

While the stealth team was gone Rick and the rest of the team arrived at a viewing station where they were greeted by a scientist.

The scientist saw Rick and said, "You must be the executive that wanted to see Experiment Zero."

Rick nodded, "Yes I am." Rick looked out the window and saw a large orb-like structure in the middle of the room. "I'm guessing that he's in there."

"Yes sir. He's currently confined in there."

"I want to see him."

The scientist was shocked by his desire, "No can do sir! He is to remain in there. Also, he can't be released from here. The control panel is in a room three stories above us."

Unknown to the scientist, Rick was recording everything he said and sent it to the stealth team.

[The Stealth Team]

Nero transported everyone into the vents of the prison. They quickly tried to look for the place they were supposed to go to. Suddenly Tsu's Poketch rumbled and she put it up to her ear and heard the location of the control panel. Tsu related the information to the other guys and they all took off their disguises and worked their way, carefully, up the vents and towards the control room.

When they reached the room they saw two guards at the control console. All that stood in between each other was a vent grating. Allen moved up and used his legs to silently pushed the vent grating. Everyone moved out of the vents silently, while Nero and Shadow moved carefully behind the two guards.

Nero and Shadow nodded to one another quickly pulled the two guards down, wrapped their arms around their necks, and snapped their necks.

Nero then said to Tsu, "Tsu, get that cell open."

Tsu nodded and began hacking into the computer console until it opened up a key pad and asked for a passcode. Tsu was confused as she didn't prepare for that. She began to type all the codes she knew until the keypad locked itself, denying her access.

She then said to the team, "Shit! We have a problem. None of the codes worked and now the keypad is locked."

Shadow showed his frustration, "Fuck! We can't keep the plan going without that console being online."

Suddenly they saw Allen move to the side of the computer console, opened it and worked with the wiring until the computer screen said 'Access Granted'.

Everyone looked at Allen with a surprised look on their faces until Allen said, "See? I told you guys I could be useful."

Nero pat him on the back, "Nice work Allen! Tsu, finish up."

Tsu nodded and worked on the console again until she said, "Okay done! Cross coming out!"

They then heard something unexpected, an alarm began to ring out in the prison.

Nero facepalmed and said, "Oh great! Now what!?"

[Rick's team]

The gang were all nervous after hearing the alarm sounding. The rocket grunts and the scientist were all freaking out when they saw Neil's cell open. The rest of the team looked and saw the sphere open up to reveal an incredibly muscular, black haired, young man that was covered in tattoos. Neil walked out of his cell, looked up to the room where Rick's team was and smirked before running towards the exit. As he was making his way out, his path was blocked by guards. Neil was then covered in a blue aura and he punched towards the guards, sending a shockwave at them, and making them fly across the room and the wall was completely destroyed.

The scientist quickly spoke into a microphone, "All guards to Sector 9! I repeat, all guards to Sector 9! Experiment Zero has escaped!" The scientist looked at Rick and said, "We have to get out of here!"

Rick smirked and said, "This is actually going like we planned it to go."

The scientist's eyes shot open when he realized what was going on, "You're a fraud!"

"Took you long enough. Now go to sleep!" Rick quickly hit the scientist and the guards with **Hypnosis** and then told everyone that they had to be ready to fight now. Rick quickly took his disguise off to reveal kevlar combat armor with combat knives. A was surprised by Rick's gear and then looked at the rest of the team and saw them with similar gear.

Rick said to his team, "Alright, let's try to make this quick. Let's find Neil and get him out of here. We will have fight our way to him though. So are you guys ready?" The team nodded and Rick called the others on his ear mounted communicator, "Guys, time to fight! Try to meet up with us. Be careful!"

With that Rick and his team walked out of the room where they were met with Rocket Grunts pulling guns on them. A reacted quickly and made a steel wall come between them and the grunts. The team decided to go the other way and went down a stairwell to get away from the grunts.

Rick sent a message to DASI, "DASI, shut off communications. We don't want reinforcements."

He received a reply, "Acknowledged!...Complete! Communications have been cut off."

"Great work DASI!"

Once Rick finished his call to DASI he was asked by Dartz, "So what do we do? Just run until we find this Neil guy?"

Rick shook his head and said, "We follow the destruction until we find the guy."

Dartz suddenly noticed something, "Isn't it odd that this is a prison and yet we've only seen one cell?"

"I guess Neil was so much of a danger that they made a prison for himself. I guess that we'll get the chance to ask him later. Let's hurry this up."

The entire team nodded and kept going down until they reached a door. Jean kicked the door open and inspected the room for hostiles. When he couldn't find any he called the rest of the team in and they found themselves in a hallway with multiple rooms.

A asked Rick, "Which way do we go?"

They suddenly heard a loud crash and Rick chuckled and said, "That way."

A and Jean began to laugh at the scenario and then both kicked the door down. As they did that they were met with a cafeteria full of Rocket grunts.

Jean said to Rick, "We picked the wrong door."

Seras sighed and said, "Leave it to Jean to pick the wrong door."

"Hey! It's not completely my fault. It's A's fault too."

A stopped and then said, "What!?"

Rick got their attention, "Guys, get ready for a fight!"

(Battle Song: **Drug Lab from the Raid Redemption**)

Rick quickly took a martial arts pose and the grunts charged at the group. The fight was on, Rick quickly ran towards the grunts and began beating many of them into submission. Rick took on a group of guards that took out knives against him. Rick dodged one of the attacks and grabbed the grunt's arm. He twisted it and kicked the other two grunts away before turning back around and elbowing the grunt in the back of his neck. Rick turned to the other grunts and tackled one of them onto the ground. He quickly got up and blocked a knife attack from the other grunt. Rick grabbed the grunt's arm, punched his elbow up, and took the knife. Rick proceeded to spin the grunt around and stabbed him in his back and neck. Rick turned back around and got into a knife fight with the remaining grunt. Rick ducked under a slash from the last grunt, grabbed his wrist, and stabbed the grunt in his knee, forcing him down. Rick finally kicked the grunt and drove his head into a wall.

Rick looked toward's A's direction and saw him fighting two grunts. He watched as A knocked out the two grunts and then his attention was drawn to a grunt that was running towards A with a knife. Rick took aim and threw the knife towards the grunt, hitting him on the shoulder. A saw the grunt after he screamed in pain. A quickly knocked out the grunt and gave Rick his thanks before driving an incoming grunt into a wall.

Rick walked towards Seras and when he turned the corner he was blocked a kick from a grunt. Rick then swung the grunt onto a wall, knocking the grunt out. Rick immediately ran towards Seras when he saw a grunt about to hit her with a chair. Rick then slid on the ground and locked his legs around the grunt and dropped him on the ground. Rick then picked up the chair and slammed it onto the grunt.

Seras turned around and saw the scene she then said to Rick, "Thanks brother!"

"No problem. Let's finish these guys."

Seras nodded and Rick ran ahead and tackled a grunt. He jumped on top of him and beat him until the grunt couldn't fight back. When he got back up Rick was tackled by a grunt, but he didn't fall over. Rick began to elbow the grunt's back repeatedly until his grip around Rick loosened. When Rick felt his grip loosened he lifted the grunt up and powerbombed him through a table. Rick moved on and dropkicked two grunts. Rick quickly grabbed a steel tray and bashed both downed grunts.

Rick looked towards Jean and saw him fighting a grunt. Both Jean and the grunt blocked each other's high kicks and began to use martial arts against one another. Jean blocked a punch and repeatedly punched the grunt in his chest, and punched him to the floor. Jean then grabbed a chair, swung at a grunt's legs to knock him down, and bashed him with the chair. Jean then went into the kitchen and, surprisingly picked up a refrigerator and threw it at a team of grunts.

The fight lasted another five minutes and ended with Rick and grunt battling it out over a knife. Rick grabbed the knife and the grunt kicked him in the face, forcing him to let go. Rick regained his composure and looked to see the grunt reaching for the knife. Rick quickly grabbed a fork and drove it through the grunt's hand, pinning it to the table they were fighting on. Rick ended it by driving the grunts head onto the edge of the table.

The team looked around and saw that all the grunts were incapacitated. They all took a moment to rest until they heard the group of grunts from upstairs coming towards the room. A thought fast and made a steel bar, put it at the door handles, and twisted it.

A said to the team, "We don't have a lot of time left. Let's find this guy."

The team nodded and walked into the next room, where they saw Neil sitting on a pile of dead grunts. He laughed and said, "I have to admit, that was entertaining to watch. You guys are true warriors. I like that."

Rick walked forward and asked, "Neil Cross?"

"The one and only. And you are?"

"My name is Warlord Aeruthael. I was sent here to give you an offer."

"Oh? Is that so? What can a Gallade offer me?"

Rick was astonished on how Neil knew he was a Gallade since he was in his human form, "How do you know that I'm a Gallade?"

"I can read your aura and it tells me what you are. You're Project Alpha, aren't you? I've been dreaming of the day I would meet you. What is your offer?"

Rick explained while changing back to his original form, "I came here to recruit you."

"Recruit me?"

"Yeah! You hold a vendetta against Team Rocket and so do I. I am here to make you part of my team."

"What's in it for me?"

"You won't be locked up twenty four hours a day and you won't be regarded as a prisoner. Also, I'll help you get your revenge."

Neil began to laugh again and then said, "I like you. You know what, I'm going to accept that offer. If and only if you can get me out of here."

Rick chuckled, "Neil, we just took out an entire room full of grunts. I think we can do more than just get you out of here."

They stopped talking when they heard the grunts begin to bash the door to get it open. Rick sighed and teleported Shadowbane into his hand.

Neil saw Shadowbane and said, "That's a wicked looking sword. Looks like it was made to rip people to shreds. It's all serrated and dark. Truly a warrior's weapon."

Rick replied by saying, "She's called Shadowbane. It was my father's sword and he passed it down to me."

"Shadowbane? Pretty dark name."

"Yeah, but she gets the job done."

"Let's see. Get ready, here they come!"

They heard one more crash, but suddenly there was a calm until they heard gunfire coming from the other side of the door. After a short while the firing stopped and the door flew across the room to reveal the stealth team and a room full of dead or unconscious grunts. Tsu was there with her arms glowing blue, revealing that she was one that blasted the door.

Nero walked up to the team and said, "We've gotta go. We ran into some grunts, we beat them but they let lose their pokemon. I see that you got Neil, so let's go!"

Rick and the rest of the team nodded and began to run towards an exit. After a few moment of running they saw an exit and quickly darted for it. However, before they could make it they were cut off by a group of pokemon.

Rick scoffed and said, "Well just out luck. Fall back guys. I'll take care of these guys myself."

A quickly asked, "How?"

"The quick and easy way."

Rick quickly charged at the pokemon with Shadowbane and immediately killed a good number of them. Rick ducked under a Skuntank's **Night Slash** and stab it in the back. Rick quickly blocked a Scizor's **X-Scissors** and slashed it, making it fall down. Rick quickly killed the other pokemon and then turned hi attention back to the downed Scizor. Rick walked up to it and swung down at it, but he quickly was blocked by someone. Rick looked and saw A using his sword to block Shadowbane.

Rick glared at A and said, "What do you think you're doing?!"

A rounded on him and shouted, "I could ask you the same thing! Where do you get off killing pokemon?!"

Rick scoffed, "I don't get off on it. It's something that must be done. Not for our own sake, but for their own. Now kindly get out of the way A."

A glowered at him and said, "Not until you explain yourself. How is it for their sake? And why are you betraying my trust?"

Rick gave an agitated sigh and replied, "Team Rocket pokemon go through a form of indoctrination process. It leaves them unable to do what is right or know good from evil. The only way to free them from this horror is to kill them. Also, I'm not betraying your trust."

A's eyes bugged out and he shouted, "Bullshit! Death is NOT the only way to free someone, and you are ARE betraying my trust! You claimed you were going to protect pokemon; so why kill some from a specific group?! Are you really that biased?"

Rick glared at A and said in an extremely aggravated tone, "Better start losing the tone with me. You have no idea who you're talking to like that. You think you know Team Rocket better than I do? What you faced in your life against these guys is nothing. What you faced for years of fighting them is nothing compared to the years of torture they put me through. I know them better than you. So back off!"

A scoffed, "Of course I know Team Rocket better. I faced them off as Red the first time around! I even infiltrated all of their bases, defeated all their grunts, and beat them down, without ever killing a single soul! And before that, I fought against Cipher and their cursed shadow pokemon, and believe me, they have all gone through tortures you couldn't imagine. I myself experienced hell trying to control them, but I prevailed, even though it nearly cost me my life!"

[Rocket HQ]

Giovanni was in his office and he received word of the invasion of the prison before DASI could cut off the communications. He pulled up the camera screens and saw a sight that horrified him. He saw Rick in the prison and kept watching until A said that he was Red. The news just frightened Giovanni even more.

"How the hell!? My two arch enemies on the same team?" He pressed a button on his phone and said, "Bring me the Cipher admins. I need to speak to them about their little 'experiments'. They could be useful."

[Team Rocket Prison]

Rick and A were still arguing and A was not letting up with his argument. He was really testing Rick's patience.

Rick continued the argument and growled in frustration, "So you nearly died? Guess what, I DID die. I died seven times because of them. Oh sure you fought them and took them out of commission. However, you didn't succeed in ending any of your enemies. If you did, we would not be dealing with them now. You delayed their advances, but didn't stop them. I'm surprised that Giovanni didn't send me after you when you fought against Team Rocket. It had to be around the same time I was a Project."

A growled and shouted, "How dare you suggest that I failed?! If it wasn't for me, everything you know and love would be DEAD! I saved the world at least four times! Would you rather I had done nothing and allowed them to rule?"

Rick growled louder than before, but turned around and re-sheathed Shadowbane, "I am not about to fight you A, but I won't have you jeopardizing our mission. So back off!"

A scoffed and raised his blade while saying "And I'm not about to let some upstart whelp blatantly disregard my task in front of me!"

Rick turned his head to look at A, he got his bladed gauntlets ready for anything but he then got a message from Arceus, _"He has finally enraged me."_

Rick looked back at A and saw him drop his sword and fall on the ground, losing consciousness.

After Rick saw that A was being knocked unconscious by Arceus he knelt down next to him as he was fading from consciousness, "If you haven't noticed, Arceus is more likely going to be on my side." He then got up and snapped his fingers, summoning two soldiers. "Arrest him!"

One of the soldiers asked Rick, "Under what charges sir?"

"Insubordination against the Warlord and treason against the Warlord." The soldiers bowed their heads and lifted A. Rick walked up to A and said into this ear, "You say that you are unable to kill pokemon. Well this should eat away at your conscious, you just tried to kill me." Rick gave one more command to his soldiers, "Put him in a cell on the Mercury. I'll need to have a talk with him. Let his friend Green go with him to calm him down." The soldiers nodded and teleported away.

Neil chuckled and said, "I'm sorry, but you guys are some cold motherfuckers."

Rick sighed, "I don't want to talk about it. Let's go to the Mercury! We're done here."

The entire team didn't speak and instead went back to where the Mercury was hidden.

[An hour and a half later]

Rick was in the Mercury, he was walking down to the jail level to see A. As he approached A's cell he was met by his soldiers.

One soldier said to him, "Sir, have you come to see the prisoner?"

Rick nodded, "Yes. I came to talk to him. Don't worry, he won't be any trouble. He can't be stupid twice."

"Alright, you may go in sir."

Rick walked into the cell and saw Green talking to A. Green soon noticed Rick and Rick asked her, "Green, may you leave us for a minute?" Green nodded and walked out of the cell. Rick looked at A and said, "You and I need to speak."

A turned his head slowly and said in a depressed tone, "We're traitors to each other's causes, aren't we?"

Rick scoffed saying, "Well really, but not necessarily. You have to admit, you messed up. However, I kinda didn't do my job and informed you as of what we do in this war."

A snorted and said "Well, I also partly blame Arceus. I thought he would have told me what to expect, especially if it completely spits my job, morals, and beliefs in the face. I'm sorry I attacked you, or tried anyway. But I can't stand hypocrisy, and you had me thinking that you lied to me, merely to get me on your side." A thought for a moment, then faced Rick, "Just so you know, I wasn't trying to kill you. I was going for a strike with the flat of the blade. But I suppose that doesn't really change anything. I don't expect it to, but I thought you should know."

"I forgive you, but you should be ready to explain that to the Council once we get back to the Sanctuary. Any treason charge is taken to the Council for trial. Sadly, treason is one of our most severest of crimes." Rick sighed, "I wish I wouldn't of charged you with it, but I had to do my job. I'll make sure to get you a good lawyer. I'll send you Amber."

A grunted and said, "Why not just convict me and get it over with? I was in the wrong; I admit that. But I don't need the added stress right now. Besides, something about the pokemon we faced earlier concerns me, and I would like to devote my attention to that matter. I need to speak with Arceus again and go somewhere, retrieve something, and make sure my suspicions are right or wrong. I hope I'm wrong, but it's better to be prepared."

Rick nodded and said, "I hope it helps. However, focus on what's going to happen in the immediate future. Sadly, I can't convict you here and now. There are processes that must be followed in this society. However, to make things easier on you, when the Council asks you if you have anything to say just say 'I appeal to the Warlord'. That way, the trial goes to me and I pick your punishment or I just throw it all away like it never happened."

A though about it, then nodded and said, "Fine, I'll do it. We need to get this over with as soon as possible, though. If I'm right in my suspicions, I need to retrieve my... item as soon as possible, or else there will be far more suffering happening, on everybody's part. I can't explain it right now, but once I return, I'll tell you what I think."

Rick shrugged and smirked, "Then don't tell me what it is until you get it. However, you want to explain to me why you got so livid against me?"

A hesitated, then replied, "Well, like I said before; I believed you were going to protect pokemon, not kill them. It felt like a betrayal of my trust. Besides which, my line of duty is the Guardian of Pokemon, and when you start killing those I'm supposed to protect... I mean, how do you deal with that? By just sitting around and letting it happen? No, that's not who I am. So my first reaction is to take down whoever's jeopardizing my task, regardless of who they are. And before you ask, yes, this would apply to Arceus if it ever happened."

Rick's smirk faded, "That's either bold or completely stupid. Arceus would kill you instantly if you tried. Anyways, I understand that I did something that goes against what you stand for, but sadly there's no other way. Once Team Rocket indoctrinates a pokemon, it's impossible to save them. Trust me, I've tried. However, I couldn't free them from the control and Silph Co. couldn't find a way to do it either. There's no way. So I just put them out of their misery. You think that I don't feel bad for killing them? I do, but I know there's no other way."

A shook his head and said, sort of mumbling, "No, no, that's not right. They said it couldn't be done, but I defied the odds anyway." Spaces out for a moment, then thrashes for a second. He shakes himself and says "Sorry, bad memory. But maybe... just maybe..."

Rick looked at him curiously and asked, "I kinda heard some of that. Please explain."

A hesitated, then relented and said "It happened after I defeated Cipher and snagged Shadow Lugia, or to them, Project XD001. They told me it was impossible to purify. I didn't listen and tried to use the normal methods. But they failed, and Lugia attacked me directly." Shivers and thrashes again, then continues "I finally managed to do it, but I suffered from PTSS for much of my Kanto reign. That's why I hope I'm wrong." A looked at the ceiling and began to whisper to himself. A's tone suddenly sounded more maniacal and he drew his sword. "Arceus, I hate Cipher for what they did to me. All of them, in fact. I'm glad they're well dead in my time, but being here is just starting to bring it all back."

Rick understood, "Alright, I can see where your going at with this. Listen, I understand perfectly. I've also been told about what happened with Shadow Lugia from Giovanni. All Projects were briefed on what happened. Let me give it to you straight, Shadow Pokemon and indoctrinated pokemon are not the same. Once can be purified and the other cannot. Pokemon are indoctrinated by changing their brain processes to only think about what Team Rocket would like. We Projects were immune to the indoctrination because our designs were made prior to the process itself. Shadow Pokemon had their hearts tainted, but they still had the chance to be purified."

A shook his head, "I hear you. You can go. It's probably best to leave me this way for a while, let it work out of my system." He laid his head against the wall and breathed out "Besides, why waste your energy on a criminal like me?"

Rick got up and said, "Very well, I'll let you calm down. However, I'm leaving Green in here to keep you stable."

"Fine. See you later."

Rick walked out of the cell and sighed, "Man he has it hard." He saw Green standing next to the guards and he said to her, "Green, you can go back in. Please watch over him"

Green nodded, "I will. Thank you!"

Green walked back into the cell and Rick called up Screech, "Screech, to the Sanctuary. On the double!"

[The Chief's Court, the Sanctuary]

The team arrived in the Sanctuary after a few hours of flying. As soon as they went in they were sent to the Chief's Court for A's trial. While they were there they waited for the councilors to enter the room and to begin the trial.

Rick was quickly getting bored and asked Alara, "How long do these things take?"

She replied by saying, "They vary on what the charges are. This one can last for a few hours at a time."

"Craaaaaaaaaaap!"

After ten minutes the councilors finally entered the court and Alara's grandfather said, "Alright, the trail of the Sanctuary vs Mr. A shall commence. Councilor Zene, may you read the charges?"

An older Gardevoir nodded her head and said, "Yes head councilor. The charges are: One count of military insubordination and one count of treason against the Warlord."

"Thank you councilor." Alara's grandfather looked at A, who was at the defendant's stand and said to him, "You do know that this is a very serious charge, don't you son?"

A sighed and said, "Yes, I'm aware of this."

"Very well. Let us begin. First, let me ask you, how do you plea?"

"I instead have an appeal."

The councilors were surprised by the declaration. Alara's grandfather nodded his head and asked, "Very well. What is your appeal?"

A smirked and said, "I appeal to the Warlord."

There was a sudden uneasy quiet in the court. The councilors looked at one another and spoke to each other. One of them, a younger looking Gallade stood up and yelled, "Absolutely not! I deny the appeal! There is no fathomable way that I will send this trial to the Warlord to decide!"

The room suddenly became dark and cold. Everyone looked at Rick and saw his eyes glowing and him growling. Rick then called back the darkness and returned everything back to normal. He then jumped off the balcony he was on and landed next to A.

Rick glared at the councilor and said, "Zenek, last time I checked, that's not your call to make! If someone appeals to the Warlord, then I choose whether or not to accept it. You can't reject the appeal. So sit down since this is your time to be quiet." He took a deep breath and said, "Alright, I accept the appeal."

Rick walked forward and sat down on a throne that was brought by his soldiers.

As Rick sat down A asked, "So should we start?"

Rick chuckled and said, "Yeah. Alright, let's make this quick. I am a busy individual, and I'm sure that the councilors and you are as well. I've already heard everything about this case so I'll move on to the decision." Rick took a deep breath and said, "Alright, here's the decision. I find him not guilty and we can all move on with our lives. The case gets thrown out, so do the charges, and we never speak of this trial again. How does that sound councilors? It lets us continue with our on our ways and on with our lives, because, let's face it, none of us want to be here right now so late in the afternoon."

The councilors looked at one another and they all, but Zenek, agreed.

Alara's grandfather then said, "Alright, we can agree to that. Mr. A is found not guilty and this trial never happened. Goodbye everybody!"

Zenek then yelled, "Are all of you insane!? This whelp has committed high treason! The penalty for that should be immediate death!"

Rick growled in frustration against Zenek, but A drew his sword and pointed it at Zenek saying, "Care to volunteer?"

Zenek didn't respond, instead he sat back down and stayed silent. Everyone, even the councilors laughed at the sight of someone silencing Zenek and they all left the court quickly.

Outside, A looked for Rick and found him talking to the Chief. He tap Rick on the shoulder and said to him, "Thanks sir!"

Rick chuckled and said, "You're welcome! However, don't let it repeat itself. Next time I might not let everything slide."

A nodded, "I understand. Thank you!"

"Go back home and get some much needed rest. I'll see you at another time. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye sir!"

Rick left and found Alara. They quickly returned to their house and quickly went to bed.

As they were in bed Alara asked Rick, "So are you going to think any differently of A now?"

Rick replied, "Not at all. The guy has some problems, but I think we can help him."

"Still it was very kind of you. So how's the Neil guy?"

"He's hard to read right now. I'll talk to him tomorrow. Currently he's living in his room on the Mercury until I can find a place for him here."

"I saw him when you guys came back into the Mercury. He's pretty intimidating."

"Once again, I don't know much about him." He stopped to think for a second and said, "We need to visit the other pokemon civilizations."

Alara nodded and asked, "When do you want to do that?"

Rick replied, "Really soon. But for now I want to go to sleep."

"You earned it. You fought hard today." She kissed him and said, "I love you. Goodnight!"

"I love you too. Goodnight!"

**This chapter was stressful. That's it! I'm cutting down the chapter sizes, if possible. Anyways, thanks guys. Send me your contest entries, poll votes, questions, requests, and suggestions. Thanks for everything! Bye!**


	47. Chapter 47: Reminiscing, Titan Ixion

**Here it is. A shorter chapter than usual, but not much of an accomplishment in shortening it. Anyways, this chapter has a Titan battle and brings back some old elements from previous chapters. Not much to say this week, just sorry that it took so long, but I really am sorry for the waiting times and the fact that I have not been writing the story to the liking of many of you. The poll for your favorite two couples is still active, so make sure to cast your vote. I apologize and I'm trying to bring the story back to its former glory. Also, for all of those that haven't guessed yet, I am working with _EmeraldDragon1, _both of use have worked together on each other's stories. Story Spotlight:** _Behind Red Eyes by Xana100_**. Viewing Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Canada (what happened?), 3rd) Ireland, 4th) Philippines, 5th) Myanmar.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

It was the middle of the afternoon Rick and Alara were in the training field, sparring. Serenity and Amber were on the sidelines, watching them as they fought it out.

Rick blocked one of Alara's attacks and chuckled, "You're getting stronger."

Alara smiled at him and said, "Well I'm being trained by the best."

"I'm not the best. My master was the best trainer I ever had. He taught me most of what I know about combat."

Alara chuckled to herself and said, "Well now you're training me. Now get on with it!"

Alara swung her wooden sword at Rick, but he blocked the attack and pushed her back. Rick then sighed and stuck his wooden sword into the ground and crossed his arms. Alara charged for him and swung, being blocked by Rick's psychic shield. Alara noticed and furiously slashed at the shields.

Alara growled in frustration, "Oh come on! No fair!"

Rick chuckled and said, "Alright, I'll use something else. Chaos!"

The Chaos Scarf then came to life and hissed at Alara. Alara quickly said, "NO! Do not use the Chaos Scarf!"

"Who said I was using it on you?" He then commanded the Chaos Scarf, "Go ahead and let Alara use you for the spar."

Chaos gave a quiet his and then wrapped itself around Alara's neck.

Alara was confused, "Why did you give it to me?"

"To make this a bit more fair. Now pay attention!"

Alara then managed to block Rick's attack and slashed away at him. Rick easy dodged the attacks and yawned, enraging Alara.

Alara then yelled, "Chaos! Make him hold still!"

Chaos hissed and lunged for Rick. Chaos wrapped himself around Rick's arm and stopped him from getting away. Alara took the opportunity and attacked Rick. Rick however drew one of his arm blades and blocked the attack. Rick then teleported away, surprising Alara and leaving the Chaos Scarf looking for him.

Alara knew that if she didn't find him soon she would be in very deep trouble. She closed her eyes and enhanced her spikes emotion detection power. She then felt something and punched in the direction she got the reading, making contact with Rick's face.

Rick grabbed his face and said, "Son of a bitch! The one thing I wanted to avoid!"

Alara put her hand to her mouth and asked him, "Are you alright?"

Rick said sarcastically, "Yes, fan-freakin'-tastical! Having fun with my bloody nose."

Alara sighed, "Smartass!"

"Hey I was one when we first met, and I'm always going to be one. Just like you will always have a short fuse."

A vein appeared on Alara's head and she swung down at Rick, only to have him block it and teleport away again. Alara gave a frustrated scream and swing her fist again. This time Rick caught it and pulled her into a kiss to tease her. Alara's vein grew larger and she swung her sword at him. Rick ducked under the sword and chuckled, enraging Alara.

"Hold still! Chaos do something!"

The Chaos Scarf lunged for Rick, and Rick spun Alara around before catching Chaos's jaws. Rick struggled to hold Chaos's assault back and then jumped to the side, forcing Chaos to bite down on the dirt. Rick turned back to look at Alara and blocked a **Shadow Ball** with his arm blades. Alara jumped at him and began to swing away with her sword until Rick grabbed her hand and flipped her. Rick then stood over her with both wooden swords and plunged them into the ground, next to her head.

Rick smiled down at Alara and said, "I win!"

Rick helped Alara stand up and the Chaos scarf wrapped around his neck. Alara was trying to catch her breath and then looked at Rick. She quickly punched him in his gut and walked over to Amber and Serenity. Rick staggered back upright and walked over to the girls.

Alara said to him as he sat down, "You deserved it."

Rick looked at her and shook his head, "How did I deserve that?"

"For teasing me. I don't need for you to make me look like an ass."

Rick laughed and said, "I didn't try to make you look like an ass. We were just sparring and I was having some fun."

"You couldn't of gone easy on me? You know you're more well trained than I am. Hell, you're a Project and the Warlord."

"Trust me, that was me going easy on you. I even gave you the Chaos Scarf to help you out."

Alara was not amused and didn't respond. Amber and Serenity then looked at one another and laughed.

Their laughing got Alara's attention, "What's so funny girls?"

Amber replied, "You and Rick are acting just like you did back in the day. By back in the day I mean when we ran into each other in Mt. Coronet."

Serenity began to count until she stopped at a number, "That was nine months ago. I remember, I was a weakling, Amber was always riding on my back, Rick and Alara were at each other's throats, and we had a long distance to travel. I actually miss those days."

Alara sighed and said, "Well those days were pretty exhausting between me and Rick."

Amber then said, "Of course! You were ready to slit his throat at any moment."

"Well he always pissed me off."

Rick laughed, "I pissed you off? Speak for yourself."

Alara glared at him and hit him in the back of the head, "And now you're beginning to do it again."

Amber and Serenity looked at each other again, as if they both realized something.

Serenity then said, "I think us talking about our past together is making you guys return to your original personalities. Rick is starting to become sarcastic again and your rage is building up just as fast."

Rick and Alara began to laugh making Amber ask, "What's so funny?"

Rick answered, "Nothing, it's just that we never really changed."

"Really?"

Alara replied, "Yes. I mean just last week we had a moment."

[A Week Ago]

Rick was in the kitchen with Alara. He was reading a newspaper and Alara was apparently looking for something in the pantries. Rick noticed and arched and eyebrow until Alara growled in frustration.

She turned around and asked Rick, "Rick, where are the cookies?"

Rick's expression dropped and he shook his head, "There's no more."

"WHAT!?"

"I ate the last one. What's the problem?"

Alara glared at Rick and said, "I was saving those cookies for today."

"Well sorry, tough shit. Just make more. Don't be such a child."

A vein appeared on her head and she calmly walked out of the kitchen with a fiendish smile on her face. Unbeknownst to Rick, Alara went to the backyard and used **Psychic** to drag a water tank to the location passed the balcony's rail. Then then made a call on her Poketch and waited for a few minutes until a truck arrived.

A Gallade walked out saying, "Lady Alara, your order."

Alara nodded, "Yes, put them in the tank."

The Gallade nodded and dumped Carvanhas and Sharpedos into the water tank. Alara then teleported back into the house and walked onto the balcony.

She then called for Rick, "Oh Rick! Come here dear!"

Rick heard her, put the newspaper down, and walked onto the balcony. "What's up Ally?"

Alara smiled at him and said, "Look at this."

Rick walked up to the rail and looked down and saw the tank full of Carvanhas and Sharpedos. Rick turned around while saying, "Ally, what's goi...?"

He was cut off by Alara kicking him in the chest, sending him over the railing, "SPARTA!" She then looked and saw Rick falling into the tank and being quickly attacked by the aggressive fish pokemon. Alara then yelled, "Who's the child now bitch!?"

Rick managed to get out, "OW! Still you! OW!"

A vein appeared on Alara's head again and she fired a **Thunderbolt** at the tank, electrocuting Rick and all the fish. Alara then walked back into the house and left Rick and the fish floating and twitching in the tank.

[Present Time]

Rick said to the girls, "So yeah, there's no such thing as a perfect relationship. Every romance has its quirks, but one thing you should remember is to make amends soon after and not go to bed angry."

Serenity asked, "Did Alara apologize?"

Alara sighed and said, "I did. It was so uncalled for, but my temper can get the best of me."

Rick chuckled and said, "I think that I still have bite marks somewhere."

Amber then said, "I guess your fur hides it."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "Fur? Where the hell do you get the idea that my species has fur?"

Amber looked at Alara with an irritated look, "You lied to me."

Alara sweatdropped and said, "I needed to keep you from losing your mind on me. So I told you that I had fur...it worked, didn't it?"

"So why was your arm all furry?"

Alara sighed, "Did you ever notice the gloves that are connected to my dress? Hell, you live with me!...well you lived with me in the past before I moved in with Rick."

"Yeah, I miss those days. But on the bright side, more room for my stuff."

"I don't remember you having that much stuff when I lived there."

"Oh I went on a shopping spree. I think Allen is still sorting out all my stuff."

[Amber's House]

"Help!" Allen was yelling, trying to free his right arm from under an avalanche of items. "DAMN IT AMBER! HELP!"

He kept screaming for help until Shadow appeared through the wall. Shadow saw him and said, "Damn bro! What happened to you?"

"Amber, that's what happened to me. Now help me out of here."

"Hold that thought." Shadow then disappeared and reappeared wearing a Jigsaw mask. He then handed Allen a knife. "I want to play a little game."

Allen sweatdropped, "What kind of game?"

"Have you ever seen the movie _127 Hours_?"

"Yeah."

"Start cutting off that arm."

[Rick's House]

Rick shook his head and laughed, "You really do treat him like a pack mule."

Amber smiled and said, "He's always in the area when I need him...then again he always tried to run away, but that's a different story."

Serenity sighed and said, "You have to cut him some slack now Amber."

"True, but if you have a tool then you use it."

Allen suddenly appeared glaring at Amber, "Who's the tool now!?"

"Well looks like you survived." She then noticed the cuts on his arm. "What the hell happened?"

"I was given options and backed out of one when I remembered that I know **Psychic**. I was stuck in your house for six hours."

Amber laughed, "Did you try gnawing your arm off?"

A vein appeared on Allen's head, "Gee! I wonder if that's why I have cuts on my arm. I got a knife and then I chickened out after a few cuts."

Amber sighed and said to the group, "I gotta go. I have to take Allen to Anna to get him patched up. Bye guys!"

Amber and Allen walked away visibly arguing with one another. Serenity sighed and said, "Well I'll be off too. I have to get ready for tomorrow. Bye Rick! Bye Alara!" She then remembered something. "Oh yeah! There's going to be a thunderstorm tonight. Sorry, I just feel compelled to say it every time I sense it."

Rick and Alara both said in unison, "It's okay. Bye Serenity!"

Rick and Alara laid down on the porch and began to reminisce about the time they met.

Alara said to Rick, "We were crazy."

Rick scoffed and replied, "Are we any more under control?"

"We're not fighting twenty four seven anymore."

"But when we do it's explosive. Luckily we never fight in public."

Alara smiled and said, "Well at least we spar to let off some steam."

"But we don't spar everyday. Wait, what was this sparring session for?"

"I wanted you to let out some steam because of what I did to you last week."

Rick smiled, "Oh yeah!...I'm still going to get you back for that."

Alara sweatdropped and laughed nervously, "Wait, but we sparred."

Rick rolled and looked at her, "Yeah, but all I did was eat cookies, you dumped me in a shark tank and then electrocuted me."

Alara laughed nervously again, "Point taken. Let me make it up to you."

Rick sweatdropped, "Umm...how?"

Alara giggled and said, "Let's take a shower together."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...uh oh." Two soldiers suddenly appeared, making Rick give a sigh of relief, "Oh thank Arceus! Saved by work."

One of the soldiers said, "Sir, Mr. A has requested to see you as soon as possible."

"A? This is a surprising change of pace. Alright, I'll go immediately."

Alara growled, "Well that was quite the interruption. I'll be waiting here when you get back. Go check what A wants."

Rick nodded and said, "Will do. I'll be back as soon as I finish. I'll try to make it fast." He turned to the soldiers and said, "Thank you for the message, you are free to go."

The soldier nodded and teleported away. Rick also teleported and soon found himself in the 22nd den. He walked over to A's manor and knocked on the door. After a few moments A's Gallade answered the door.

Rick greeted the Gallade, "Hello, I'm looking for A."

The Gallade pointed to the beach, "Sorry sir, but you just missed him. He's at the beach at the moment."

"Wow, I walked all the way here for nothing? Oh well, I'll go see him then. Thank you!"

Rick then concentrated again and teleported away. He soon arrived at the beach and looked for A and found him staring out at the water.

Rick walked up to A and asked him, "Why have you summoned me?"

A took a deep breath and kept looking out at the water and said, "A scene like this is very tranquil, wouldn't you agree? I find that such a scenery is helpful to change the dark corners of one's mind."

Rick scowled and said, "Don't change the subject. Answer my question. Why have you summoned me here?"

A sighed and turned around, revealing a metal object over his left arm and an eyepiece on his left eye, "This."

Rick looked at the device on A's arm and examined it closely. After a few moments he said, "A metal arm brace? I sense a purpose coming up."

A smirked and told him, "I believe that you're familiar with the phrase 'looks can be deceiving'. The case here is no different. This is actually a weapon with one purpose in mind."

"And that would be...?"

"To snag shadow pokemon. You told me that indoctrinated pokemon could not be saved. While I'm not inclined to agree with that, at least not initially, Arceus confirmed your words. However, I had my suspicions, and we both can agree that it was possible that Team Rocket might be using Cipher to create more shadow pokemon. They also couldn't be indoctrinated; the process would destroy the pokemon utterly. Therefore, the future pokemon we face will either be indoctrinated or shadow pokemon. You have your way of dealing with the indoctrinated pokemon. This is how shadow pokemon will be dealt with."

Rick looked at A with a serious expression and asked, "So what are you planning to do with that? What's the difference between shadow pokemon and indoctrinated pokemon? Don't lie to me. When I was in Team Rocket I read the file on them."

"Well shadow pokemon have no room for compassion in their hearts. All they feel is anger and hatred. This improves during a purification process, but they won't be able to feel compassion until the purification process is complete. Also, shadow pokemon cannot use any moves relative to their species. They use something moves called Shadow Move, that are distinct to them alone." A then pointed at the eyepiece over his eye. "This is called an Aura Reader. This device helps identify shadow pokemon in the form of a purple aura. Only shadow pokemon will be seen with it. It's the easiest way to identify them."

Rick thought for a second and then said, "Alright, so the Aura Reader identifies them and the device on your arm catches them. My question is, how do you intend to find pokeballs? None are sold here and I told you never to walk around with the, while you're here."

"I'll get some, but the shadow pokemon will need me to purify them. So I'll have to carry them around. They're too dangerous to have roaming around. So I'll have to make an area where I can purify them in peace."

"Alright, I understand completely. However, let me make something clear to you here and now. If any of them escape and harm any of my people, I will have no choice but to kill them, but that's only if they hurt anyone. This isn't a betrayal of your trust, I'm just doing my job. Is that clear?"

"I understand. It won't ever happen, I promise you. However, I'll need transportation to the Orre region from time to time to help purify them. So I might need access to the Mercury at a moment's notice. So do I have permission? Otherwise the trek will take me at least a week."

Rick considered his request and returned saying, "Well not the Mercury. I have something else for you."

"What?"

"It's a surprise. When you need it, I will present it to you."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. However, I have one more request."

"What?"

"Can we go to the Orre region soon? There's something I have to see."

Rick grunted and said, "How long will we be there?"

"Thirty minutes to and hour and a half average."

Rick nodded and said, "Sure, we'll leave in two days. However, I'm not planning to stay in that region for too long."

"Understood, thank you!"

Rick smirked and then said, "Now I have one more question. How will WE know which pokemon are Shadow Pokemon? We don't have the Aura Reader."

A nodded and handed Rick the Aura Reader, "Have that replicated. It'll help you guys. However, I'll never have the device on my arm replicated."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Does that device also have a name?"

"Yes, it's called the Snag Machine."

"Good to know. Anyways, I'll have the reader returned to you soon. For now I'll return to my home and my future wife."

A chuckled, "Yeah, you don't want to keep a girl waiting."

Rick laughed, "She won't be mad, but I promised her that I'll be home quickly." Rick stopped when he looked out to the water. "I forgot to tell you, don't go out too far out to sea here. Eventually, you will hit the den's wall. I don't know how far it is though."

A arched an eyebrow, "What made you think that I was going for an extended swim? I have no desire to getting the Snag Machine wet, or to take it off...unless I'm bathing."

Rick smirked and pointed out to the water, "I'm actually talking about the Kabutops that's swimming all the way over there.

"Huh?" A looked and then began to shout while waving his fist, "Dang it Mitch! How many times do I have to tell you not to go anywhere without telling me? Every time you do, we end up having to take on some second-rate challenger." A then sighed, "He'll never change."

Rick laughed, "Trust me, after living with Jean for a few years, you tend to get used to it." Rick looked back at the Kabutops and then saw a Gyarados suddenly lunge out of the water and pull the Kabutops under. Rick was shocked, "What...just happened?"

A smirked and said, "Looks like a Gyarados came out and ate Mitch."

Rick looked at A and was surprised on how nonchalantly he was taking the situation, "Is that your Gyarados or did he really get eaten just now?"

"Oh no, it's not mine. Mitch was tormenting a group of Magikarps and apparently their mother came up and just ate him."

"Aren't you going to do something?"

A began to countdown, "3...2...1." The Kabutops suddenly shot out of the water with the Gyarados giving chase. The Kabutops the hit the Gyarados with an **Ancient Power** and got away.

Rick shook his head and said to A, "Well, I'll be leaving now. Bye!" Rick quickly teleported away and arrived home. Rick entered the house and called for Alara, "Ally! I'm home!"

He received a reply, "I'm in our room. Come on up!"

"Going dear!" Rick walked up the stairs and soon reached the door to the room. Rick opened the door and was surprised by the sight of Alara naked, sitting on the bed, waiting for him. Rick put his hands to his eyes and said, "Damn it! Ally, what the hell!?"

Alara giggled, "I told you what I wanted before you left. Come on!"

Rick blushed, something Alara always loved seeing. She walked up to him and dragged him to the bathroom. Rick stopped her and opened his eyes. Alara was surprised and giggled.

Rick sighed and said, "Let's go if you want."

"Yes!"

"But only this once."

"Technically this is the second time."

Rick sighed again, "Don't remind me."

Alara giggled again and led him to the bathroom. Rick shook his head and smiled, not believing his luck.

Thirty minutes later Rick and Alara were in bed trying to go to sleep. Alara wrapped herself around Rick and then began to countdown. "Ten...nine...eight...seven..."

Rick noticed and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Wait. Three...two...one!" Suddenly a thunderclap roared through the Sanctuary. Rick smiled at her when he realized what she did. Alara then said, "I remembered what you told me that night in Hearthome. You taught me how not to be afraid of thunder. I remembered to tell when it would roar. Now I do it as a form of hobby."

Rick laughed and pulled her close, "That day...that day changed so much for you and I."

"That's the day we began to get along constantly. We didn't fight much after that."

"Well it was the night you decided that you wanted to listen to me for once."

Alara laughed and replied, "I always listened to you. That was just the night I actually gave a damn of anything you had to say."

Rick rolled his eyes, "Great to know what you thought about me in the beginning."

"Dear we all knew we hated one another."

"Wait. 3...2...1" A thunderclap was then heard.

Rick and Alara laughed together and Alara said, "We've come a long way in under a year."

"That we did. To be quite honest, I miss that time. We were traveling on foot for miles on end. Just you, me, Serenity, Amber, Jean, Seras, and Dartz. I actually miss it. I even miss our little fights."

Alara was surprised, "You do? But I used to attack you so much."

Rick looked at her with an unconvinced face, "Ally, you still do that. I don't want to keep using the shark tank incident. There's also the whole fight over a sport results."

"Hey I made my point."

"Yeah, and the past pain in my shoulder was proof of that." Rick chuckled, "You need to go check what that right fist is made out of. There has to be a pistol spring somewhere in your arm."

"I really don't know how that happened. All I know is that I can knock almost anyone out with this arm."

"So please don't use it on me anymore. It really hurts."

Alara smirked and said, "That's the point dipshit. I'm going to use it on you whenever you get me mad."

"Point taken."

They both stopped talking and then began to count down, "Five...four...three...two...one." Another thunderclap was heard. Both Rick and Alara laughed together and Alara snuggled up closer to Rick.

He then felt something and sighed, "Ally?"

"Yeah?"

"You're naked, aren't you?" Alara giggled giving Rick a confirmation. He chuckled and shook his head, "What the hell am I going to do with you?"

Alara laughed and quickly kissed Rick. They soon ended their little moment and went to sleep.

[Two Days Later; Agate Village, Orre Region]

Rick and a few members of his team were waiting outside a village in Orre. A had gone inside to check, of all things, a stone. Rick sat down on a rock and looked towards the others and saw Alara sparring with Green. To his surprise, Green had a weapon of her own, but he figured that A made it for her.

Rick was bored beyond belief and he slouched as he sat and yawned. He suddenly dozed off and fell asleep, only to be woken up by a shock. He looked around and couldn't find where the shock came from. Suddenly he received another shock and looked down at Shadowbane, that was resting on his leg.

He grabbed Shadowbane and said, "Ow! What the hell did I do?"

He received a reply, _"Inside your head now!"_

Rick was taken by surprised at Twilight's unexpected demand, "Wait...why? What happened?"

_"Get into my chamber and I'll tell you."_

Rick was not going to argue so he closed his eyes and dove deep into his subconscious. He soon woke up in Twilight's chamber and got up from the moon pool. He looked around for her and Dusk, but couldn't find them.

"Twilight! Dusk! Where are you guys?"

He received a reply from Twilight, "Did you ever stop and think to put me down?"

"Huh?"

He looked at Shadowbane and planted it in the moon pool. Suddenly, a black circle appeared and Twilight rose from the circle. She fixed her hair and looked at Rick.

"Well, it's been a while since you've been in here. Anyways, we have a problem."

Rick was curious as to what the problem might be, "What kind of problem?"

Twilight began, "Do you remember Epsilon?"

"How the hell can I forget that bitch?"

"Yes, well she's almost free."

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since you defeated her at her fortress she's been under a form of house arrest. She was stripped from her power for a time and really soon she will be back. Aeru, your first true battle in this war is coming in a few days. Giovanni will give her an army under her command and they will come for you and you will fight them."

Rick was astonished by the revelation, "Are you sure? The army is still getting used to their new divisions. We need more time than a few days."

"Unfortunately, I can give you days for you to waste. You'll have to work with borrowed time. Epsilon will no doubt try to kill you and Alara for the humiliation you put her through. Don't take Alara to the battlefield. Epsilon will be looking for her and she will no doubt kill her on the spot for what happened to Omicron."

"For what happened to Omicron? Omicron was beaten by my dad and lived."

"Yes, but Xeron almost killed him. Epsilon did not take it well at the though of someone trying to kill her mate."

Rick was now stunned by what he heard, "Mate? That crazy bitch got a mate. However, it makes sense. It takes a psychopath to fall in love with another psychopath."

"Listen, I'm just warning you. You will lose some men in this battle. So prepare yourself, because you will not have the element of surprise on your side this time. You guys will face each other on even ground."

"So you're warning me?"

Twilight chuckled, "Yeah, I'm giving you a head's up. Epsilon may of been out of commission for the last six months, but that doesn't mean that she got weaker. You will have to learn more skills from me."

They suddenly heard another voice in the chamber, "Let me teach it to him."

They turned and saw X standing in the chamber looking at them. Twilight smirked and said, "If you want, go ahead. He's yours for now."

Twilight then vanished and Shadowbane reappeared in Rick's hand.

X walked up to Rick and said to him, "I'm going to make this quick. I'll teach you the first part of the Psycho Star Storm."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "First part?"

"Yes, there are three parts to the Star Storm, but I have never revealed the second or third parts. This is mainly due because of the sheer power of the two parts. The first part is strong enough for battle though."

"What about the third part? How powerful is that?"

"It is so powerful that it must only be used as a last resort. However, that's not Shadowbane's most powerful ability. For each Shadowbane wielder, a new ultimate ability will be given. This is to keep the sword unique to its wielder."

Rick nodded, "So what do I have to do first?"

"All you must do is gather power in the sword. Then separate the power, don't let it be whole. Make sure that it's sporadic. Then point the sword to the sky and the energy will transfer into the air, thus creating the energy balls. Make sure you have a target in mind so that once you release the attack the energy balls will converge onto the said target."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "That's it?"

"Yeah, it's a sword boy not a fighter jet. Now try it."

Rick took a deep breath and concentrated onto Shadowbane's blade. He mentally repeated everything X told him, and tried to follow all the instruction. He stood there for a few moments, making X impatient. After a few more moments Rick stuck the blade in the air and large pillar of energy shot down into the air."

Rick cursed his luck, "Damn it! Still messed up!"

X chuckled and said, "Yes, you didn't hold the separate powers in the air. You let them come together and shoot down. However, that's actually another ability called Star Strike. Just remember to separate the power and keep it that way."

Rick nodded and tried again. This time he lifted his blade and his energy exploded, scorching him.

Rick said in a painful tone, "What...just happened? Ow!"

X sighed, "You used too much power this time. One more time!"

"You're insane!"

"It won't kill you...in here. Just try it again."

Rick hesitated and said to Twilight in Shadowbane, "If you blow up on me again, I will be furious."

Twilight replied, _"Then don't overload me dumbass."_

Rick sighed and tried again. This time he did precisely as X instructed and the energy shot down in different energy balls. X used his Shadowbane to shield himself from the attack and clapped as he saw that Rick did it. Rick however began to pant.

"How the hell can you use it without it draining energy?"

X replied, "You just have to master the technique. Then energy isn't much of a problem."

"So that the Star Storm? When do I learn the other two?"

"You have to get those from Twilight, but I doubt she'll teach the last one to you willingly."

"Understood! Can I go back now? I want to go home, I was so bored there."

X scoffed and said, "Fine! You might get a surprise when you get back."

Rick suddenly returned to real life and saw Alara helping Green stand up, apparently winning the spar. Rick got up and walked to Alara.

Alara turned around and said to him, "Where did you go? You dozed off there and I knew you went somewhere mentally."

"Yeah, I went to see Twilight. X was there too."

"Anything new?"

"Not really. I actually learned Star Storm."

Alara was surprise, "That was fast...and probably easy as well."

Rick rolled his eyes, "You'll be surprised. So was your spar with Green?"

"It was good. She's learning, but A needs to teach her more defense. She's doing well though."

They stopped talking when they saw a bright light coming from the forest and something flying out. They heard the crash of where the thing that flew out landed. Rick and his team immediately ran towards the crash site and they were met with the sight of a silver Gallade with a perpetual color changing spike.

Rick looked at the Gallade and wondered to himself, *Where did this Gallade come from? I don't remember sensing one in there...* He suddenly realized something. *Oh Arceus! This isn't...My Arceus! This is hilarious!* Rick knelt down and picked up the Gallade. "Hey wake up! Wake up!" The Gallade wouldn't stir so Rick shook him vigorously. "WAKE UP GOLDIELOCKS!"

The Gallade immediately woke up and punched Rick to make him let go, "Quit yelling! What's wrong with you anyways?"

Once Rick heard his voice he rolled on the floor laughing, "Nice of you to join our '_team_' A."

"What the hell are you talking about? And why the emphasis on 'team'?"

"Look at yourself and you'll find out."

A looked at his hand and then his eyes shot open and he gave out a loud scream, "DAMN IT!

Rick laughed again, "Something you need to explain to me?"

"There was a Ninetails in the forest that tried to claim the entire forest as its territory. Apparently, it cursed me to live as a pokemon for a hundred years, and without Lucy's protection, the curse managed to get through."

Rick never heard that name before, "Who's Lucy?"

A's emotions suddenly shifted and Rick could feel sadness coming from him, "Lucy was my Ninetails. She would always protect me from the curses of other Ninetails and ghosts. However, last night she died from complications in childbirth. The pup was saved, but she couldn't be."

Rick immediately stopped laughing and stood up, "Why wasn't this brought to my attention? You know I would of done everything I could to have saved her."

A waved him off, "No, there was nothing you could of done. Thanks for the concern. I'm alright."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Let's move on to something else. We need to find the Ninetails that cursed me and make it take back the curse."

Rick whistled, "Bad news is that the Ninetails in most likely gone now. They have a tendency to disappear at a moment's notice."

A facepalmed and yelled, "Damn it!"

Rick chuckled and said, "Enjoy your life as a pokemon...or I can just give you back your human form?"

"What now?"

"Yes, I can do that as can many psychic types. That's how the members of my team have human forms."

"Do you think it'll break the curse?"

"I have no idea, most likely not, but it's worth a shot."

A sighed and said, "I figured. However, I have nothing to lose."

"Good! Close your eyes and take down any and all mental defenses." A nodded and did as he was told. Rick's eyes then began to glow and soon A began to glow until he was human again. "There you're human again." A suddenly began to glow and he became a pokemon again. "Well shit!"

"I guess it didn't break the curse. Maybe I just have to work on being able to transform back and forth from pokemon to human."

"There's an idea...Can we leave now?"

[Two Hours Later]

The team was riding on Avion, trying to get home. They decided to not take the Mercury because of the threat of causing panic because of its appearance. They were flying over the Johto region and A was trying to transform back into a human, but with the same results each time.

Rick turned and looked at A, "You know, eventually you're going to get tired."

A asked him, "You want me to stop?"

"I want you to rest for a while. Start fresh when you have your energy."

"Fine, but we have to find a way to turn me back to normal. However, this is pretty badass." He said as he drew his arm blades.

Rick warned him, "Be careful with your blades and your new psychic powers. Takes a while to learn."

"I'll just get Loran, my Gallade, to teach me."

"Whatever floats your boat."

They kept flying until they were over the Indigo Plateau. Alara then said, "Isn't that Kanto and Johto League?"

Jean answered her question, "Yeah. The champ is probably in there waiting for their next challenger."

A chuckled and then seemed to have dozed off. He suddenly woke back up and said, "Rick, can you land Avion?"

Rick was curious, "Why?"

"I feel that there's something here."

"Is it important?"

"I think it is. Just land Avion within the Victory Road."

Rick sighed, "Alright, but there better be something."

Rick then commanded Avion to land. Avion chirped and flew into a hole that went into the Victory Road. Avion then landed and let everyone off.

Once they were off Dartz asked A, "Alright, where to?"

A shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea."

Everyone quickly facepalmed and shook their heads.

Rick sighed, "So what was the point? Let's just go." He then noticed Avion walking to a cave wall, "Avion? What are you doing?"

Avion ignored Rick and began to peck at the wall. After a few pecks at the wall, Avion turned and hit the wall with his mace-like tail. The wall collapsed a hallway appeared. Once the wall fell, Avion began to shriek at something inside. Avion began to flap his wings and make himself look bigger, as if it was preparing to fight something.

Rick walked up to Avion and tried to calm him down, "Avion! Calm down! What's gotten into you?"

He received a message from Twilight, _"I'm sensing a Titan up ahead."_

"What!?" Rick turned to his team and said, "Apparently, we have a Titan in here."

Jean laughed and said, "Looks like A was right. However, we can't ignore it now. Avion left the door wide open."

"True, tread carefully guys." Rick looked at Avion, "Come with us. If anything, you can sense where the Titan is."

Avion chirped and began to glow. He began to shrink until he was the size of a parrot and perched himself on Rick's shoulder, surprising the team.

Rick looked at the team and said, "Yeah, I just found out that he can do this a few days ago. Let's go." Secretly he was saying to himself, *Please be an easy Titan...oh shit there's no such thing.*

The team walked down the hallway and saw that it appeared as if it was built expertly. Rick wondered what was housed in the structure since it had to be trapped in there. They soon walked into what seemed like a temple. There was stained glass on the windows, even though they were underground. There were statues on the walls and an inscription that Rick couldn't read.

Rick asked A, "Do you know what this says?"

A shrugged, "Hell if I know."

Twilight then contacted Rick, _"Aeru, it says: Tread carefully in the lion's den or be devoured; Take up arms against the knight or be defeated; Ride the steed to safety or be left behind."_

Rick was confused, "What does that mean?"

_"You'll soon find out."_

Rick didn't ask anymore questions and told Alara and Green, "You two should stay here. This Titan sounds like no joke if he can startle Avion."

Alara nodded and said to Rick, "Be careful. To be honest, I wanted to see this Titan for myself."

"I'm hoping that there really isn't a Titan."

Alara shook her head, "Don't be a coward now."

Rick was surprised, "Don't you want me to be safe?"

"Yeah, but you have a job to do. Go, we'll be fine here."

Rick nodded and the other members of the team walked on. Rick drew Shadowbane and waited until Avion made some sort of sign to give him the Titan's location. They eventually ran into a fork in the hallway, frustrating the team. Avion made the decision for them by flying down one hallway, and the team following. They followed Avion throughout the hallway until Avion stopped in the middle of an arena. Avion looked towards a cave at the end of the arena and began to grow back to his original state. Avion shrieked towards the cave and opened his wings to make himself look bigger.

Rick looked at Avion and asked, "Is the Titan in there boy?" Avion chirped. "Then let's get this over with."

A loud growl was then heard coming from the cave and two giant red eyes appeared.

Twilight then said to Rick, _"Behold! Titan Ixion."_

Rick relayed the name of the Titan to the team, "This Titan is called Ixion."

After he said that he saw the Titan walking out of the cave. Ixion looked like a gigantic gold and silver lion with five horns, one longer horn sticking from his forehead. He had massive claws on his paws, a bladed tail, and a golden mane. There were a series of spikes running along his back.

Ixion saw the intruders in his domain and gave a monstrous roar, shaking the ground. Rick and the team drew their weapons and waited for Ixion to attack. Avion shrieked and taunted Ixion. Ixion eyed Avion and rolled into a ball and rolled over to the team, his spikes rolling like a saw. Rick and his team jumped out of the way and Avion flew into the air, making Ixion hit the wall. Avion then dove down and whipped his tail at Ixion as he got out of his ball state, clubbing Ixion on the side of his head.

While Avion and Ixion battled it out, Rick and his team tried to find where Ixion's sigils were.

Seras said to the team, "Since he's a Titan we need to get rid of the sigils first."

Jean followed up by saying, "Yeah, but they're moving to much for me to tell."

Dartz scoffed and said, "You need to learn to concentrate. I already found two. Two under his front paws, and one on his back."

A then followed up, "There's one in between its eyes as well." He then saw Avion dive down and sink his talons into the sigil on Ixion's forehead. "Forget it, it's gone."

Ixion roared in pain and bit down onto Avion's tail. Ixion then swung Avion around and slammed him onto a wall. Once Avion was hurt, Ixion turned to the rest of the team and charged for them. Dartz worked quickly and used his wire to trip Ixion.

Dartz then taunted Ixion, "What's wrong kitty? Can't beat the dog? Sucks!"

Ixion opened his eyes and opened his mouth towards Dartz. Suddenly a yellow ball of energy formed in Ixion's mouth. Dartz quickly summoned his spear and spun it vigorously as Ixion fired his attack at Dartz. Dartz managed to deflect the attack and got out of Ixion's way. Ixion got up and and charged another attack, this time towards A.

A noticed Ixion taking aim and charged a Judgement attack on his blade. Ixion then fired his attack, and A doing the same. A's attack sliced through Ixion's and kept going. Ixion stood still and let the attack hit him. The attack however shifted its course and hit his horn out of nowhere. Ixion then roared with a stronger vigor and fired another attack at A. A fired another Judgement at him, but this time Ixion's attack obliterated the Judgement and kept going towards A. Rick immediately appeared and teleported A out of the way.

Rick appeared behind Ixion and fired a Star Storm at Ixion. The energy balls however converged onto Ixion's horn and were absorbed into Ixion.

Rick then realized what was going on, "Guys, this thing can absorb energy attacks...and apparently it makes it stronger until the energy is used."

Seras cursed her luck, "Crap! Most of my moves are special attacks, so I can't use them."

"We'll have to adapt to fight this thing."

Dartz then yelled, "Look out!"

The looked back and were barely able to dodge an energy attack from Ixion's horn. Ixion then growled and stood upright until he slammed his paws onto the ground, causing an earthquake. From the cracks in the ground emerged energy spikes that chased after the team. Luckily for the team, Avion woke up and rescued them. Avion then turned around hit Ixion on the horn, forcing him to fall over. Just then A noticed a sigil on Ixion's belly. He jumped off of Avion and sunk his blades into the sigil.

Ixion roared in pain rolled upright, making A dangle in the air, his blades in Ixion's belly. Ixion felt him and used his tail to try to take A off. A dodged the blade at the end of the tail by leaning to one side. Eventually Ixion wrapped his tail around A and pulled him out. Ixionused his tail bring A to eye level and roared at him. He then began to squeeze A to death. A began to scream in pain and suddenly began to glow until he turned human again. Ixion almost killed A until Jean came diving from Avion's back and **Blaze Kicked** Ixion to make him let go of A.

Avion then appeared and hit Ixion with his tail. Rick jumped off of Ixion and caught A as he fell. Rick noticed that A was unconscious and used **Healing Pulse** on A, making him wake up.

Rick noticed and said, "Good, you're alive. Also, you're human again. I guess stress can do that to you."

A then said, "Yay!" He then thanked Rick, "Thanks. That was more painful than I thought."

"Well at least you're alive. Let's kill this thing. It only has two sigils left and we have a plan. DARTZ NOW!"

They looked at Dartz as he wrapped his wire around Ixion, making him fall over. Rick and A then quickly ran over and stabbed the two sigils on Ixion's paws. Rick was about to go for a kill strike until he saw Ixion charge an attack in his mouth. Avion suddenly appeared and took the hit for Rick. Rick and Avion went flying through the air and Avion managed to catch Rick and fell to the ground carrying Rick. Avion then disintegrated and turned back into his Titan seal, in Rick's hands.

Ixion saw what he did and roared sending a shockwave and throwing everyone away, except for A. The team tried to get back to the battlefield but were stopped by an energy shield that Ixion summoned. A looked up at Ixion and saw him begin to glow and change shape.

A said out loud, "No...way!"

Ixion then stopped glowing and his appearance was different. This time he looked like an 18ft tall man in a complete suit of gold and silver armor, a long golden cape, he had a golden shield with a lion sigil on it, and a large dual-ended sword.

A got up and cracked his neck. He then said to Ixion, "You want to challenge me, don't you?" Ixion nodded. "Well, alright, but I'm not holding back." A then transformed into his battle form and said to Ixion, "Come at me!"

(Battle Music: **Fighting Fate from Final Fantasy 13**)

Ixion then swung at A. A dodged the attack and returned attacks to Ixion. Ixion used his shield to block the attacks and fired energy balls at A, forcing him to jump into the air. Just then Ixion shield bashed him and sent A flying to wall. A pried himself off the wall and fired a thunderbolt at Ixion, who absorbed the attack and fired it back at A in the form of an energy blade. A blocked the energy blade by slicing it. Just then he was punched by Ixion, forcing him to the ground.

A got up and grabbed his blade, staggering, and surprised how powerful this Titan was. He then said, "You know. I never thought much about you Titans seeing how few you guys are. However, you guys are powerful and I'm having the time of my life."

Ixion cocked his head and charged energy into his blade and threw his blade like a boomerang, it returning to his hand. A ducked under the blade and ran towards Ixion. Ixion saw him and stomped down at him, with A dodging the attack. Ixion then kicked at him and hit him, sending him rolling to the other end of the arena.

A got up and saw his shoulder being out of its place. A held his breath and popped it back in place and ran back towards Ixion. Ixion fired an energy blade at A and A vanished as the blade hit the ground. Ixion looked for him and then felt his right knee getting slashed, making him fall onto the knee. He looked and saw A next to his knee. Ixion tried to bash A with his shield, but A threw his sword and it cut Ixion's arm, forcing him to drop the shield. Ixion then tried to punch A, but A dodged it ran up the arm. Ixion tried using his injured left arm to grab A, but A jumped on it and kept going. Ixion then used his blade to swat A off, but A held onto the tip of the blade and let go so he could be in the air.

A recovered and dove down, blade aiming for Ixion's head. Ixion saw him and tried to slash him, but A vanished. Ixion the felt something slashing his throat and saw A with his blade still in his throat.

A then said, "Done!"

A then pulled the blade out of Ixion's throat and Ixion began to fall. A jumped on Ixion's shoulder and then hopped onto Ixion's back. Ixion fell with a massive thud and began to disintegrate. A hopped off and then saw Ixion become a Titan Seal in the shape of a head of a roaring lion, gold in color. A quickly grabbed the Titan Seal and looked at it like a prize.

The energy shield that prevented the team from reaching them then disappeared and Rick walked up to A and said, "Well I be damned! You did it!"

A transformed back to normal and said, "It was tough as hell."

"I didn't know that you had another form, but I'm not about to ask."

A then tossed Ixion's Titan Seal to Rick, "Here! One more Titan."

Rick smirked and tossed it back, "You beat him. You're his master now."

They were interrupted by the ground shaking and the walls collapsing. A said to Rick, "We have to get out of here and fast!"

Rick nodded and summoned Avion. A walked forward and somehow dropped Ixion's seal. It shattered and Ixion reappeared, but this time in the shape of a war horse with a blade for a horn. A saw him and then understood the inscription in the temple: A lion, a knight, and a steed.

A hopped onto Ixion and took off after Rick and the other on Avion. They soon made it back to the temple and Rick, quickly grabbing Alara while A grabbed Green. After a short run they made it out of the temple, just as the entrance collapsed.

They all took a sigh of relieve and Jean said, "This job is crazy."

Green noticed that A was human again and that he had Ixion and said, "You're back to normal and I see that you got the Titan."

A smiled and said, "Yeah, it feels awesome to have one. Also, it feels so good to be human again." He suddenly transformed back into a Gallade and said, "Damn it all!"

Everyone began to laugh and continued on their trek back home.

[Rocket HQ]

Epsilon was sitting in her room, smiling at her luck. The brace was off her leg and she was laughing to herself.

"I'm back Alpha and nothing is going to stop me now."

**Well there you have it. Epsilon is back and she's no longer playing around. The first major battle in the war is going to come, so look out for that. Anyways, thanks guys for everything. I have been having a hard few weeks and I'm sorry that it has been affecting me. Thanks for everything guys.**


	48. Chapter 48: Project Reunion

**Here it is guys Chapter 48. I'm going to make this short because I have a very limited time. This chapter was a pain to write because of difficulties with my computer and at home. However, here it is for you guys to enjoy. The contest ends tomorrow, so this is the last call for contest entries. Also the poll will be closed as of April 6th, so make sure to vote on that. Thanks for everything guys! View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Canada, 3rd) Philippines, 4th) Ireland, 5th) Australia.**

[Rocket HQ]

Epsilon woke up from her sleep. She felt better than she had ever felt in a long time, mainly because of her freedom. She stretched and looked around the room, where she saw Omicron. She got off her bed and hopped onto his and carefully got on top of him, so she didn't wake him up. Once she was on top of him she punched him in the snout, waking him up violently.

Omicron yelled out in pain, and holding his snout, "Ow! You bitch!"

Epsilon put her paw to his mouth to shut him up, "Shut your mouth! Get up! We have some work to do today."

Omicron arched an eyebrow and asked, "What are we going to do today?"

"We're going to get some payback on Alpha."

"And how pray-tell, do you expect to do that?"

"By taking you and another Project with me. Alpha's energy has been detected multiple times, but it keeps disappearing. The next place it appears in will be our destination today."

"Who the hell are you going to take with us?"

"We'll ask around."

[Beta]

"Epsilon leave the boy alone."

Epsilon growled, "Why!? We are his enemies!"

Beta sighed, "I'm not helping you."

[Ashlyn]

"No! I have gone after him more than anyone here. I'm so tired of this now."

Epsilon sighed, "Oh come on! You used to be my partner before you teamed up with Omega."

"That doesn't give me a reason to help you."

"Listen, we both hate him. Why not work together to take him out?"

"I don't hate him. Hell, I don't really know him all too much."

Epsilon facepalmed, "Damn it! Where's Omega?"

"In the training grounds."

[Omega]

"Fuck off Epsilon, I don't have time for this."

Epsilon growled, "Why is everyone declining to help me?"

"Because it's you and your stupid plan. Just leave Alpha alone for now."

"Listen, it's simple. We kill Alpha, end of story."

Omega scoffed, "If it's so simple, why haven't you killed him yet?"

"Touche! But come on! You're life's goal is to kill him."

Omega sighed and said, "It is, but I'm not obsessed with it at all times. Sometimes I just leave him alone because it's too much of a bother."

"So you won't help then?"

"Oh good Arceus! No!"

[Epsilon and Omicron's Room]

Epsilon sat on Omicron's bed, sulking at the fact that none of the Projects were willing to help her take down Rick. As she was sulking, Omicron was laying down on the bed, looking at her.

He shook his head and sighed, "Lucy, calm down."

Epsilon laid down next to him, visibly frustrated, "Don't call me Lucy. My name is Lucrecia, and here it's Epsilon."

"But not to me." He said as he pulled her closer and began to kiss her.

Epsilon stopped him, "Jack, not now. I'm not in the mood."

"So you can call me by my real name, but I can't call you by your shortened name?"

Epsilon sighed, "Fine! Call me what you want, but it's not helping me now, is it?"

"True, but I think I know a way to brighten your mood." He said in a hopeful tone, while rubbing Epsilon's arm and back.

Epsilon pushed him off and said, "No Jack. I'm not in the mood to mate right now."

"Aww! Why not?"

Epsilon punched him in the face, "You know why. What have we been doing all morning and what have we been talking about?"

Omicron sighed and said, "I know, I know, I know. Can't blame a guy for trying."

Epsilon chuckled, "I can't." She then sighed, "I just need to find a Project that's willing to help us kill Alpha. I just ask for one that's not you because I know that you're already on board to help."

Omicron then said, "Well we haven't tried every Project now. We kinda skipped one."

"Iota?"

Omicron nodded and said, "Yes, Iota."

Epsilon seemed afraid, "I don't want to talk to Iota."

"Are you still afraid of him?"

"I'm never afraid of anyone! He just demands a lot of respect and he creeps me out."

Omicron arched an eyebrow, "How so?"

"Well he has a very cold personality, he shows no emotions. He's callous, aloof, indifferent, and brooding. Also, he sees us all as expendable."

"In other words, you're afraid of him."

Epsilon couldn't lie anymore, "Yes! I'm afraid of him. He trained all of us and he is so unforgiving."

"I know, he trained me too. It was always horrible. I shiver just thinking about it. However, if you need him then we should try."

Epsilon nodded hesitantly and said, "Alright, but only if you go with me."

Omicron chuckled, "Of course! So when do we go see him?"

"Later today. I want to brace myself for the encounter."

"Your meeting another Project, not the devil."

"He's a Houndoom. He's as close to a devil as you can get."

Omicron chuckled at Epsilon's fear and held her, "Don't worry, as long as you know your place around him, he won't hurt you. Also, I won't let him."

Epsilon smiled and hugged him (I know, this bitch and this asshole actually have hearts...well for one another at least), "Thanks. I'm happy to have chosen you as my mate."

"Well it wasn't like I had much of a choice. If I remember correctly, you were in your first heat and you attacked me."

"I don't need to know the details. Don't ruin this rare moment of affection."

[Iota's Room]

Epsilon and Upsilon arrived outside of Iota's room, with Epsilon holding onto Omicron's arm.

Omicron noticed her holding onto him and said, "Don't worry, everything will be okay. What are the odds of him harming us?"

Epsilon replied, "That's what scares me. He's too unpredictable."

"He's very even tempered, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"How can you tell? He shows no emotions."

"It's just a guy thing. I can talk to him man to man, cat to dog."

Epsilon sweatdropped, "That's a horrible example. Cats and dogs are supposed to hate each other."

"We don't."

"Touche!"

They then heard a voice from inside the room, "Are you coming in or are you going to have a conversation outside my door all day?"

Omicron the responded, "Yes, we're going in."

Omicron then opened the door and walked in with Epsilon gripping him tightly. In the room they saw Iota, meditating, and then opening his red eyes to look at them. Epsilon retreated a little when she saw him and Iota got up and walked off his meditation post. His face was strikingly emotionless. His very gaze sent fear coursing through Epsilon and she hid behind Omicron.

Iota noticed and said, "Why do you hide? Do I sense fear?"

Epsilon didn't respond, instead she stayed hidden from Iota. Omicron tried to defend her, "Iota, leave her alone."

Iota stopped and looked at Omicron, "Don't defend trash. I taught you both better than that."

"She's not trash! She's my mate."

"Yes, trash and garbage, waste and filth. A fitting couple."

Omicron glared at him, "Hey back off!"

"Out of the way Omicron! I want to hear it from Epsilon."

"With all due respect sir, no."

Iota looked at him and then pushed him out of the way, sending him flying into the wall. Iota then looked at Epsilon as she began to back away from him. He then stuck his hand out and she went flying towards him and was suspended in midair as he looked at her.

He then said to her, "Why the fear?" Epsilon didn't answer. "Well?" Epsilon didn't respond again. "Pathetic!" He then threw her towards Omicron, slamming him back onto the wall. "Now, for what purpose have you come to my room?"

Omicron got off the wall and checked on Epsilon and saw that she was alright. He the replied, "We came here to see if you would come with us to help take down Alpha."

"Oh yes, you and Epsilon have failed to do that on several occasions so now you need my help."

"Well we asked everyone else and they all declined our offer."

"And what makes you believe that I wouldn't do the same?"

"Because you can't resist the chance to kill one of the traitors."

Iota stopped and thought for a second. He walked to his chair and sat down. He then said, "Good point. I will help you then. Just to see how epic of a failure this will be and how I will have to remedy the situation."

Omicron responded acerbically, "Gee thanks asshole."

"When do we leave?"

Epsilon then spoke, "When his signal is picked up. Wherever it is, we will go to immediately."

"Very well. Now, leave me to my meditation."

Epsilon nodded and bowed her head as she left the room, followed by Omicron.

[S.A Mercury]

Rick and his team were making their way to the Hoenn region, by request of Mr. Silph himself. Rick was not clear on the details, but if Mr. Silph sent him on a job he was not about to argue. Rick was in the lounge with the guys playing video games.

As some of the guys were playing, Rick noticed A stretching in a vigorous way. Rick asked him, "A what's wrong with you?"

A replied, "I'm recovering from loss of motor control that I suffered yesterday at the hands of a masseuse."

"Wow! How tense were you?"

"Apparently very. I still believe that I don't have complete function in a few of my toes, but I should be over it."

Rick pat him on the back, "So how do you feel? You know, being a pokemon and all."

"I'm getting used to it. I'm still a little shaky with the psychic powers."

Rick shrugged, "It gets easier with practice. That's why we have our children practice from a very young age. Ever since they turn two, we teach them how to use minor telekinesis. Just as long as they can speak and understand what we're saying. However, as psychic types, they learn how to talk faster than most other beings. So now that you're an adult, you should learn faster than the Ralts and Kirlias in our society."

A laughed, "I hope so. I don't want Maiyu to be ahead of me."

Rick laughed with him and said, "Don't worry, she's still learning. The furthest she can go right now is mastering **Confusion**."

"She's pretty good at it though. Soon, she'll find the resolve to learn **Psychic**."

Rick smiled and said, "Yeah I know. She knows a lot of moves for her age. She even learned **Zen Headbutt** and **Magic Coat**. Which is weird because I never taught her those moves. I taught her **Shadow Sneak**, **Signal Beam**, and **Double Team**."

"What about **Shadow Ball**? I've seen almost everyone in your species use it at least once."

"Well that's a move we usually learn from our parents or in school. I learned it from my parents, same way I learned **Signal Beam**."

"How can I learn **Signal Beam** and **Shadow Ball** now?"

Rick thought for a second before answering, "Someone has to teach it to you or you just pick it up by seeing it. However, let me test your psychic prowess." Rick looked around the room and saw a book. "Can you bring that book over here from across the room?"

A concentrated his power onto the book and soon the book levitated off the desk. A now concentrated to bring it to him. Suddenly the book went flying towards them and Rick tackled A to the ground to make him dodge the high speed projectile.

A got up and looked at the damage the book made and he said, "I think I gave it too much juice."

Rick got up and said, "Yeah, you did. You'll learn how to control that. Also, you'll learn how to do that without concentrating so much or at all. It'll be like a second nature to you."

"I hope so. I really want to master this."

"There's a difference between being prolific at it and being a master at it. Being a master means that you can use it on almost anything. Which is pretty pointless for you since your sword already does that for you."

A smirked, "Well at least that eliminates one criteria."

"Yeah, well I'll be seeing you. Alara wants me to see her on the deck."

"Alright, have fun. I have to go see Green soon anyways she went somewhere with the girls."

"Okay, bye!"

Rick walked over to the transporter and took it to the deck's elevator. He arrived at the deck and looked for Alara and soon found her looking out from the edge of the Mercury, with Avion flying around the Mercury. Rick walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, making her jump.

Rick chuckled and said, "You wanted to see me."

Alara smiled and said, "Yeah. I just wanted to know what we're going to do in the Hoenn region."

"I'm as lost as you are." Rick said as he let her go. "All Mr. Silph told me was that it was imperative that we all go to the appointed location. However, he wouldn't give me a reason as to why go there."

"But you're still going since you respect the man so much."

"Yep."

Alara laughed and said, "Oh well, it's always interesting to see what that old man has in store for us."

Rick shrugged, "Yeah. The old man loves to surprise people, especially me. Also, I think I have an idea of what we might be doing."

"What?"

"I'm not telling."

Alara giggled, "Then I guess I'll have to wait."

Rick smirked and said, "Is that all you called me here for?"

"Not really. I just didn't want to be alone out here."

"Where are the girls?"

"Somewhere inside. I decided to come up here to relax for a while. We've been traveling a lot haven't we."

Rick wrapped his arm around her shoulders and said, "Yeah. If you want, we can stop for a while."

Alara laughed, "Are you kidding!? I love this. I used to rarely leave the Sanctuary until you came around. So I've been enjoying the chances to see new things so much."

"Well we'll enjoy Hoenn when we get there, but we're still a good while from there."

Alara sat down on a reclining chair that was on the deck and said, "So now what?"

Rick laid down on the chair with Alara, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping. We woke up too early for this trip."

Alara giggled again and laid down next to him and rested her head on his chest, "Great idea! I'm tired too."

They both soon closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep. Avion saw them and landed next to them. He then folded his wings and fell asleep next to them.

A soon appeared on the deck with Green and said, "Rick, Screech said that we'll be in the Hoenn region in about three ho...urs." He stopped when he saw them sleeping and said to Green with a smile, "Let's leave them alone. We don't want to wake them up." With that they left and left Rick, Alara, and Avion to sleep.

[Three Hours Later]

Rick and his team arrived in the Hoenn region. Rick sent the Mercury back to the Sanctuary and the team got onto Avion to fly to the appointed location that Mr. Silph gave them. They soon arrived in Route 121 and got off of Avion, who transformed back into his Titan Seal.

Jean asked Rick, "Is this the right place?"

Rick looked at the directions that Mr. Silph sent him, "Yeah, it's in this route. So I guess we just have to go west from here until we find the place."

"Any idea what this place looks like?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "Not a clue."

"Then what the hell dude!?"

Seras stopped them from arguing by stating, "Look! To the north of us is our old home. To the south of us is where Rick lived in with his parents before he became a Project. This whole region is a pool of memories for us."

Rick sighed and said, "I'm not looking to the south."

"Why?"

"To the north it's full good memories. To the south houses my pain."

Seras looked at him with sympathy, "Rick, it's in the past. Leave it in the past. Focus on now."

Rick nodded, "You're right. Now to figure out where in this route we're supposed to go." Rick then received a call on his Poketch. Rick looked and saw Mr. Silph's name on his Caller I.D. "Hello?"

Mr. Silph then spoke, "Rick? Good to hear from you again. So are you at the location?"

"Not quite. I'm in the Hoenn region with my team. However, we can't find out how to get to this place."

"Oh yes. Just go west and you should see a cabin in the horizon."

"A cabin, sir?"

"Yes."

Rick facepalmed, "So what was the purpose of this trip sir?

"You'll find out. Now just get to the cabin. I'll have one of my men shoot a flare to get your attention."

Rick and his team then saw a bright red light coming from an area in the forest. Rick sighed and said, "Alright, we know where it is now."

"Very well. I will speak to you all in the cabin. Goodbye!" Mr. Silph then hung up the call.

Rick sighed again and said, "Let's go. I already know what's going to happen."

No one asked Rick what he meant, instead they just followed him through the forest. After another ten minutes of walking in one direction, they finally arrived at what looked like a large cabin in the woods. The team saw Mr. Silph's men on the patio. They saluted Rick and opened the doors for the team.

The team walked in and were directed to a room in the back of the cabin. A guard opened the door to reveal Mr. Silph sitting at a desk.

Rick shook his head and asked Mr. Silph, "Sir, do you remember why it's so dangerous for you to leave your secure location?"

Mr. Silph took a puff from his cigar and said, "You can't protect me forever boy. Also, I prefer coming out of that building every once and a while. Anyways, it's good to see you again and to see your team with my own eyes. Alara dear, you've let your hair grow a bit longer."

Alara chuckled and said, "Yeah. Trying to get myself ready for the wedding. So I let my hair grow longer than usual. Mainly so I can make it look so pretty when it comes time to get married."

Mr. Silph smiled and said, "Oh yes. I got the invitation. I can't wait. I want to be there and I have cleared my entire schedule for that week so I can attend the wedding."

Rick smirked and said, "Well I'll be more than happy to have you stay with us during your stay. I'm also so happy that you're attending sir."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world boy. I'm very proud of you. You're moving ahead with life."

A noticed something and asked Mr. Silph, "Sir, how can you understand us?"

"A very good question. You see, as the head of Silph Co. I was given a translator." He then looked at Green and said, "The same type that you have on at the moment."

Rick then asked, "Sir, with all due respect, what is the reason you called us over here?"

"Oh yes, that's right. Well first off, don't get mad at me. The reason I called you and your friends over is because I wanted you and your friends to have a spa day for today."

"Oh great! Another vacation. Sir, I don't think I need to relax."

Mr. Silph then chuckled and said, "Not by my diagnosis. Rick, just take the day. Treat your friends to some R&R. Some of them look as if they need it. Anyways, there's a spa here with a complete staff to attend to you."

Rick sighed and looked at his team and nodded, "Alright sir. We'll take the day for resting."

Neil laughed and said, "Looks like we have to let Rick have most of the relaxation."

The team agreed and laugh. Mr. Silph then said, "Well on that note, I shall be leaving you all. I must return to my secure location and have a meeting with Stephen Stone. Take care everyone!"

Everyone said their goodbyes to Mr. Silph and immediately split up and went throughout the spa. Rick and Alara were together and decided to go to the hot springs. There Rick and Alara got comfortable in the warm water, well Alara at least. Rick was still haunted by the thought that Epsilon could attack at any minute. So he feared every second that passed, in anticipation for destruction.

Alara snuggled up to Rick and said to him, "This is so relaxing. Isn't it babe?"

Rick snapped out of his train of though and said, "Huh? Yeah. I guess."

Alara was surprised by Rick's lack of attention and asked him, "Babe, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself lately. You've been so distant. As if you're waiting for something to happen."

"That's the thing Ally. I told you that Twilight said that Epsilon will be free and will attack in the near future. I just can't shake if from my head. I've been on high alert lately."

"Dear, please don't let it bother you so much. Try to relax. Want to hear a little secret?"

Rick was suddenly interested, "Let me hear it."

"I'm the one that asked Mr. Silph to book a spa day for us."

Rick looked at her with a semi-angry face, "You did what?"

Alara tried to explain, "Rick, you've been so stressed lately. I was worried for you. I just want you to relax. You're growing old and you're not even twenty three yet. That just tells me that you need to calm down. Hell, even Maiyu is noticing. You're not playing with her as much as you used to."

Rick sighed and said, "I can't just sit around and do nothing. I have to protect my people. So I'm not exactly happy with this little stunt you just pulled on me."

Alara gave Rick a doleful expressing and noticed that he was looking away from her, "Rick, please don't be angry with me. I just wanted you to relax a little. Can you blame me for trying?"

Rick looked at her and lost his angry face, "I can't. I've just haven't been myself lately because of the revelation. What worried me right now is that I'm nowhere near home and I don't know what to do if something happens. It just really eats me up inside and..."

Alara cut him off by kissing him, "Relax. This is a day for you to leave all your troubles behind and take it easy." She then giggled, "You know what I just remembered?"

"What?"

"Remember that day when my parents locked us in the hot springs back in the Sanctuary?"

Rick laughed, "Oh yeah! One of our most awkward moments ever. I never got your dad back for that."

"Oh don't worry dear. I already did."

"What did you do?"

"Let's not go there."

"Alright, I'll leave it be."

Alara giggled, "We had a nice hour stuck in that room. Well it was still very awkward. I was naked and we weren't dating. The one thing that I wanted to do was to get out of there, but my parents sealed us in there. I was so embarrassed."

Rick scoffed, "You were embarrassed and I was trying not to look down. We had a nice chat though."

"Yeah. I remember that. You explained Remnants to me." She then thought of something, "Rick, do you think you'll ever turn me into a Remnant?"

Rick was surprised by her question and said, "I don't think so."

"Why not? You told me the risks, but all that seemed to be the common denominators is that since I'm of your same species, then I will assimilate to your power."

Rick thought of a better way to explain, "Alright, let see if I can somehow explain why I haven't turned you into a Remnant. Alright, think of this, if I turn you into an Assimilated Remnant then there is a chance our kids might come out as Assimilated Remnant. Personally, I don't want that. Do you?"

Alara thought for a second. She then sighed and said, "I guess not. Still it would be nice to be stronger. Having all my skills improved."

Rick shook his head, "You can get stronger without that shortcut."

"Can I?"

"Your ability to get stronger does not depend on becoming a Remnant. Being a Remnant just accelerates your training progress. I can continue to train you until you become as strong as a Remnant."

Alara was surprised, "Is that possible?"

"Of course! I'm not as strong as I used to be as a Project. Mainly because I gave up my powers. So I began to train until I reached this level of strength."

"So I guess you have a lot to teach me."

"I do, but we have a lot of time to do that. Hell, tomorrow is supposed to be our next training session. I'll teach you essentials if you ever run into a Project or a Fragment."

Alara closed one eye and said to Rick, "Oh I can handle Fragments."

"Dear, you handled Catalina. There are way stronger Fragments. Each with unique skills."

"Thanks for shooting down my thunder."

Rick laughed and said, "Sorry, but I have to be honest. You're strong already, but you need a bit more of a push."

Alara giggled, "Don't push me too hard or I'll sue."

Rick shook his head and said, "That was a bad joke."

Alara giggled again, "I know. I just had nothing better to say at that moment."

"Oh well. Anyways, I'll try to relax today."

"Promise me that you will."

Rick sighed and said, "I'll try. I can't promise yet."

"Well I guess that's the best I'm going to get from you."

Rick chuckled and pulled Alara into a kiss as they indulged in the tranquility of the water.

[Six Hours Later]

Rick and the team were all in the main room of the cabin, all talking and spending time together. Everyone seemed to be more relaxed and rejuvenated than before. They all spoke of their day, each one taking turns. Rick sat down on a chair and listened to all of them talk of their day.

Seras was speaking, "Well I took Jean through nearly everywhere in the spa. I even got him to get a manicure for his talons."

Jean followed up by saying, "And my talons have never looked so much better."

Dartz then walked up to him and hit him with a steel chair, "That's payback you son of a bitch!"

A then asked Dartz, "Damn Dartz! What the hell did he do?"

"I was at the masseuse and then this idiot appears from out of nowhere and..."

[Two Hours Earlier]

Dartz was laying down on a massage bed, waiting for the masseuse to begin.

The masseuse then said to him, "Alright, I have to return to my office to get something. I'll be right back."

Dartz nodded, "Alright, take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

The masseuse left the room and Dartz made himself comfortable in the massage bed. Unbeknownst to him, Jean managed to sneak into the room and silently stacked two other beds so that he could be a considerable distance off the ground. He then put on a lucha libre mask and positioned himself perfectly. He then jumped off and elbow dropped Dartz.

Jean quickly got up and yelled, "YEEEEAH! Flame Bird wins again!" He then ran out the room, leaving a hurt Dartz in the room.

A minute later the masseuse returned to the room saying, "Alright, I'm back...What happened here?"

Dartz said in an angry, yet hurt tone, "A bird...a bird happened. There is going to be bloodshed today."

[Back In the Room]

Rick chuckled and said, "I agree with Dartz. He had it coming."

Dartz then said, "Good! Thank you!" He then slammed the chair onto Jean again and sat back down.

Neil walked up to Jean and helped him up, "You guys really are some cold motherfucker."

Everyone laughed and soon began to socialize again. Rick however began to get haunted by the same thoughts as earlier, and Alara sensing it.

Alara asked Rick, "Rick, are you okay?"

Rick nodded, "Yeah, I just have to clear my head." Rick got up from his seat, "Well it's been nice and all, but I have to go take a walk. You know, to clear my head of all of this." Rick then gave Alara Avion's Titan Seal. "Here Ally, take Avion."

A snapped his head towards Rick and said, "Say Rick, don't you think that you might want to be a bit more cautious? You should keep a guard with you. Or better yet, not go at all."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "Why would I need a guard?"

A tried to reason with Rick, "Team Rocket hasn't made any moves in a long time, but if they spot you alone, I'm pretty sure you'll come under fire."

"While I admire your concern and your opinion, I think I still want to take the walk alone. Mainly because I don't want to worry others. Sadly, you kinda did that just now. A, I just want to clear my head and walking alone is the only way I know how."

A growled in frustration and then threw his hands up and said, "Alright, but I don't want anyone to call me paranoid if I'm right." He then walked out of the room saying, "Now I need my own walk."

Rick shook his head and kissed Alara before leaving the cabin and going on his walk. Rick walked around the the forest for a few minutes, enjoying the nature around him. It made him miss his old traveling days and he wanted this walk to count for something.

"Ah, just what I needed, fresh air and no worried...for now."

Rick soon found a large rock on a cliff that overlooked the forest. He sat down on it and teleported his guitar to his hands and began to play. After a few minutes of playing he finally stopped. Rick then sighed and said, "I should of brought Ally with me. She would of liked it here. Oh well, I guess I should go back to the cabin. Alara is probably waiting for me."

Rick got up from the rock and began to walk back to the cabin, which was now a spec in the horizon. Rick walked for a little while until he heard footsteps behind him. Rick drew his blade and turned around and was met with Epsilon slashing at him with her scythe. Rick blocked the attack and kicked Epsilon back.

Epsilon began to laugh and said, "It's been a while, Alpha." Epsilon cocked her head and looked at Rick, "Well you've changed a bit. It's been what, six months since you last saw me?"

Rick growled at her and said, "What the hell are you doing here? Your last attempt got you a house arrest sentence for the last six months."

"I'm actually here on Giovanni's orders."

"Well how do you like that? The idiot finally made a good decision."

Epsilon scoffed and said to Rick, "Sorry to ruin the moment, but I'm here to kill you."

"All alone like this?"

"Who said I was alone?"

Suddenly Omicron and a Houndoom with a glowing 'I' on his sternum appeared. Rick looked at the Houndoom and immediately recognized him.

"Omicron...Iota." As he said that three energy attacks came flying toward the Projects. Iota noticed them and got swung his hand upwards, knocking the attacks away. The attacks exploding in the horizon.

Epsilon then asked Rick, "You have an ally with you?"

Rick sighed and thought to himself, *Damn it A! You couldn't just leave me alone, could you?*

Epsilon laughed and asked Rick, "So Alpha, where's your mate?"

Rick glared at her and said, "Nowhere you can harm her anymore."

"I can harm her by killing you."

"Are you going to attack me or just taunt me all day?"

Epsilon sighed, "Well you're no fun. But if you insist then alright."

(Battle Music:** Belmont the Legend from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness**)

Epsilon and Omicron then attacked Rick and Iota simply sat down on a rock, meditating.

Rick quickly blocked Epsilon's attack and ducked under Omicron's attack. Rick then elbowed Omicron in the head and swung Shadowbane at Epsilon. Epsilon barely blocked the attack and jumped back.

Rick lunged for Epsilon but was pulled back by Omicron who punched him to the ground and pressed his foot onto his chest. Rick tried to pry Omicron's foot off his chest, but to no avail. Omicron the lifted his axe to kill Rick. Rick stopped him by immobilizing him with **Psychic** and hitting him with a **Signal Beam**, making him get off of Rick. Rick jumped to his feet and kicked Omicron back. Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up and Omicron went tumbling away.

Rick said to himself, "So you want to help, don't you A? Alright, just don't get killed." (Omicron vs A appearing in _**A Deal With A God by EmeraldDragon1**_)

Rick turned around to face Epsilon and dodged an energy blade from her. Rick ran forward and disappeared as Epsilon swung at him. He reappeared behind her and pulled her by her hair. Rick the put two of his fingers onto her head and began to charge a beam on his finger tips. She quickly swung her scythe behind her, making Rick jump back. Epsilon then charged a **Night Daze** and slammed her arms onto the ground. The force sent Rick flying onto a tree and he quickly shook the pain off. Rick then saw Epsilon charge a **Dark Pulse**, prompting Rick to charge a Signal Beam on his spike. They released their beams at one another and an explosion suddenly erupted.

Rick staggered up onto his feet and patted the dust off his body. Epsilon staggered up as well and looked at Iota, who was still sitting on the rock, meditating.

She scoffed and asked him, "Are you going to fight or not Iota?"

Iota looked at her and said, "When the time comes, I will."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Pay attention!"

Epsilon turned back around and was barely able to dodge a slash attack from Rick. Rick then fired an energy blade at Epsilon. Epsilon sliced it half with a **Night Slash** and ran forward towards Rick. Rick grabbed her arm as she was slashing at him, he then headbutted her and hit her with the blunt of his sword.

Rick looked over Epsilon and charged another beam at her. She then suddenly woke up and threw dirt into Rick's eyes. She then kicked Rick's legs and hit him with a **Night Slash**, sending him to the ground. Epsilon then stood on his back and charged another **Night Slash**, but she was suddenly knocked off by a **Flamethrower** attack, coming out of nowhere. She got up, and to her surprise, Project Delta was there in front of her. Rick rolled onto his feet and looked at where Epsilon was looking and was astonished at the sight of Delta.

Rick then said, "Delta?"

The Ninetails smiled at Rick and said, "It's good to see you too Alpha or would you rather I call you Rick?"

"Call me whatever the hell you want. I'm just surprised to see you."

"Same here, but then again, I knew something would be up and Mr. Silph wanted us to keep and eye on you."

"Us?"

Delta elaborated, "By 'us' I mean me and Gamma."

"He's here too?"

"Yeah, but he's helping your friend fight Omicron. Their fight should be over really soon."

Epsilon growled and said, "Hey! I thought this was a fight not a chat!"

Delta growled and said, "Epsilon, mind yourself!"

Unexpectantly Epsilon apologized, "I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to...wait...what the hell am I apologizing to you for!?"

Delta chuckled and said, "She still remembers the pecking order. You two were so sweet when you were children. Now you're a psychopathic, egotistical Zoroark, and a stressed out of his mind Gallade. Oh where did I go so wrong with you two?"

Rick then asked Delta, "Are you going to help me fight Epsilon?"

Delta shook her head, "No. You see I'm actually...um...I'm pregnant Rick. It's a little embarrassing saying that to you since I took care of you when you were little."

Rick was surprised, "You're pregnant!? Damn! Gamma put in work."

Delta punched Rick's arm, "Oh don't say that!"

Rick laughed, "It's true. Oh how I've missed you guys so much!"

"We did too."

Rick suddenly noticed an energy blade headed towards them and sliced it in half with Shadowbane. Epsilon then charged towards them and Rick kicked her back.

Rick sighed and said, "I'm ending this now. This is ridiculous."

Rick then charged energy into Shadowbane and ran to Epsilon. Epsilon swung down at Rick, but the energy in the blade increased the force of Rick's block and sent her scythe recoiling. Rick then hit her with an energy blade, sending her flying. He then charged and fired a beam at her and used Psycho Star Storm. The combined energy then exploded, leaving Epsilon as a smoldering mess.

Epsilon coughed in pain and tried to reach for her scythe. Rick then stepped on her hand and kicked the scythe away. Epsilon the looked up at Rick in fear and Rick lifted Shadowbane to kill Epsilon. He quickly looked over to where A's fight with Omicron was and he saw an Arcanine fighting Omicron.

Rick thought to himself, *Gamma? Wow they really did come to help me. Anyways, I have to end this now.*

Rick looked at Epsilon and swung down. Suddenly, he couldn't feel Shadowbane in his hand and looked to see his hand empty. He looked to his right and saw Shadowbane plunged into the ground, and Iota rubbing his hands for touching the blade.

Rick was shocked and said to himself, "I couldn't see his movements."

Rick tried to move forward, but then felt his gut being cut open. He looked down and saw a large gaping wound on his gut. Rick turned around and saw Iota on the other end, holding a bloody sword. Rick continued to look at Iota's cold, emotionless eyes until his legs failed him and he fell to his knees, letting Epsilon scurry away. As Rick fell to the ground, Iota grabbed his hair and positioned his blade behind Rick's back.

Suddenly, A appeared and yelled to Iota, "Hey, try taking someone else on!"

Iota looked at A and said, "My mission is to eliminate Alpha. You are not my target. Why waste time causing collateral damage?

"Who's wasting time!?" A yelled as he slashed at Iota.

Iota didn't seem phased and ducked under A's attack and kicked him, flipping him in the air. A jumped to his feet and tried again. Iota put his sword in his mouth and caught A's wrist. He then kicked A in the gut and kneed him in the face, making him bleed from his nose.

Iota said to A as he staggered to his feet, wiping the blood from his face, "I don't think you understand who you are up against. I am Project Iota, the trainer of the Projects, and for all intents and purposes, the most powerful Project. I am no Houndoom that you can find roaming around. I can overlap the power of even Omega. However, I have no wish to kill you. Leave now and you will live."

A frowned and replied, "I'll leave when I have secured Rick."

"Then you will die. It's as simple as that."

A growled at his opponent and lunged for him. He stopped when he came face to face with a charged beam that Iota charged on his fingertips. He fired it and sent A flying through the air, landing in a lake.

Iota saw what he had done and said, "And like that you have lost." He then put his blade back on Rick's back and said, "Think of it this way Alpha. This is a way for you to pay for your sins. I suggest that you embrace death, because you can't escape it."

Iota suddenly looked and saw Delta running towards him yelling, "Iota! Brother please don't do it!"

Iota scoffed and said, "Oh Alison, my dear little sister. Tell me, why should I listen to you?"

He then plunged his sword through Rick's back, it exiting through his chest. He kept his blade in Rick until Rick stopped breathing and then kicked him off the blade. He then said, "The deed is done. Epsilon, get up! Where's Omicron?"

Epsilon pointed in one direction and Iota saw Omicron fighting Gamma. He then saw Gamma firing a blast a Omicron. Iota suddenly vanished and reappeared knocking the attack away.

Iota then said, "We are leaving."

Omicron protested, "But we haven't killed these guys yet."

Iota violently then punched him in his gut, "We are leaving NOW!"

"Y-y-yes sir."

Epsilon then appeared and opened a portal.

Gamma then yelled, "Where do you think you're going!?"

Iota turned around and said, "I'm going back to tell Master Giovanni that he can sleep tonight. That Project Alpha is now dead. Next time we meet, I will kill all of you."

They suddenly vanished with the portal and Delta went to check on Rick. She began to try to revive Rick, but failing miserably. A then appeared and pointed his sword at Delta, holding his side because of a series of broken ribs.

He then said, "Trying to add insult to injury?"

Delta then said, "You wouldn't harm a pregnant pokemon , would you? Also, I wouldn't harm him. I used to take care of him when he was little."

A frowned and then put his sword away. He then picked Rick up and said, "If you want to help then please open a portal to a place south of Route 212."

Delta nodded and said, "We know about the Sanctuary. Don't worry, we work for Silph Co. now."

Gamma then appeared and said, "Don't carry him like that. You're only making him bleed out faster." Gamma went over and took Rick from A and said, "We'll take him to the Sanctuary. You go tell his friends and mate about what happened. We'll be waiting."

Gamma and Delta then walked through a portal and A ran back to the cabin, dreading what he would have to tell Rick's team. Worse, what he would have to tell Alara. Soon he reached the door of the cabin and took a deep breath before going in. Once he walked in, all the eyes in the room were on him.

Alara then said, "A? Good to see that you're back, but where's Rick?"

A sighed and said, "May I speak to you in private?"

Alara was confused but decided to follow him into an adjacent room.

Alara then asked him, "What's going on?"

A said to her, "Please sit down." Alara did as A said and he then began. "I'm sorry, but you should be the first one to know. Alara, Rick was attacked while on his walk. I was there. I followed him because I had my suspicions that something was going to happen and that he would be in danger. While he was on the walk, three Projects by the names of Epsilon, Omicron, and Iota attacked him. I tried to save him and so did two other individuals by the names of Delta and Gamma. Sadly, he was skewered by Iota. Gamma and Delta took him back to the Sanctuary, but it's safe to say that his situation is critical."

Alara looked at him and began to cry, "What? Are you sure?"

A sighed and nodded slowly, "I wish I was wrong and that this was a bad dream. I can't be sure if he'll make it or not, but I sincerely hope that he does. Alara I'm really sorry. Now, I have to explain it to the team. However, do you have anything to ask me?"

Alara began to sob and yelled out, "Amber! Seras!"

The two females suddenly walked into the room and Alara quickly began to cry on Seras's shoulder.

Amber asked A, "What happened? Why is she crying?"

A sighed again, not liking what he had to relay to them.

[The Sanctuary; 1st Den Hospital]

Rick entire team was in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting for the doctor to come out to explain how Rick's surgery went. Alara was an emotional wreck, crying on her mom's shoulder and the other girls trying to comfort her. Jean, Saifer, Daedalus, and A were pacing, anxious for some news. After a few minutes a doctor then appeared and walked to them.

A sighed when he saw the doctor and asked her, "Doc, please tell me that everything is fine."

The doctor, a Gardevoir, sighed and said, "Well I have some good news and bad news."

Jean said to her, "What's the good news?

"The good news is that the blade missed his heart."

A gave a sigh of relief, "Oh thank Arceus! What's the bad news though?"

"I have two sets of bad news. One, it his lungs filling them with blood. Two,...this one isn't easy. He slipped into a coma."

Once Alara heard that she began to cry harder, but this time on Green's shoulder.

A ran his hands through his hair and asked, "Is he going to live?"

"Comas are tricky things, it's hard to say. He has a 50-50 chance. You can go see him if you want. He might still be able to hear you guys if he's not completely gone."

A paused, then nodded. He looked at Alara, then waved Saifer over. They had a short conversation before Saifer went to Alara and told her to go see Rick, with her mother, Seras, and Amber at her side.

Alara and the girls walked up to Rick's room, all of them helping Alara. When they entered the room they saw Rick on a hospital bed, hooked up to different machines. His wounds were clearly visible and Alara began to sob again as she saw him. The three girls had to work hard to hold her up as she wanted to fall to the ground and cry. The girls however managed to get her to a chair next to Rick's bed and she began to cry while looking at Rick.

[An Hour Later]

Everyone was beginning to walk out of the hospital after seeing Rick. However, Alara was still in the room with Rick, sleeping next to him on the chair she was sitting on. She fell asleep, with Shadowbane in her arms. She then heard someone in the room and woke up slowly.

She opened her eyes and saw A standing in the room and said, "I thought I heard someone come in. How long was I asleep?" She looked at the clock. "Only a few minutes. Sleeping is impossible now. Did you come to see Rick?"

A nodded hesitantly, then said, "I thought you would be with Seras, Amber and your mother. How are you holding Shadowbane without it killing you?"

Alara rubbed her eyes and said, "Shadowbane only harms those that do not have permission to hold it. Also, how can I go with my friends and family when my mate is in this situation?" She began to cry again. "How am I going to explain this to Maiyu?"

A then said to Alara as sympathetic as he could, "I don't want to sound cruel here, and I'm sorry if I come off that way. But you're not going to do him any good by stressing out like that. I'm sure he would want you to stay with your friends, which you should. They can be a source of comfort for you during these turbulent times. You need to be strong for both yourself and him. As for Maiyu... tell her that Rick is just going through a rough time right now or something. Perhaps a trial run. Just don't let her anywhere near him right now."

Alara sighed, "She'll want to be with her cousin. She's with us almost everyday."

"Well, until he heals up, she shouldn't be allowed to see him. This sort of sight would damage her psyche. I've seen it happen before, and I would never want to see it again."

"But none of us, not even the doctors, know when he will wake up...or if he ever wakes up." Alara began to cry again.

A moved to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Then he said gently but firmly, "Never think like that, alright? I know it's hard, but he's not gone yet. Don't give up hope that he will return to you. I know he's kickin' and screamin' within his mind to get back to you, and he will. Just have faith in him and Arceus, alright?"

Alara nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Thank you. I know that I shouldn't be like this, but I made so many plans for us. I just wonder when he'll wake up."

A nodded knowingly and said, "I understand. We all go through something like this at some point in our lives, some of us sooner than others. What helps determine your character is whether or not you can still perform regardless of the difficulty of the situation." He paused to let that sink in, then extended a hand to her, saying, "You should go and be with your friends. They need you as much as you need them."

Alara looked at his hand and then back to Rick. She took a minute to decide and then leaned forward and kissed Rick and told him, "I'll be back soon. I love you." She then took A's hand and walked out of the room. As they were walking Alara looked back at the room and then at A, "I wish he would wake up."

A nodded and told her, "I know, but these things have a tendency to happen, whether we like it or not. Don't worry, though, he'll come back to you soon. I know it." He gave her a reassuring smile before they exited the hospital.

**There you have it guys. Sorry if you guys hate me now for what I did to Rick, but I needed some drama. Anyways, keep sending me your review, question, contest entries, requests, and suggestions. Thanks guys. Ciao!**


	49. Chapter 49: New Role

**Well this one came super later. Sorry guys but I suffered from massive writer's block and recently overcame it. That and the fact that I had a lot of commitments lately. Anyways, here's the next chapter. It may not be to the taste that most of you might like, but I had to work on a chapter without Rick. So please tell me what you think. Also, I decided to increase the deadline for the contest so now you have until the 20th to turn in your entries. Also, me and EmeraldDragon1 have decided to make a Q&A forum so you can all ask your questions ( The Blade and the Embrace A Deal With A God Q&A in the Forums section), so please use this now for your questions. We will answer any and all questions. Thank you for all your time guys. March's View Champion: UK. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Philippines, 3rd) Singapore, 4th) Australia, 5th) Canada.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Alara was at home, crying on her bed. She was not prepared to have Rick taken from her and was a complete wreck. Her Poketch was ringing various times, but Alara refused to answer it.

X then appeared in the room. He looked at her and his heart sank, his compassion for her was noticeable as he sat down on the bed and said to her, "I'm sorry Alara. I wish that there was something I could of done."

Alara stopped and looked at him, seemingly not surprised by his presence, "X, where were you?"

"What do you mean?"

Alara glared at him, "Where were you when Rick was attacked by Iota!?"

X bowed his head and sighed, "I'm sorry Alara, but I am not allowed to interfere with fate. If I could I would of stopped the assault."

Alara buried her face in her pillow again and began to weep. X sighed and looked at her for a while.

Alara then picked her head up and asked him, "Who am I to blame?"

X was taken by surprise by her question, "What do you mean?"

Alara asked with more anger in her voice, "Who's fault was it? Who let it happen?"

"Alara, no one gave the order to take out Aeru. You're angry, calm down."

Alara glared at him and asked, "What was Arceus doing?"

"He was doing his job. You can't blame him."

"He could of stopped it!"

"Alara calm down, please? Don't go blaming him. Do you honestly believe that he didn't want to do something about it? However, everything has a plan and his was set in motion. Aeru will wake up soon, and he will exact holy vengeance on Team Rocket and all of the enemies that come across him and his people."

"Are you sure that eh will wake up, or are you just saying that?"

X stopped and thought for a second, "I know he'll wake up. He has to. Otherwise, what was the point from the beginning?"

Alara stood up from the bed and walked onto the balcony, "So what should I do?"

A familiar voice then said, "You should get off your ass and stop crying. A warrior's mate should be just as strong as the warrior himself."

Alara turned around slowly and saw Xeron and Aldira standing next to X.

Alara was shocked to see them, "Warlord Xeron? Lady Aldira? What are you...? How are you...?"

Xeron stopped her and said sternly, "We came here to see what happened to our son. It's horrible yes, but he still has a chance. As far as I'm concerned, I would not be crying, because there's still hope. I will cry only if he dies. I know how you feel right now Alara, you want him back, don't you?"

"Of course I do!"

"You can cry, you can be sad. However, don't go antagonizing anyone. The only person you should antagonize is Project Iota."

"Then one day we will find Iota and destroy him."

Aldira shook her head, "Easier said than done. He has incredible power. So much that it dwarfs Aeru's substantially. Aeru does not have the strength to take him on. The Lord of the Projects is not to be defeated easily."

Alara was shocked by what she just heard, "The Lord of the Projects?"

"Iota was the trainer of all the Projects, except Beta. He gave them all their strength and their discipline. He even trained Aeru. Worse still is that he can get stronger. His power is shackled down by Giovanni so that he doesn't grow too powerful. However, if Giovanni releases the power restraints on him, he will become so powerful that Arceus may be the only one that can deal with him. However, he may be powerful, but not invincible. He's one of the few Projects that has his home base outside Rocket HQ."

"Where can we find him?"

"Like Epsilon had her fortress, Iota has his castle Castle Requiem. It's location is a secret, however rumor has it that it can only be reached by going through darkness itself. However, this is just a fairy tale. Worse, he captured a Titan. He didn't kill it and become its master, he just captured it like Giovanni captured Avion. That Titan's name is Umbroskia. It protects the darkness, so I believes that it is forced to do Iota's bidding because of Iota's control over darkness."

"So it's impossible right now?"

"For now, yes."

Xeron then said, "But on a brighter note, we only have a week to be back to life."

Alara finally smiled, "That's great news! I'm sure Rick and Maiyu will be happy to see you guys again. That is when Rick wakes up."

"Speaking of which, what did you tell Maiyu and how did she take the news?"

Alara sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head, "Well I haven't told her about what happened to Rick yet. I wasn't going to tell her though."

"Why not?"

"She's too young, so I don't want to scar her. Also, she really loves Rick, so I just can't tell her."

"Alright, but you better have a good cover story."

"Will do."

Aldira then said, "Well there's also something else we wanted to talk to you about."

"What?"

"With Aeru out of commission, what will the Sanctuary do about the army?"

Alara thought for a second and replied, "Well my dad says that we would have to find a way for us to do Rick's job until he wakes up. However, I have no idea how I'm supposed to do that."

Xeron then said, "I have an idea. Take the role as the Warlord."

Alara was taken by surprise by what Xeron said and asked, "Why would I do that? Also, I'm no warrior, I can't fight like your son. Also, I've never led and army."

Xeron chuckled, "You know that by law you can technically take his place. You'll learn how to fight. You are already very strong."

"Yeah, but that's mate's job. I can't take it away from him."

"You're not the permanent Warlord. You'll be the acting-Warlord."

"No!"

Xeron then growled and saw Shadowbane on the counter. He reached for it and picked it up. He then walked up to Alara and made her hold Shadowbane. "Let me tell you this. The moment we leave this place, you will be endowed with all of Aeru's powers that this sword has given him."

Alara was confused, "You can do that?"

"I can't. The sword can. So we'll be leaving. Goodbye Alara!"

Aldira waved goodbye, "Bye Alara dear!"

X waved goodbye and the three faded away.

Alara tried to stop them, "Wait, don't go! I still have some questions." After she saw that they were gone, she cursed her luck and looked at Shadowbane. "What did Xeron mean by what he told me?" She then laid down on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "Why does he want me to take Rick's job? I'm not fit to be a warrior. I'm a princess, not a soldier. I'd get torn asunder."

She then heard a female voice, "Not unless you become stronger."

Alara sat up and looked around, but found nothing. She then looked down and saw Shadowbane glowing.

Alara asked, "Did you speak to me?"

"Yes, I am Twilight. I am the spirit that resides within Shadowbane. I have revealed myself to you to bestow you with the powers that Xeron told you about."

"Umm...thank you Twilight, but I don't think that I need the powers."

"Do you not want to be stronger?"

"Of course I do, but I can't have Rick's powers. Those are his alone."

"You will not have Aeru's Project powers if that's what you're afraid of. Just the powers I have given him. I will teach you how to transfer those powers onto your own sword, but for the time that Aeru is out you shall be using me."

Alara tried to figure out her options. She then sighed and said, "Alright, I'll take the powers."

"Good. Not grab onto me."

Alara did as she was told and grabbed Shadowbane. Instantly, Shadowbane turned into it's more feral form. The wolf head on the end then opened its mouth and a black energy ball flew across the room. The ball landed on the floor and became a large black void. Suddenly a black wolf, with what appeared as red tribal tattoos, appeared from the void and snarled at Alara. Alara was afraid and began to back away, she then pointed Shadowbane at the wolf. The wolf then howled and Shadowbane vanished, scaring Alara even more.

Alara then asked, "I'm guessing you're what holds the power?"

The wolf snarled again and lunged at Alara, passing through her chest, but with no wound. Alara then fell to the ground, unconscious. A few minutes later, Alara woke up and opened her eyes. Her vision was shaky and she tried to look around, but everything was moving. She staggered up and leaned against the wall and tried to move across the room. Her vision soon adjusted and she saw red glowing sigils on the walls. Alara tried walking but soon fell to her knees with the urge to throw up, but nothing came out.

Alara said to herself, "Is this how Rick sees the world?"

Twilight's voice was then heard, "When he uses my power completely yes. However, this wears off really quickly. You're just getting used to it."

Alara rolled onto her back and finally saw Twilight, "You're Twilight?"

"I am! Nice to meet you Alara."

Alara stood up and looked at the wolf-like woman. She then noticed the tattoo on her left and right shoulders. "You were the wolf, weren't you?"

"I was. Good, you putting the pieces together. So any questions?"

"Yeah, why do you look like a human?"

"Because I just do. I can turn from this form into the wolf you saw earlier. There's also another part of me." Twilight then began to howl and Dusk appeared out of black smoke.

Alara jumped back in shock, "What the hell!?"

Twilight giggled, "Alara, this is Dusk. My other half."

"I've heard of him before. He's supposed to be the physical power of Shadowbane."

"Yes, he is. Aeru told you?"

Alara nodded, "Yes. He also told me that you are the true Shadowbane and the mystical power that lives within the sword."

"Right you are again. However, I can't stay long. Now listen closely Alara. You can use any and all the abilities that Aeru could use. That includes, but not limited to: Psycho Cataclysm, Psycho Star Storm, and Dark Energy Blade. You will learn how to use them in time. I will even give you the blessing to transfer the power to your own sword, but without the dark energy."

"Any questions before we shove off?"

"Yes, can Dusk talk?"

Dusk chuckled and said, "Yes, I can. We shall leave you now. However, call us again through the blade if you ever need us. Goodbye!"

Twilight and Dusk then disappeared and Alara shook her head. By doing that she could no longer see the sigils on the wall and she was no longer fatigued. Alara then saw Shadowbane on the bed and put it back in its sheath. She then put it on the counter and looked at it.

Alara said to herself, "Did that thing really give me those powers? I need to sleep. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning. First thing I'll do is go see Rick. I hope he turns out alright."

In the morning, Alara was in his hospital room, writing into her journal. She pushed the events of last nights to the back of her mind and focus on being with Rick. Rick's doctor walked in and was surprised to see Alara already there.

"M'lady, I wasn't expecting you here this early." She then checked her watch, "It's 8 AM. Visiting hours haven't even started."

Alara sighed and said, "Sorry Dr. Lian, but I've been here since 6 AM."

"Well I guess you have a good reason. I'm just here to check on him."

"I'm not stopping you. You can do your job."

Dr. Lian walked up to Rick's bed and began to inspect him and writing everything down on her clipboard. She looked back at Alara and saw her writing in her journal and struggling to hold back a tear from falling.

She then said to Alara, "Say, do you remember when I used to be your pediatrician?"

Alara stopped writing and replied, "Of course I do! Yet it was so long ago."

"I remember that you would cry all the time. I would have to give you a lollipop just to keep you calm."

"Well I'm no longer afraid of needles. So that problem is solved."

Dr. Lian laughed and said, "Well it seems like I am destined to see you and tend to your family for the rest of my life."

"I know, my mate is your patient this time."

Dr. Lian sighed and sat down next to Alara, "I know how much you love him. I mean, this is the first time that the mate of one of my patients beats me to work. However, don't worry Alara, he'll be fine. Your mate is a fighter, I know in my heart that he'll pull through. When he wakes up, the next time I expect to see you and want to see you in a hospital room is when you're giving birth to your kids."

Alara finally gave her a wide grin and said, "I can try to promise you that. You were there when I was born, so I guess it will be an honor for you to do that."

"You know it! How long until the wedding?"

"A little over a month."

"Aeru better wake up fast, so that he can recover and stand at your wedding."

Alara asked her a question, "How badly injured would he be when he wakes up?"

"Well he won't be able to get out of bed for a few days, but he should be able to walk by the time of your wedding."

Alara smiled, "That's good to know."

then asked, "So have you and Aeru decided on whether or not to have kids?"

"Of course we have! We want kids. I want a girl and I forced him to agree."

"Any names?"

"We decided to name her after Rick's grandmother. Angela or Sheerah?"

"Sheerah."

Dr. Lian smiled and said, "It's a beautiful name." She then sighed and said, "Oh bless Madam Sheerah's soul. She's such a sweet old woman and she's been through so much. After loosing her husband, she had her two sons join the military, which she did not like. She then lost her youngest son, your future father-in-law, Xeron. She also, for a time, lost her grandson, Aeruthael. It can only be imagined what she feels about this now that Aeru is in a coma."

Alara gasped, "I never thought about that. Madam Sheerah loves Aeru very much."

"How close are Aeru and her?"

"They are actually very close. Every time Aeru gets the chance, he visits her. However, that's normally when he goes to work. He's usually at her home for at least a few minutes every day."

"Then I am really concerned for how she is taking this right now."

"I never thought of that." Alara got up. "I should visit her."

Dr. Lian nodded, "You should. Don't worry, your mate is in good hands. I'll call you if anything."

Alara thanked her, "Thank you! Goodbye!"

"Goodbye Alara dear."

Alara quickly left the hospital and jumped into her car. She then drove all the way to Rick's family's house and noticed two Gardevoirs on the porch. Alara recognized them immediately. One was Rick's grandmother and the other was Rick's cousin Alyssa, Daedalus's youngest daughter. Alara got out of the car and walked over to the house. Once Sheerah saw her she stopped rocking on her chair and got up and hugged her.

Sheerah said to Alara, "Alara, my child, it's so good to see you again."

Alara hugged her back and said, "Likewise Madam Sheerah. I came here to talk."

"Oh please! Come and sit!"

Alyssa smiled at the two and said, "I'll go prepare some tea for us. Hello Alara!"

Alara smiled back and said, "Hello Alyssa!"

Alyssa walked inside the house to prepare the tea while Alara and Rick's grandmother sat down on the porch chairs.

Alara didn't know how to start the conversation, but Rick's grandmother did it for her, "So dear, how have you been? I heard about Aeruthael. It's so sad, but I know he'll be fine."

Alara smiled and said, "I've been alright. It is hard, but I'm confident Aeru will be alright. However I came here to ask you about how you are fairing."

"How so?"

"How are you feeling about this?"

Sheerah thought for a second, "Well I can't say I'm not sad, but I can't lose myself either. However, after losing my husband, my son, my daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, many would believe that I should be a wreck. But you can't keep an experienced old woman down." She laughed and looked back at Alara.

Alara was surprised by her attitude, "You are one cheerful old woman."

"Why let life keep you down? I've lived on this Earth for 75 years. I have been blessed with a husband, two sons, three daughters, fifteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Aeruthael was my third grandchild and the first one I lost. You can only imagine my joy when he returned to us. For a time I thought that everyone in my family with that name was cursed. My husband died and then I lost my grandson. I faced death before. My husband Aeruthael and my son Xeron. I have to admit, I am very sad at times, but I just have to keep smiling since I know that I still have a lot of other loved ones. However, I will never forget those I have lost."

Alara felt happier by what she said, "You're a strong woman. Maybe stronger than me."

"Oh it's a strength you get from being a mother and wife. When Aeru wakes up, you will soon learn how to deal with life. Also, I expect another great-grandchild."

Alara smiled, "You'll get one soon. The wedding is in a month and six days. So we'll just have to wait for the honeymoon and see if I get lucky."

"Not something you usually discuss with the grandmother of your mate."

Alyssa soon came out of the house with a tray with three cups and a tea pot. She began to pour out tea and asked, "What don't you usually discuss?"

"You don't discuss mating with the grandmother of your mate."

Alyssa shook her head and said to Alara, "Not cool Ally."

Alara shrugged, "She started it!"

Alyssa and Sheerah laughed and Alyssa responded, "Nice to see that the incident hasn't affected your attitude."

"I can't dwell on it forever. I want to cry like crazy like yesterday, but it's not going to help now, is it."

"That is true. Did you go see him today?"

"Actually, I just came from the hospital. His condition is still up in the air, but the doctors are confident that he'll be okay. We're just waiting for him to wake up."

"Well that's good to hear. So how was your first night alone in the house?"

Alara shrugged and said, "Well it was different. I felt so alone. I have never lived alone before. When I moved out of my parents' house I left with Amber. When I moved out of my old house I moved in with Aeru."

"Well, maybe you should move back in with your sister until Aeru wakes up. You can also just ask someone to move in with you for a little while."

"I can just take Maiyu from her parents."

Sheerah chuckled and said, "Celenia tells me that you already do that. She also tells me that you take Maiyu off her hands almost everyday."

Alara smiled and said, "Guilty as charged." She then laughed with the other females. "This is why I loved coming here when I was little. You were so fun for an elderly woman. I remember my parents sending me here after school and you always having snacks waiting for me."

"Well I always expected you to come over. However, after you finished college, I saw less of you."

"Well until high school I was in the 1st Den. Then I had to go here in the 3rd Den for high school and college. I loved those times because I would come here after school to rest for the day until my parents sent for me."

"You were always like another granddaughter for me. You and Alyssa were always here playing with each other. Also, Amber was here too with you two. Speaking of which, where is she?"

"She's at work at the moment. It's early in the morning."

Sheerah sighed, "She doesn't visit anymore."

"She's been really busy. I'll bring her next week to see you guys."

"I would love that dear. However, I have to go visit Daedalus today. So I'm sorry Alara, but I will have to leave you."

Alara nodded and smiled at her, "It's okay. I have to go home anyways. I'll be back soon if everything seems favorable."

"Alright dear. Make sure to call me when Aeru wakes up."

"Will do." Alara got up. "Goodbye!"

Alara then walked back to her car and left the den. Later that day, she was soon making her way to the Chief's Court, thinking about what her parents were going to say to her now. She then felt something in her car and looked in the passenger seat and saw Shadowbane on it.

She said to herself, "But I left you at home."

Without her knowing, Twilight was in the backseat and said, "Alara, don't panic."

Alara looked back slowly and saw Twilight. She calmly pulled over and parked the car.

She then took a deep breath and began to scream, "What the hell!? I left you at home. Now you show up here and you startle me while I'm driving."

Twilight arched an eyebrow and said, "If I startled you, then how did you manage to pull over and prepare yourself to freak out?"

"I'm weird. You live in Rick's subconscious, you should know that."

"True, but I concern myself with the matters that involve his power."

Alara sighed, "You came to see me, so I'm guessing that you have a reason for being here."

"Yes. I wanted to tell you that now that you're the acting-Warlord, you will need to wear the traditional garments for a while. Mainly to humor me."

"I don't even know where the female Warlord garments are."

"They are at the Chief's Court. Now that I think about it, you might look like my old best friend."

"Who?"

"Illia of course."

Alara thought for a second, "She was your best friend."

Twilight sighed, "Yeah. She had me longer than any other Warlord in history. To think that I wasn't with any Warlords for almost three hundred years. Xeron brought me back to the title of the Warlord's weapon. However, Daedalus didn't use me. He kept me protected in Xeron's armory. So I was happy when Aeru took possession of me. Anyways, you'll be taking his job for a while."

"So I need to look like a Warlord?"

"Try to have fun with it. Either way, everyone expects you to."

Alara's eyes shot open, "Everyone knows?"

"Your dad made the decision that you should take over the job until Aeru wakes up. The Council, minus Zenek, agree."

"Who did Zenek want as the acting-Warlord?"

"Himself. He thinks he can lead an army. Needless to say, the Council was not amused. Pompous, self-absorbed idiot!"

Alara chuckled, "So I'm guessing my dad is waiting for me?"

"Yep! Also, I won't leave you until Aeru wakes up. So find someplace to put me."

"I know. You aren't collapsible like my sword."

"When you get the Warlord garments, just put me on your belt. Just like Illia used to do."

"Then we'll see when we get there."

Twilight nodded and returned into Shadowbane.

[Five Minutes Later]

Alara arrived at the Chief's Court and a soldier appeared and told her, "M'lady, your father has asked to see you."

Alara waved him off, "No need to come get me when I'm thirty feet from the door. Also, I know that he needs to speak to me."

"Very well, sorry for the interruption." The soldier then disappeared.

Alara walked into the Chief's Court and was met with the sight of Zenek arguing with her father.

Zenek was saying, "My lord, I do not believe that it will be in the best interest for the Sanctuary that Lady Alara take the place of the Warlord. Even if it is temporary."

Saifer sighed in frustration, "Zenek, it has been decided. Now, if you will kindly, please drop the matter."

"But it doesn't make sense your majesty. Your daughter is not a soldier and knows little about military combat."

"What are you implying?"

"All I'm saying is that you need someone who has had extensive experience in the military."

Saifer glared at him, "You were only in the army for two years and you worked in the army offices. Hardly qualified. Hell, you didn't even fight."

Zenek seemed irritated, "Not the point. We just need someone better."

Alara then said, "Then let's see which one of us is better."

Zenek and Saifer looked at Alara and Saifer smiled at her, "Hi dear! It's good to see you up and about."

"Well I'm still crushed, but I have to keep on keeping on."

Zenek scoffed and asked her, "Did you challenge me a moment ago?"

"Yes. If you think that I am not fit for the job, then let's see how you do against me in a fight."

Zenek laughed, "I don't fight females. Much less the princess of the Sanctuary. Last thing I want is to hurt the line of the throne."

"Afraid to lose to me? I may not be a soldier, but I'm not weak. My mate trained me well."

"I'm still not going to fight you."

"And that's why you are half a man."

Zenek glared at her, "What did you just say?"

Alara smiled, "The only way I can get to you is to attack your honor. So what's it going to be?"

Saifer laughed, "Better take the challenge. This might be entertaining. Also, before you say anything, I am not concerned about my daughter losing."

Zenek growled and said, "Fine! Follow me to the sparring grounds."

Alara didn't follow, she instead teleported to the grounds. She stretched like Rick taught here and she unsheathed Shadowbane. She then dropped to her knees and began to meditate like Rick.

As she was doing so she received a message from Twilight, _"Ah! I see that you decided to get in a fight. Also, I'm surprised that you're using me."_

Alara replied, _"Zenek is trying to take Rick's job and I won't let him. So I'm going to do this and shut him up indefinitely on the matter. However, I'll need your help."_

_ "You got it! Just fight and you'll use the powers."_

Alara opened her eyes and stood back up, just in time to see the others arrive at the sparring grounds. Zenek jumped down on his side of the field and looked at his opponent.

He then said to Alara, "I had no idea that you could wield that accursed blade. However, I should expect as much from Aeruthael's betrothed."

Alara smirked, "I never used it before, but I can get used to it."

"Let's just hope I don't hurt you too bad."

"I'm not that concerned. For once I get to unleash some steam. Also, shutting you up will be a bonus."

Zenek glared at her, "I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should." He said as he drew his arm blades.

Alara took a sword stance that Rick taught her and sized him out.

[Stands]

Saifer was sitting on a throne that his guards brought for him. He was waiting for the battle to begin and then sensed his wife arrive at the sparring grounds.

She saw him and said to him, "There you are! I've been looking for you for the last five minutes..." She then noticed Alara and Zenek in the sparring grounds. "What is Alara doing squaring off against Zenek?"

Saifer chuckled and said, "She had enough of him and decided to fight him."

Alara's mom the thought for a second and called over an attendant, "Please bring us some popcorn."

The attendant nodded and teleported away. Two soldiers then brought Alara's mom a throne and she sat down to watch the spectacle. As they were waiting for them to begin the attendant returned with popcorn and handed it to the two.

[Alara]

Alara took a deep breath and waited for Zenek to make a move. Zenek then fired a **Signal Beam** from his spike. Alara noticed and slashed at the beam, splitting it in half. Alara then fired two **Shadow Balls** at Zenek, who punched one of the balls back onto the other. He then charged at Alara with his blades and slashed at her. Alara dodged the slashes until Zenek kicked her back. Alara regained her composure and slashed back at him. He blocked one of the slashes with his blades and hit Alara with a **Shadow Ball**.

Alara shook off the hit and managed to hit him with a **Signal Beam**. She then used **Psychic** to throw him across the field, giving her some breathing room. Alara then saw Shadowbane begin to glow. She closed her eyes to speak to Twilight so she could know what was going on.

_"Twilight, what's going on?"_

Twilight replied, _"I'm going to help you end this quickly so we can get on with our lives."_

_ "Just fight. Now you can use all the powers and abilities that Aeru can use. Please tell me you know the attacks."_

_ "I do."_

_ "Good! Kick his ass!"_

Alara opened her eyes and quickly dodged an attack from Zenek and plunged Shadowbane into the ground, sending him flying with a Psycho Cataclysm.

Zenek got up and looked at Alara with a surprised expression, "How on earth?"

[Stand]

Alara's mom asked her husband, "Did she use one of Aeru's attacks with the sword?"

Saifer laughed, "Oh this is going to be good. Kick his ass Ally!"

[Alara]

Alara looked at Shadowbane and saw it covered in a black aura and changing its appearance to the form that it usually takes with Rick. She then swung it and felt how light it was in her hands now.

Alara chuckled to herself and yelled, "Yeah! Power, bitch!"

Zenek growled and teleported appearing in front of Alara. Alara then saw him move slowly and moved out of the way of an attack.

She noticed this and asked herself, _"What is going on? Am I getting faster? Is he getting slower? Or did is this how Rick sees fights?"_

Alara then dodged another attack from Zenek and caught his arm. She smiled at him and flipped him. He jumped up to his feet and slashed at her with a **Night Slash**, but she dodged it with little effort. Alara began to toy with him and began to dance, while dodging his attack. She spun to dodge a **Shadow Ball**, and returned by firing an energy blade at him.

Zenek leaned back to dodge the attack and lifted his head back up. When he did that he was met by Alara's fist and he staggered back in pain, disoriented. Alara then fired another energy blade at him, which hit him and sent him flying onto a wall.

After a few seconds Zenek stood back up and then fell on one of his knees and said, "Alright, you win."

Alara re-sheathed Shadowbane and said, "Once I started using the powers you went down pretty quickly."

"That sword has insane power. Pretty unholy if I may be honest."

"Yep, but it's all good."

Zenek managed to get on his feet and walked back into the Chief's Court. Alara teleported in front of her parents, who hugged her. Alara's mom then called for a throne to be brought for Alara, and it soon arrived.

Saifer said to Alara, "I had no idea that you knew how to use Shadowbane."

Alara smiled and said, "After Rick slipped into a coma, his sword decided to let me use its power. I'm still not sure how it works, but I accept it."

Alara's mom then looked at Alara with sympathy, "Speaking of which. Now don't talk about it if you don't want to, but how are you taking Aeru's condition?"

Alara's drew downcast and said, "I stopped crying this morning. I tried not to think about it, but it's following me around." Alara began to cry once more.

Alara's mom then said, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't of brought it up."

"No, it's okay. I can't just suppress it forever. I want him back. Home is just so empty without him there. I just feel so bad because we're supposed to get married in only a month. I want him to wake up so bad so we can both get married."

Alara's mom got up and quickly hugged her and tried to comfort her as she cried on her shoulder.

Saifer then said to Alara, "Ally, he WILL wake up and you WILL get married. Think positively and you will be alright. Aeru is really strong. There's no way that he's down and out."

Alara wiped the tears from her eyes and said to her dad, "Thanks dad. I need to hear that."

"You're welcome dear. Now, sorry for changing the subject, but you do know that you have to take Aeru's job, right?"

Alara nodded and her facial expression changed to a serious face, "Yes." She then said, "Let me ask you a question. Where are the female Warlord's garments?"

Saifer smiled and got up, "Right this way."

Alara and her mom got up and followed Saifer through the Chief's Court until they made it into an inner chamber. Alara did not remember having ever gone into this chamber, and she's been in the building all her life. She looked around and saw members of the Royal Guard standing at attention on the way to the end of the chamber. They then reached the end and the guards opened a large door for the three to pass through.

Alara asked her mom, "Why have I never been in here?"

Her mom replied, "Because only a select few can enter this chamber. The heir to the throne usually learns about it after their coronation. This is where both sets of the Warlord's garments have been stored for centuries. Even Shadowbane was housed in here for as long as the garments were."

Alara nodded and looked around as they entered the room. The ceiling had a gigantic portrait of Illia and Shadowbane. The walls had the names of each Warlord the Sanctuary had. Alara looked closer at where the names ended and saw Rick's name printed on the wall. The sight made her smile slightly and then she looked forward and saw the female Warlord garments. Next to them she saw an empty garment mannequin and an empty sword shelf.

Saifer said to his daughter, "There they are, the female Warlord garments. I never expected to see you wearing them, but I have to say that I'm glad you are getting the chance."

Alara's mom then said, "Well go put them on."

Alara nodded and walked forward and grabbed the garments. Her parents then left the room to give her some privacy.

When they were gone, Alara took off her clothes and tried the garments on. They fit her perfectly and she liked how they looked. They were the same as Rick's, red and black with the Sanctuary emblem on it. The dress was Alara's size, the belt that it went with had a slot for her to put Shadowbane on, and the cape was similar to Rick's, but slightly smaller.

Alara folded her clothes and called her parents back in, "I'm done guys!"

Her parents walked in and they seemed to impressed by her new appearance.

Her mom then said, "Dear, you look incredible in that dress."

Alara smiled and said, "Do I?"

Saifer chuckled, "Yep! You are now the most powerful individual in the Sanctuary after your mother and I."

Alara chuckled and put Shadowbane through the sword hoop and said, "Well, I'd love to chat, but I need to go see my mate."

"Of course dear. We'll see you here tomorrow, right?"

"Of course! Bye guys!"

Alara then immediately teleported away and arrived at Rick's hospital room, surprising Dr. Lian, "M'Lady? Well that was quite the surprise."

Alara laughed and said, "Sorry doc."

"What's with those clothes?"

"I'll explain later. For now, may I have some time with my mate?"

Dr. Lian smiled and said, "What kind of question is that? Take all the time you want."

Dr. Lian then walked out of the room and closed the door.

Alara then sat down on the chair next to Rick's bed and grabbed his hand, "Hi dear. I'm back and I have had quite the day."

[Rick]

Rick was floating within a black void, unable to move. All he could hear was Alara talking to him from outside his body. Rick tried to move, but he couldn't lift a finger or even open his eyes.

Rick was saying to himself, "Damn it! Why can't I move? What happened to me? What did Iota do to me?" He then calmed down and said, "Alara, I'll be back. Just give me more time to get the ability to do so. How the hell do I do that though?"

A voice then came out of nowhere, "Well I won't let you wake up just yet. I need to test you out first."

Rick suddenly was able to open his eyes and he found himself in a wasteland. He looked around and then moved his body and felt happy at his newly recovered motor control.

"I can move? Hell yeah!"

The voice then returned, "You're missing the point Aeru."

Rick turned around to face the source of the voice and saw Twilight standing before him. "Twilight? What's going on?"

"You're in a coma dumbass."

Rick then cursed his luck, "So that's what that bastard did to me? Damn it all to hell!"

"I'll be more worried about what's about to happen than what just happened."

Rick was now confused, "What do you mean?"

Twilight then smiled and disappeared. Rick got the hint and drew Shadowbane to block a sword attack from Twilight.

Twilight then said, "We're about to have some fun."

**Well there you have it. It's the shortest chapter in a long time. I don't have much to say guys, but thank you for everything. Bye!**


	50. Chapter 50: Ascension

**Here it is, the milestone known as Chapter 50. I never thought I would go this far in any story I have ever written in my life. So this is a welcomed surprise for me. Rick has a new struggle and Alara as well, so let's see how this will go. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I like working on it. The forum is still up for anyone that wants to ask me or EmeraldDragon1 questions about our stories or ourselves. Just search the Blade and the Embrace in the forum area. So enjoy the chapter guys. View Rankings: 1st) UK, 2nd) Philippines, 3rd) Singapore, 4th) Australia, and 5th) Canada.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and Twilight were battling one another, each one exchanging their own blows. Twilight was surprising Rick by easily overpowering him. Rick tried to hold his ground, but soon found that impossible against the power that Twilight was exerting.

Twilight was saying to Rick, "Aren't you a warrior? Fight like one!"

She then slashed at Rick and sent him falling back when he blocked it. She then grabbed his face and threw him across the wasteland until he was cratered into a rock wall.

Twilight laughed and said to him, "If this is the one that calls himself my master then I have to say that I lost my standards."

Rick pried himself out of the wall and fired a **Shadow Ball** at Twilight, who knocked it away. Rick then swung at her and she swung back, shattering his sword into hundreds of pieces.

Rick looked at his broken sword in shock and surprise, "What the hell?"

Twilight smirked, "Your power isn't strong to beat me. Hell right now you can't beat me by using me."

Rick vanished to dodge an attack from Twilight and reappeared behind her, trying to slash her with his arm blades. She calmly turned around and caught the blades with her bare hands, surprising Rick.

Twilight shook her head and said, "You can't cut me. You're weak against me. You haven't learned to use your powers to their fullest abilities." She then threw him on the ground. "Let me tell you a little secret. Battle is not about killing your enemy or even being stronger for that matter. It's about having the greater will to fight. If you have something to fight for then it will be easy to beat any opponent."

Rick got up and asked, "So you're telling me that I just have to have a drive and I can win, despite the difference in power between me and my enemy."

"Yes, but don't go getting killed and believing that the drive is all you need. If you're not strong enough then your drive is in vain."

"So what is the point of you bringing me here and destroying my sword?"

Twilight smirked and said, "Training."

"Training?"

"I want to teach you how to be stronger. Also, your coma presented the perfect opportunity for you to take your sword skills to the next level."

"What's the next level?"

"You'll find out. Now fight me."

Rick looked at her with a confused expression, "I think we've established that you're stronger and you destroyed my sword."

Twilight then said, "So it's a sword you want?" She then lifted her head and gave a howl. Suddenly the shards of Shadowbane came back together and flew into Rick's hands. Rick caught it and looked at it. Twilight chuckled and said, "So let's continue."

Twilight quickly slashed at Rick again, but Rick teleported away and tried to slash her from behind. Twilight moved the sword to her back and blocked the attack. She then kicked Rick back and turned around to face him.

Rick tried to find a way to hit her, but his concentration was stopped when she suddenly disappeared. Rick then ducked his head and saw her blade miss. He spun around and swung at her, but she blocked it and punched him in the gut.

Twilight sighed and said, "Looks like I'll have to train you bit by bit."

Rick looked up and said, "What do you mean?"

Twilight didn't answer and listed one of her arms. Rick looked at her hand and saw a dark aura circle around it. Twilight then swung her hand down at him and Rick blacked out.

Rick soon opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He was no longer in the wasteland. Instead he seemed to be on a plateau that was looking over a forest. Rick got up and wondered how he arrived there, how long he was asleep, and what was in store for him. Rick looked for Twilight, but couldn't find her anywhere.

He called out to her while drawing Shadowbane, "Twilight! Where are you!?"

A black void then appeared on the edge of the plateau. Rick took a battle position and then stopped when he saw a Gardevoir standing on the edge of the cliff. The Gardevoir was wearing a red dress, her hair was in various locks and some were braided. Around her waist was a black belt that looked like it was made out of leather. The Gardevoir turned around and Rick saw her face and noticed many similar features to Alara.

Rick was surprised, "Who are you?"

The Gardevoir chuckled and said, "You've seen me many times. However, never face to face."

"I'm still confused."

The Gardevoir sighed and summoned out her own Shadowbane. Rick was surprised by this, not because the Gardevoir summoned Shadowbane, but because of the shape of the Gardevoir's Shadowbane. Her Shadowbane was not serrated like Rick's Shadowbane, instead it was smooth and elegant.

The Gardevoir then said, "I was the first known master of Shadowbane. I built the Sanctuary, and for that I am the most treasured of queens."

Rick's eyes shot open and said, "Illia!"

Illia chuckled and said, "How right you are. It's great to meet you Aeruthael."

"If I may say, you bear a striking resemblance to my mate."

"Oh that's because she's from my bloodline, so she inherited some of my traits. So she has a resemblance to me, and not me to her."

Rick chuckled, "I guess. So what are you doing here?"

Illia replied, "I'm here to help train you."

"Train me?"

"You claim to be a master of Shadowbane, but you know very little about battle with this sword." She then pointed the blade at Rick, "This sword is not just a weapon. It should be an extension of your body. You shouldn't feel its weight in your hand. It should feel like moving one of your own fingers."

"I can already move Shadowbane freely."

"Oh really? So can you move it as fast as swinging you own arm?"

"Of course not. It has the weight of the blade itself to pull along."

"Then you have not mastered this part of Shadowbane. So let me show you."

Illia then disappeared and Rick took a defensive position. Rick managed to block the attack, but felt his muscles strain to stop the force of the hit. Illia saw him struggle, spun around, and kicked him in the gut, making him fall back and roll on the ground. Rick got back up and looked just in time to dodge an attack from Illia. Rick took the opportunity to attempt to attack Illia. Illia easily dodged it and pressed a **Shadow Ball** onto his chest. The blast sent Rick flying back several feet and hit a rock. Rick staggered to his feet and looked at Illia, charging energy onto her blade.

[Alara]

It was the day after Alara's last visit and she was still in Rick's room. She was taking a nap on the chair next to his bed and then felt someone tap her shoulder. She quickly woke up and looked at who tapped her, being revealed as Dr. Lian with a food tray.

Dr. Lian said to Alara, "You have been here for hours Alara. I was worried about you. You haven't eaten anything in the entire time you have been here."

Alara rubbed the sleep from her eyes and said, "Thank you, but I don't have much of an appetite."

Dr. Lian was surprised, "Not much of an appetite? You haven't eaten in hours. Also, this is the first time you have slept since you got here."

"I just stayed up telling Rick about the two days without him."

"This is not healthy for you. You're doing his job, but you're neglecting your body's health because of this event. This is a time where you must show strength. Not just for your own sake, but for this city's sake as a whole."

Alara got up off her chair and said, "I guess I have been pretty pathetic lately."

"And don't go bringing yourself down either. Listen, just go home, relax a bit, and maybe get Aeru's little cousin Maiyu so you guys can bond for a while. She should be able to relax as long as she's around."

Alara smiled, "Yes, she's a living anti-depressant. However, she doesn't know about Rick's condition yet."

"Don't tell her. Just spend time with her."

"Alright."

Dr. Lian smiled and said, "Good. Now listen, don't take this as spite, but I don't want to see hide nor tail of you for the rest of the day. I will send you updates on Aeru's condition. Now goodbye dear."

Alara laughed and said, "Yes ma'am! Goodbye!"

Alara teleported away and reappeared in front of her car. She then pulled out a list of responsibilities to attend to, "Alright let's see what I have to do before I get to pick up Maiyu. Meeting with the Council...FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!"

[Three Hours Later]

Alara was sitting with her parents in the throne room of the Chief's Court. She was driving her forehead onto her fist until her mom stopped her.

Her mom said to her, "Alright, no need to bruise your head. We've been dealing with them for years, we can deal with their crap."

Alara sighed and said, "I can't believe the crap they come up with though. It irritates me."

Saifer said to Alara, "It's okay, just go home and rest."

"Yeah, maybe."

Saifer then remembered something, "Oh yeah! Your friend A came over earlier today."

"What for?"

"He had a request to make of me, he says it should help with the security of the Sanctuary."

"What did he have in mind?"

"He planned to send out scouting parties all around the region, to make sure Team Rocket does nothing without our knowledge of it."

Alara got up, "I have to hear this from his own mouth. Why didn't he bring this to my attention?"

"He didn't want to bother you since...well you know. I gave him my approval though. However, if you have another opinion then go down to see him about it."

"That's what I'm about to do. I'll see you guys later. Bye!"

[Rick vs Illia]

Rick and Illia were trading blow, during this fight Rick could see why Illia was legendary for her strength. Rick tried to go on the offensive and slashed away as best as he could at her. However, Illia kept dodging or blocking his attacks with little difficulty. In one instance, Illia caught his blade with her bare hands, astonishing Rick.

Rick was surprised, "How did you just catch my blade?"

Illia smirked and said, "You'll never be able to cut me until you decide to listen to your sword."

"What are you talking about? I listen to Twilight all the time. I've been able to listen to her for months now."

"Yes, you heard her, but have you listened to her. Think of it this way, think of the sword as your heart. Sometimes your heart tells you things but you can take it as just some random crap. However, the truth is that it's your instincts telling you the way to do something correctly. So far you have used your sword as a means of combat and chalked up Twilight's suggestions and mere opinions when in truth they are the way for you to win and the way for you to become stronger. Now I'm not saying that you have been ignoring her, you just couldn't listen. You were deaf powerwise. You relied of you current strength and you powers to win fights for you, but what if your enemy has more strength and more capable powers than you. What then?"

Rick took a second to process the information and then said, "So I have to learn to listen to Shadowbane as I fight?"

"That's the basic idea, yes."

Rick then lifted his Shadowbane and pointed the blade at Illia, "Then I guess I better listen."

Illia arched an eyebrow and saw a red ball of energy beginning to charge at the tip of the blade. Illia sighed and said, "Oh don't go all Xeron on me." Illia the pointed her blade at Rick and charged an energy ball of her own, "You're just like him, always jumping to an attack that you aren't sure will work."

Rick saw the energy ball and began to sweat, "Damn it!"

Illia giggled, "It's a game of chicken. Who fires first?"

Rick swallowed and then thought of something Illia said earlier, "Wait, you know my father?"

"Oh please! You're not the only one in your family to go through this trial. You're just like your father. I had to beat the living crap out of him so he can learn."

"So I'm like my dad?"

"You look like him and act just like he did when he first came here."

Rick scoffed, "I'm nothing like him. He's a clown compared to me."

"Trust me, he was exactly like you when he was your age. He was serious, objective, and didn't play around. You remind me of him too much."

"Well I guess time changes a person."

"It was your mom that changed him. However, that's a story for another time. Now are you going to shoot or are we just going to have this cannon point interview?"

Rick nodded and fired the blast. Illia smiled and swung upwards, making the energy ball turn into an energy shield, blocking the blast. Rick ran forward and sliced through the energy shield and tried to beat Illia. Illia seemed to of already expected the attack and blocked the hits again, frustrating Rick. Rick swung with greater force, surprising Illia and making her smile. Rick then roared, shocking Illia. He then charged at Illia and managed to grab her, and slammed her onto the ground. Rick threw his claws and tried to plunge them through her. Illia however vanished and reappeared kicking Rick in the head.

Rick growled in frustration and then shook his head so he wouldn't go into Alpha State. "No! I can't use Alpha State. I refuse."

Illia didn't take the opportunity to attack, instead she said, "That demonic power you gain when you're frustrated seems to be hard to control."

"It's been getting harder to control since Projects Mu and Nu died. I get headaches and then I just explode into a rage. I get to control it easily though, so it's not that bad."

"Well I guess it's not all bad. So let us continue our little training session, shall we?"

Rick smirked and took his battle position, "Sure! You first!"

Illia nodded and lunged forward towards Rick. Rick brought his sword up and swung, clashing with Illia's blade.

[Alara; 22nd Den]

Alara teleported to the 22nd Den. She stopped for a second and looked at the den. The den was the same, but it felt different without Rick standing next to her, walking with her. She took a deep breath and sighed before walking to the manor. As she approached the manor she could hear what sounded like two Gallades fighting. She decided to walk around the manor and found A sparring with his Gallade. A noticed her and stopped the sparring session.

He and Green walked up to Alara and Green said, "Alara! It's so good to see you." She then noticed Alara's new attire. "Oh that's an interesting new look."

Alara gave a brave smile and said, "This is the traditional female Warlord attire. Never in my life did I think that I would have to wear it." She then fixed Shadowbane onto her hip and looked at A.

A nodded and told her, "It suits you well. If all goes well, however, you will probably not wear that for too long. What do you need from me, My Lady?"

Alara looked at A seriously, "I heard from my father that you sent out some scout parties. I would like to know what that is all about."

A nodded and replied, "I have sent a variety of scouts all over the region to watch over the various cities and larger routes to keep track of any Team Rocket movements. They all come from my own stock of pokemon but will answer to your father in the event I cannot be reached. They understand that this is a very important stealth mission, and will not reveal the location of the Sanctuary under any circumstances. I have assigned Rose and my Whimsicott, Scott, to gather the reports of the scouts, then give me the information."

Alara nodded, "While I accept the idea I still have to ask you, why didn't you bring it to me earlier?"

A shuffled his feet and replied, "You were visiting Rick in the hospital, and I figured you needed that time to yourself. Your father said he would inform you of my plan once you returned. I would have addressed it to you directly, but I had to direct my troops first."

Alara looked down and then sighed, "Thank you for understanding. I know I shouldn't stay too long with Rick, now that I have to perform his responsibilities."

A nodded and encouraged her, "If you need any help, you shouldn't be afraid to ask. And I don't just mean me. Someone else held the position before Rick, no? Perhaps you could ask him or her for advice."

"His uncle Daedalus was the Warlord before him and his father prior."

A nodded and said, "Very well, if you find your position difficult to manage, you could ask him for advice."

"Well Xeron is dead and Daedalus has been sent by my father to visit the Medicham civilization."

A paused for a moment, then said, "Well, I know I don't hold a position in your society, and that might reflect on your view of me, but I believe I have a good understanding of battles and strategy. However, that might be the only help I can offer. I don't think I have any political influence here, nor do I think I need any. Especially since my time here is limited to the duration of this war."

Alara gave a slight smile behind her sad expression, "Thank you."

Alara's stomach then grumbled, prompting Green to ask, "Are you hungry?"

Alara nodded, "I am. I haven't eaten anything today. I woke up and immediately went to the hospital. Needless to say, my parents have been very worried about me since Rick slipped into a coma."

A hesitated, then said, "In all truth, we are too. You haven't been yourself since that... event, and I can understand why. However, you shouldn't allow this to completely ruin your life. I hope I don't sound cruel in saying this, but I'm sure Rick would tell you to pull yourself together and get the work finished. At least, that's what I would do." Green then slapped his arm, and he looked at her in confusion and said, "What? What'd I say?"

Green rolled her eyes, looking at Alara and asked, "Can you believe some men?"

Alara laughed weakly, "Yeah, they say a lot of things they shouldn't. However, he's right. I have changed, maybe for the worst."

A looked between them both, then shrugged and said, "Well, I'm probably no use here. Clearly I did something wrong. Besides, Rose is due shortly for a report, and I have to attend to that."

Alara stopped him, "Before you go, let me ask both of you. Should I go back to see Rick, or should I go home?"

A hesitated, then said, "Well, if you want my personal opinion, I think you should see a bit more of the sun. It can do wonders for you, and you would only be depressed seeing Rick. At home, the only thing you would do is contemplate him. Therefore, you should avoid both situations."

Green hesitated herself, then agreed, "As much as I don't like it, that would be what I would do. It's best you take your mind off the depressing matter. We're not saying completely ignore him, but you shouldn't spend so much time obsessing over something you cannot change."

Alara put her hand to her chin and thought for a second. She sighed and nodded, "I understand. I guess I should go for a walk or visit my parents for a while. I should see if they have anything to eat." She laughed and then said to A, "It's not that I want to live in a shell. It's just that I want my mate back. I wasn't prepared to lose him so suddenly."

A's eyes grew downcast and he replied dully, "We all lose those we love; it's a simple fact and consequence of life." He pointed in the general direction of his pokemon and said, "Already I have lost some of them, and in one instance I paid a price for it. But the heartache will not end there, because where there is life, there is also death, which is almost irreversible, except for Arceus. Rick is still alive; just keep that in mind." Before anyone could tell him off, he turned away and went back to the training grounds.

Green sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, and told Alara, "Sorry, he gets like that sometimes. I guess that's one of the consequences of his eternal youth."

"That sounds horrible. This may sound weird, but I'd rather not live forever. I want to grow old, live in peace, and then die in peace."

Green nodded and replied, "I know what you mean. I can only imagine the torture he must endure from realizing that for as long as he remains the White Knight of Arceus, he's subject to loss and despair."

Alara looked at them and then asked Green, "Do you have his eternal youth?"

Green paused, thinking the question over. Then she replied, "I don't know, actually. The only thing I was told was that Rick, your mate, requested my resurrection, but his reasons are unknown to me. What puzzles me more, though, is that Arceus complied. I mean, I haven't done anything special like Michael, so why would he consent to bring me back? I have a feeling both Rick and Michael know, but Michael diverts the subject every time I bring it up, and Rick is... unavailable right now."

Alara sighed, "I guess it's something to ask Arceus or Rick at another time. However, how does it feel to be given another chance at life? To be young again. At the moment, life is confusing to me and I don't know what to think anymore."

Green giggled, then sobered up a bit and replied, "It's a bit... humbling. I mean, I've already had a crack at life, and for the most part, I'm happy with how it worked out. I mean, there are obviously parts I wish I could redo, but it is what it is. If you're willing to take advice from an old woman such as myself-" she paused for a moment, then giggled madly. When she recovered, she said, "Ohh, sorry. If you're willing to take advice from an old woman, you shouldn't be afraid to take certain risks. Just don't be completely reckless. I tell you what, though, being young again certainly feels better than being old. I had the worst case of arthritis you could imagine, and the general area where I lived was not very compromising for something like that."

Alara giggled, "Well you must be very grateful. I wonder what Arceus has in store for me and Rick. He brought you and A back, brought Rick back to the Sanctuary, got me and Rick together. Now all I ask is to know how to move on from here."

Green shrugged and stated, "Well, in my experience, and Michael might have said this before, life is full of unexpected turns and surprises, not all of them welcome. But being able to move past all of that, and still enjoy what benefits life gives you makes you a truly strong person."

Alara chuckled, "Then Rick should of been indestructible. Mainly considering all that has happened to him in his life."

Green frowned, then replied, "Following that logic, Michael would be beyond indestructible. But that's not how it works. I really mean spiritual strength."

Alara sighed, "I guess that I'm lacking in that form of strength. As you probably can tell, I was pretty well protected as I grew up. You know, being the princess and all, I had all the luxuries that I wanted. However, I never wanted them. What I really wanted was to be like the people under me. My parents understood and allowed me to live like them on the outside, but on the inside there was still a pampered side to me. I never experienced true loss or pain for a long time, namely when I lost my grandfather, my Pop-Pop" Alara giggled lightly. "I'll admit, I'm always unprepared to lose anyone, thus why I'm taking Rick's condition so hard. Each time I lose someone I blame myself. Sure I'd wish everyone I loved could live forever, but then I would have to stay with the reality that not everyone gets the luxuries that you and A have been given. Not even my power and wealth could give that to me. If I couldn't blame myself, I would blame Arceus, but then I would feel bad for harboring such thoughts."

Alara then walked to a bench and sat down, "I have to be honest with you Green, the night I went home after Rick went into a coma, I broke down in our room and began blaming Arceus for not helping him. I actually stayed up crying, not only because of Rick's condition, but because I knew I was so weak. I was blaming the one being that had blessed me so much. I'm pathetic!"

Green sat by her and rubbed her back, saying softly, "We all go through that at some point. We generally blame the higher power, if only because we don't like to blame ourselves, which we have a tendency to do anyway. But A has realized for a while that there really is no purpose to blaming the higher power, least of all Arceus. In fact, if anything, we need to be sympathetic toward him. He experiences the death of each of his creations, and has to surrender them to Giratina. That would not be easy for any parent to do."

"I guess I never thought about that. I know I shouldn't blame him, but I always look for someone to blame, mainly because I know I can't protect Rick or myself. I'm one of the weakest on the team. But now I have to take Rick's place and lead the army while he's incapacitated. I have no idea how to do it."

Green grinned and told her, "Well, if you really need someone to blame, just aim for the one at fault, which Michael said was Iota. As for inexperience, that will pass quickly enough. Further, there are plenty people, and pokemon for that matter, who are weaker than you. Don't let yourself be discouraged, and by far don't discourage yourself."

Alara nodded, "Alright." She then gave Green a curious smile, "So, what are you and A going to do today?"

Green shrugged and said, "Not much on my end. Michael, on the other hand, has some reports to compile and look closely in an attempt to see if Team Rocket is doing anything, and then determine a course of action from there."

"Do you two even spend time together?"

Green sighed then, and she said sadly, "I'm trying to get him to relax, but that word is almost nonexistent in his personal dictionary, or at least very distorted." She looked up in the direction he had traveled. "I want to try and help him, but he's been a loner since battling Cipher, and that was reflected in part when he was going around as Red. I don't know what to do here. I can give you advice on how to deal with life, but I can't even help my own friend."

"Well what I usually do to Rick is force him. However, you don't have powers. You're going to have to find a way to get through to him. If you need my help then I will gladly give it."

Green nodded and said, "I could definitely use help, but I have to warn you, he is a deadly fighter. And since he doesn't quite have a social experience, one of the few things protecting you is the fact that you are pokemon, who he will not hurt."

Alara sighed, "So this is for not. He has to have some humanity in himself besides compassion."

Green sighed and hung her head, then said, "If you knew more about him, then you might understand why he is the way he is. Yet even despite what he's told me, I know that's not all there is to it."

"Well I'm still waiting for something. No one can be that closed up, even to people that he should consider as his friends. I can read his mind for you if you want."

Green shrugged and replied, "As far as I know, I'm the only human friend he has. Or even the only human contact. He might feel you in his mind, given that he's a part Psychic pokemon now, and I know he wouldn't take kindly to it. If you can be stealthy, though, then I guess it's worth a shot."

"And if we're found out?"

Green smirked and replied, "We run for our lives and pray to Arceus."

"Is he really that dangerous?"

Green chuckled and said darkly, "No, it's worse. We'd get leniency because we're females. He doesn't believe in violence towards them. If another psychic who was male tried to do that, however, and Michael caught him in the act, he'd get the beating of a lifetime. We could get off, but he would give us such a tongue-lashing. I've actually heard his upbraiding, and it can make you feel a low such as you have never known. Yet he can still employ compassion. I think he would make an excellent father."

Alara shrugged, "Whatever you say. Still he should know that we're just trying to help."

"The problem is that he doesn't think that he needs help. He believes in full-blown independence; in other words, if he thinks he has a problem, he'll try and take care of it himself, by himself."

That is absolutely no way to live. Were his experiences that bad?"

From what he told me so far, it's worse. And I don't even know what he's hiding from me, and I have a feeling that I will never know."

"You should try to find out what he's hiding."

Green hesitated, then asked, "How? Asking directly won't work, and I hardly think he'd be willing to say anything anyway."

"Then just wait him out. Spend as much time as you can with him until he begins to crack."

Green laughed humorlessly, then said, "That might take until past the end of this war. He has an iron will."

"Iron, but not diamond. It can be crushed."

Green frowned and said, "I don't follow."

Alara elaborated, "Everyone has their breaking points. You just have to find a good way of getting under A's defenses."

Green snorted and said, "Easier said than done. But I guess you're right. The problem is I have to do it in a way that doesn't make him suspicious, and just about everything makes him suspicious."

Alara chuckled and said, "Well I'm not sure if you're all for this, but just flirt a little."

Green cocked her head in confusion and asked, "Flirt? What does that mean?"

"You're kidding? Right?"

Green shook her head slowly, saying, "No, I mean it. What are you talking about?"

Alara sighed and said, "You know, try to use your womanly charm on him until he breaks."

Green looked forward in slight shock and asked herself, "Geez, have the times changed so dramatically? Where have I been this entire time? Then she looked at Alara and asked, "Any idea how I pull that off? Especially without tipping him off?"

"Just be extremely friendly, but not to the point where you get him to want to sleep with you. That's when you know you have gone too far."

Green smirked and said, "I'm protected in that realm, though. I suppose it would seem strange to you, but in our time, when we were about your age, pre-marital sex was very sparse as it was looked heavily down upon. Besides, I don't think that thought would ever cross his mind."

"Good to know. For us here we can only mate before marriage if we made the decision that the person we sleep with is the one we're going to be with forever. It's an honor thing that we can't break. Either way, just play with his mind."

Green laughed loudly and said, "Oh, that's courting danger there!"

"How so?"

Green looked at her and asked, "Do you honestly think after playing mind games against hardened criminals for the better part of his childhood and following through that for the rest of his life, he would succumb to whatever pathetic attempts I could make?"

"Trust me, as long as you make it seem like you don't want to know, the more this will work. I've done it on Rick a couple of times."

Green frowned and asked, "So... like reverse psychology?"

Alara smirked, "In a way, yes. You just have to make sure he never learns of your true motives."

Green placed a hand to her chin in thought and said, "That'll be hard, but I might as well try it. Can you help me out for my first round? I think I should be able to handle it from there."

"Sure, we'll have to wait for him to come back."

Green cocked her head and asked, "Why?"

"I thought that you wanted to try your luck. So to do that you'll need A to be here. Just to see what we do right and what we do wrong."

Green then asked, "But wouldn't it be more productive to go directly to him instead of waiting on him? Especially since he's the one that left us. That makes it unpredictable when he'll return, if ever."

Alara shrugged her shoulders and the said, "Alright, you lead the way. You know this place better than I do."

Green led Alara behind the mansion, where A could be seen sparring against Ixion in his war-horse form. Green looked at Alara and asked, "How should we start?"

"Simple. Get his attention and strike up a conversation."

Green thought for a moment, then called out, "Hey, Michael!" He turned around and was struck by Ixion's horn, sending him into the ground. Green winced and said, "Oops. We should be ready to run."

Alara winced and said, "Should I leave?"

Green held up a hand and whispered, "Give it a second. I'll try and signal for you if you should run, but otherwise let's see where this goes." She went over to help A up.

Alara waited outside the sparring grounds to see how things will go for Green. She noticed that A shifted his attention to Ixion, so she sent Green a mental message, _"Make him focus on you right now."_ After a short while and noticing that A was getting suspicious over what Green was saying, she said to Green, _ "Better start denying it. Don't lose him."_

Alara kept listening in until A said to her, "Hey Alara, want to join in?"

Alara shook her head and said, "No, I should be heading home right now. I need something to eat and I'm going to visit Rick." She then said to Green mentally, _"Remember what I told you. Also, if anything just contact me mentally. I set up a link."_

A and Green nodded and waved goodbye as Alara teleported away. Alara arrived in front of her car and soon took off to her next destination, Maiyu's house. Alara got out of her car and knocked on the door. Soon Celenia answered the door.

Celenia saw Alara and hugged her, "Alara dear! It's so good to see you again!"

Alara hugged her back, "Likewise!"

Celenia then said concerned, "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay. Is Maiyu home?"

"She is not. She's in her ballet class. I was about to go pick her up."

Alara shook her head, "No need, I'll do it."

"Are you sure you want to dear?"

"Of course! Who can stay sad with her around? I'll have her here in no time."

Celenia thought about Alara's willingness to volunteer and then said, "Alright. However, I want you to stay and talk to me when you get back."

Alara nodded, "Will do! I needed to talk to you anyways. I'll be back soon."

Alara walked back to her car and took off. She drove for about ten minutes until she reached the ballet school where Maiyu was supposed to be. As she arrived, she immediately saw Maiyu at the front door, talking to some friends. Alara parked the car and began to walk towards Maiyu. She didn't get far when Maiyu suddenly noticed her and quickly ran towards her.

Alara smiled and caught her as she jumped up at her. Alara hugged the little Kirlia lovingly and kissed her on the forehead.

Maiyu returned the affection and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick you."

"Am I going to your house today?"

"That depends how today goes. I'm just doing your mom a favor for now."

Maiyu smiled and said, "I never expected to see you here."

"I used to be a ballerina too Maiyu. This was my old ballet school as well."

"You never told me that."

"You never asked. So shall we leave now or are you still talking to your friends?"

Maiyu put a finger on her chin and then said, "One moment." She then looked back and waved, receiving waves from the other Kirlias. "Alright, we're good to go."

Alara asked, "That's it?"

"Yeah, I can just wave goodbye."

"Umm...alright then. Let's go!"

[Rick]

Rick has been training with Illia for the last thirteen days. Through the course of the days Rick has become substantially stronger and even gained new moves and abilities. His power and energy had also exploded to higher levels.

Illia was with him and told him while wiping the sweat off her brow, "Alright, you are now ready to ascend to the next level of your mastery."

Rick was panting and asked, "What can I expect from the next level?"

"Power. You'll be many times stronger, many times faster, and many times closer to becoming a Shadowbane grandmaster."

"What do I have to do?"

Illia replied, "Open your heart and mind. Free the beast of carnage that resides within you. All that untapped power and energy is yours for the taking. Now activate Noboru (Ascend in Japanese), your ascended form. After you do so, come and defeat me."

Rick nodded and lifted his blade and concentrated. He then said, "I accept the terms of this contract and all that abide withing it. I will take up my arms with the power of Shadowbane, the Wolf Queen. For the will of Arceus, I will become a weapon and a liberator...Noboru!"

Rick was then surrounded by a black aura and his energy exploded into a black column. Illia sank her sword into the ground and held on as the force was pushing her back. The column then disappeared and a black aura, in the shape of a large wolf. The wolf snarled at Illia and then howled and turned into a pillar of red light.

Illia held on as the gust of wind from the transformation kept pushing on her. She felt Rick energy and said, "You're doing it kid. Let it all go." A sudden shockwave then surged through the location, surprising Illia, "He has more energy and power than I thought. Reminds me of his father. I guess he did inherit something."

A scream then came from Rick and the light pillar disappeared. Illia was surprised by Rick's new appearance. Rick looked slightly bulkier, his hair was wilder, spikier, and was tied into seven locks. Rick's face seemed sharper, his head spikes had black lining. His eyes were now black with red, there was a tattoo-like lines that branched off under his eyes until they hit the bottom of his jaws. His eyes had a piercing appearance that almost made Illia feel intimidated. His Warlord attire changed into a red and black combat gi and he had a torn coat. On his arms he had the same red glowing tattoos as Twilight had and he his right wrist had a shackle on it that was connected by Shadowbane's chain. His left hand had sharp claws on it and a spiked wristband. His feet had black combat boots and a broken shackle on his left ankle. Shadowbane was cracking with black lighting and Rick cracked his neck and then breathed out, releasing smoke.

Illia smiled and said, "So this is your Noboru form? It seems powerful."

Rick looked at himself and then said, "I feel stronger." Rick took a slice at the ground. The ground then cracked open and a deep chasm formed. "Yep! Definitely stronger."

Illia took her sword out of the ground and pointed it at Rick, "Well before I can let you go, you have to battle me one more time."

"Alright. You start."

(Battle Music: **Rise by Origa**)

Illia nodded and sliced at Rick. Rick leaned back and dodged the attack. Illia swung again and Rick caught the blade on his spiked wristband. Illia smiled and pulled back, firing two **Shadow Balls** as she moved back. Rick quickly sliced the two attacks and disappeared. Illia stopped and looked around, searching for him. She then picked up his energy and swung backwards, with Rick blocking it and returning the attack. Illia caught his wrist to stop the attack and swung at him, Rick doing the same to her. The two struggled for a second and then Illia looked at Rick. After a moment she saw his eyes glowing and she ducked, dodging an eye beam.

Illia was shocked and vanished to dodge another eye beam. She transported herself throughout the field, dodging eye beams and **Psycho Cuts**. She kept the same pattern until Rick vanished and grabbed her shoulder. Illia looked back and saw an eye beam going through her shoulder. Illia punched him to make him let go and got a considerable distance from him, while clutching her shoulder.

Illia laughed and said, "Good job! You had me on the run. However, I'm not done yet."

Rick smirked and said, "I'm waiting for you to stop holding back."

"Fair enough. Get ready."

Illia gave a mighty yell and her aura exploded. Rick took a battle position and drew his own aura. Illia smirked and punched Rick quickly. Rick staggered back and was then bulldogged by Illia. Illia stood on his back and swung down on him, but her blade was stopped by the sudden appearance of a wolf that caught the blade in its mouth. Illia was surprised and then managed to wrestle the blade out of the wolf's mouth and was then tackled by the wolf. Illia kicked the wolf off of her and charged a beam on her fingertips. The wolf shocked her and charged a beam in its mouth. Illia fired the beam and the wolf fired back, making the two beams clash and explode on contact.

After the dust settled, Illia saw the wolf snarling at her and took a battle position. She then saw Rick clapping behind the wolf.

Rick said to the wolf, "Great job Fenrir! You're stronger than I expected. Now return to my shadow." The wolf nodded, turned into black mist, and sank into Rick's shadow.

Illia smirked and said, "Well I never got a wolf when I went into that form. However, it seems like an awesome partner."

"And a partner that has my last name as its first name."

"Let's end this right now."

Rick and Illia charged at one another and swung at one another, clashing at one another. They exchanged blows for a few moments and then Illia punched Rick. Rick shook it off and punched her back. Illia growled and fired a **Signal Beam** at Rick, but Rick dodged it and fired a beam from his eyes. Illia knocked it away stabbed towards Rick. Rick vanished and appeared behind her and charged energy onto his blade. Rick swung down at Illia, creating a gigantic black explosion. The dust settled and Rick saw Illia behind an energy shield, seeing a cut on her chest from his attack.

Rick chuckled and said, "Am I too fast or too strong for you now?"

Illia growled and said, "You're getting stronger by the second. I have to end you now."

Illia's aura then grow gigantic and it suddenly shrank down into her sword. She lifted it up and drove it into the ground, creating a monstrous **Psycho Cataclysm**. Rick acted fast and held his blade with two hands and waited until the shockwave reached him. Just then he swung down and split it in half, saving himself and causing a 'V' shaped crack formation on the ground. Rick looked at her and saw her panting, he used her exhausting to his advantage. Rick vanished and reappeared uppercutting her into the air. He vanished again and attacked her in the air repeatedly. He vanished one more time and appeared above her and charged energy onto his blade. He swung down and a gigantic energy blade hit Illia and sent her crashing into the ground, the blade causing an explosion as it hit the ground.

Rick was somehow standing in midair and slowly descended down. When he reached the ground he saw Illia leaning on her sword and staggering towards him, using her sword as a cane.

Illia stopped and looked at Rick. She then smiled and said, "You win. Time for you to face Twilight on your own. We'll meet again."

Rick smiled back and said, "I'm sure we will. I'll be waiting for that day."

"Now go! Defeat her."

Rick then saw as she faded away and the area changed. Rick looked around and saw Twilight in the same location she was when she sent him to Illia.

Twilight smirked and said, "So you reached the next level. Let's see if you can hold your own against me now."

Rick took a battle position and said, "I'm sure you'll be surprised."

"Good to know." She then began to run towards him, "Now show me what your training has taught you!"

Rick swung at her as she swung at him and the two clashed, with their power sending shockwaves through the field.

**Well there you have it guys. Rick has a new form and now he has to take down his own sword in a fight. I'll try to make it as good as I can for the next chapter. Anyways, thanks for anything guys. Send me your reviews, questions on the forum, and your suggestions. Bye guys. I should have another chapter done for this week, so keep an eye out for that.**


	51. Chapter 51: Grand Awakening

**And I'm back with Chapter 51. There's a lot in this chapter that I loved, so I hope you guys like it too. So please send me your reviews, questions on the Q&A Forum (which you can find by searching The Blade and the Embrace on the Forum search. Just press the arrow that points down on the search bar which says 'Story' and pick 'Forum', then type in the name), and your suggestions. I'm still looking for a story to put on my Spotlight, so send me suggestions. View Rankings: 1st) Philippines (lol will the UK finally be dethroned), 2nd) UK, 3rd) Singapore, 4th) Brazil, and 5th) Canada (somehow still clinging to life here lol)**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Alara was on the balcony of her and Rick's house. It was the middle of the afternoon and she was exhausted from working all day. She had no idea how Rick could withstand all of the Warlord responsibilities without so much as breaking a sweat. She had addressed the army, had a meeting with the Council, stationed the guards, given the patrol orders of the guards and soldiers, visited Rick, spoke with her father and mother over what to do with the army, read dozens of reports, settled many civil cases, and picked up Maiyu. Needless to say, she wanted to rest, and she finally got her chance after getting Maiyu to take a nap.

Alara sat down on a rocking chair and tried to relax. She had not been under so much stress in a very long time and she was not used it. Alara began to close her eyes until she heard someone knocking at the door. She used her powers to identify the visitors and noticed that it was A and Green.

Alara called out, "Come in, it's open. I'm on the balcony."

A and Green walked in and searched around until they found her, at which point Green said, "Hello Alara! How are you doing?"

Alara smiled at the sight of the two, "I'm alright. Just here thinking. You guys are the fifth set of visitors I get today."

A grinned and said, "Then it sounds like you're being kept busy."

"Well a little. It was mainly family and our friends. However, they didn't stay long. The only person that stayed was Maiyu, but she's taking a nap upstairs. Bless her little heart she doesn't know about Rick's condition, but she doesn't want me to be alone in the house. For that reason she's been visiting and staying often. However, I've been alone for three hours now."

A frowned and asked, "What have you told her? And how have you been spending your time alone?"

Alara answered his question, "I just told her that Rick was sent on a mission and won't be back for a while." She then answered his other question, "Also, I've just been here thinking. I've had a lot of time to think about certain things. I can't say that Maiyu hasn't seen me cry, but she still believes my story."

A nodded his approval at her answer, then asked, "Do you need any help with anything?"

Alara shook her head, "No. I'm quite alright on my own. It's been almost two weeks and Rick hasn't woken up. So I've had to learn a little on how to live on my own. It's different, but I'm managing. Maiyu is really missing him though. When she's here she wants me to sing her the lullaby that Rick used to sing to his sister, which she apparently likes. However, Rick never taught it to me."

A winced and said, "That does make things difficult. I wasn't aware Rick had a sister, though."

Alara sighed, "Yes, he _had_ a sister. Her name was Harmony. She's the true reason why he hates Team Rocket with a burning passion. Team Rocket killed her when she was four, which makes Rick seven. Rick never really got over her death very well. By what I hear, they were closer than any siblings I have ever heard of or seen. Rick used to protect her day and night and she used to rely on him more than their own parents. After Team Rocket killed his parents, they separated him and his sister. Rick got the news a few days later that his sister was dead. Team Rocket killed her during their experimentations and Rick vowed to destroy them."

A's eyes became downcast, and he said, "I know what it's like to lose your family."

"I know. I can sense it coming from you." Alara sat down on a chair and sighed, "Things have been pretty hard on me. I can barely sleep and barely eat."

"That's very bad for your health. I can understand where you're coming from- believe me, I do- but allowing yourself to live like that will only cause you harm."

"I've just been so busy lately. What with the Warlord duties, running the army, meetings with the Council and Pokemon leaders, managing the house, caring for Maiyu, and protecting the Sanctuary. I haven't had the time for anything. I don't know how Rick could do all this."

A hesitated, then asked seriously, "Are you sure you don't want any help?"

Alara shook her head, "I have to learn to do this alone." She then began to laugh weakly. "Oh Arceus, I'm sounding just like the old Rick."

A shook his head and grinned, asking, "And what does that teach you?"

Alara said tiredly, "That I need Rick back, the Council is a group of assholes when it comes to changes in routine, there's no such thing as a permanent record, this city needs more protection than I thought, and that I need to rest more often."

A laughed and said, "Well, that's not quite what I was getting at, but I suppose it's good to have an answer, regardless of what it may be." He sobered up and told her, "What I'm saying is that you shouldn't force yourself into this situation. I'm going to sound like a hypocrite because I often disregard this myself, but please consider the wisdom in my words; you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help, whether you think you need it or not."

"So I should just rest? What on earth can I ask you and the others to do?"

"Well, I can help protect the Sanctuary. That was one of my priorities anyway. Jean could probably help you command the army. And I'm sure any one of us would be more than happy to help with Maiyu. You're not as alone as you would make yourself."

Alara nodded, "Well I guess that works. Thanks for the help. I'm just trying to figure out how Rick could handle all of this. Any normal person would crack under all the pressure."

A laughed and responded, "There's your answer; Rick is abnormal. I know this to be true, because we have largely had the same experiences, and even exhibit similar behavior. So in that sense, I'm abnormal, and that's not a bad thing. You're not as accustomed to a life of hardship that Rick has experienced, so as a result what seems manageable to him is difficult for someone else."

Alara laughed with him, "Well that's true. However, I love his abnormal self." Alara got up and asked them, "May I get you two anything? A drink? Some food?"

A waved a hand and said, "Oh, you don't have to bother yourself. We won't be imposing on you much longer."

Alara seemed disappointed, "Aww you're leaving already?"

"Well, not if you don't want us to."

Alara sighed, "Well if you must go then go ahead. I should take advantage of the fact that Maiyu is asleep so I can eat something." Suddenly Alara sensed something and looked back inside the house and saw Maiyu yawning and walking to her.

Maiyu said to Alara, "Alara, I had a nightmare."

Alara walked over to her and picked her up. She cradled her and said, "It's just a dream Maiyu. What did you dream?"

"I dreamed that something terrible happened to Aeru. I want to talk to him."

"I'm sorry Maiyu, but he can't call until his mission is over."

A added, "It's top secret and maximum stealth. We're not sure when he'll get back, but when he does, there will probably be a lot of rejoicing. But until then, all we can do is wait."

Maiyu cried, "But I want to know that he's okay."

A gave Alara a helpless look, then said, "Well, as far as I know, we would get word if anything happened. Since we haven't, I think it's safe to say he's fine."

"But what if it happened just now?"

A shrugged and raised his hands in a helpless gesture, then said, "What can I say? We're doing the best with what we've got. If anything happens, we'll know about it."

"Are you sure?"

A replied by nodding. Alara cradled Maiyu and said to her, "Go play with your toys. I have to talk with A and Green." Alara put Maiyu on the ground and she went walking back inside. Alara looked at A and Green and said, "I don't know how long I have to keep this up."

A hesitated, then asked, "Do you want me to watch over her for a while?"

"Well you'll have to talk to her parents about that. I don't mind it though."

A frowned and asked, "Why do her parents allow her to be here, considering what you're going through right now? Or are they even aware of it?"

"They know. They think she can help me with my loneliness."

A nodded and asked, "Alright then, do you just want us to hang around and help?"

"Yeah. If you can, please go to the gate and get a progress report for me. That will save me the trouble of traveling there."

"Sure thing!" A teleported to the front of the Sanctuary, leaving Green behind with Alara.

Alara asked Green, "So how have you all been? It's been a week since I last saw you."

Green shrugged and told her, "Nothing big, really, other than Michael receiving boring reports that have nothing TO report. Of course, he's happy about that, but as usual he's suspicious."

"Why is he suspicious?"

Green rolled his eyes and said sardonically, "He's always suspicious. But in reality-" she looked around furtively before continuing, "He thinks that because Team Rocket believes Rick to be dead, they'll be making a mass movement soon. However, they seem content to bask in the glow of their supposed victory. Needless to say, Michael is getting very restless."

"Haven't you talked to him and tell him about your concerns?"

Green rolled her eyes again and replied, "Well, I tried, but he's so convinced that Team Rocket's going to move forward that he focuses on almost nothing else. Moreover," here she grew slightly downcast "I think he's beginning to fall into a more depressive state."

"That's not good. Why do you think that he's like that?"

Green looked around hesitantly, then said, "I'm not sure, but I think it may have to do with Rick." She hesitated strongly this time, then asked covertly, "Can you keep a secret?"

Alara nodded and said, "Of course I can."

Green took a deep breath and said, "Okay, Michael was in a meeting with Arceus and his other Knights, and it turns out they already knew what was going to happen to Rick. Michael wanted to prevent it, but they all said that it was fate, and it would happen whether he liked it or not, and he couldn't do anything about it. Further, Arceus forbade him from divulging this information until after it happened." Green stepped back to gauge Alara's reaction.

Alara sat down on her chair and thought for a few moments. She knew about the Knights already, but she didn't know that they knew about the attack. She then said to Green, "So all those Knights and all of them were unable or forbidden to help? Kinda makes you think where you stand in the eyes of Arceus if he decided to have my future husband eliminated." Tears began to form in her eyes. "What did either of us do to suffer like this? Or maybe we're just being tested. Either way, you would think Arceus would of shown a bit more sympathy. Thank you for telling me this."

Green nodded and said, "I hope you won't be angry at Michael for this. He had no say in the matter."

Alara sighed and pressed the area between her eyes. She the opened her eyes and said, "I'm not mad at him. A at least tried to help in the best way he could. I just can't believe that he hid this from me." She then thought of something else, "I have to ask, why are you so concerned for him? Were you afraid of me? Or what I could of done to him if I was angry at him?"

Green waved the comment off and said, "No offense, but you couldn't have done anything to him. No, I'm more worried about how he would have taken your anger. The reason he didn't say anything afterward was because he was worried how you and the rest of the team would handle the news."

"I guess that it was for the best. Do you think that A would calm down if Rick was back?"

Green thought about it, then said, "Not quite. He would be worried about Rick finding out, and from there his reaction."

Alara nodded and said, "Well, we should find a way to calm A down. I doubt Rick will be too angry."

Green nodded sadly and replied, "Unfortunately, he tends to think the worst of himself. This way he can strive for perfection. I've spoken with his pokemon about him, and they all say he treats them much better than he treats himself."

Alara sighed and related, "I understand. Rick is the same way. He's great with others but he doesn't care a lot about himself. However, A has a second chance at life and that doesn't mean to waste it."

Green nodded and replied, "And I'm trying to tell him that. But it's not easy to change the opinion of a person who has felt that way for the majority of his life."

"Well Rick lost his depressive state by being with his family. Sadly, A doesn't have that luxury. Maybe if he learns about what he has to live for, it might change his attitude."

Green thought about her words, then said, "From what I know, he accepted Arceus' offer because he wanted to stay with his pokemon. But they're dying off. The main reason he accepted, of course, was to provide help to those who need it." She sighed and looked out the window. "He is a Watcher, but who watches the Watchers? He needs something more profound in his life, something, or someone, he can turn to in times of need, whenever he doubts himself."

Alara then said, "You really feel for him, don't you?"

Green blushed and begged, "Please don't tell him... but I have an attraction to him."

Alara laughed, "I won't, don't worry. I know how you feel. However, when I was falling in love with Rick, I was sorta in denial at first."

Still blushing, Green replied, "It was easier for me once I realized who he was."

"How so?"

Green began to fan herself and remarked, "Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me? Anyway, he was a very cutting figure when he first debuted as Red. You have no idea how many fans he had. Every single one of my friends wanted to get some part of the Silent Loner, as he was sometimes referred to. Even I was part of his fan group. And now I'm pretty much the only person alive who can say she knew, or knows, the real Red."

"And that's why you're attracted to him?"

"Well, in part. What you have to keep in mind is that we come from a different time period. They say that opposites attract, but that wasn't really true during our years. In fact, you would most often find that married couples had very similar personalities. It made for easier companionship. At least during that time. And Michael and I share many traits, though it might not seem evident."

"Traits? Such as?"

"Well, for one, we care deeply about pokemon. I cared very well for mine while they still lived with me. We also feel compelled to help others where possible. We're more than capable trainers, though admittedly he easily trumps me, and we come from the same time period. If I were to guess, he's only older than me by mere months."

"Those are good shared traits. I hope you guys manage to get together. It might help A to get that stick out of his ass."

Green snorted with laughter for a moment, and when she recovered she asked, "That would be something to see!"

"What exactly are you talking about?" A had returned and walked into the room right after Green made her statement.

Alara couldn't help but laugh at Green's shocked and scared expression, "Oh nothing. Female chat."

A narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then shrugged and said, "Whatever. Anyway, not much to report, other than some packages coming in."

Alara arched an eyebrow, "Packages? What kind of packages?"

A shrugged and replied, "I don't know. I thought you ordered them."

Alara shook her head, "I haven't ordered anything."

A's paranoia kicked in and he started pacing saying, "Then precautions need to be taken. We'll secure one, enact measures of safety, then move it away from the Sanctuary. The others will be placed in another secure location until the generality of their contents is discovered."

Alara asked, "How long would that take?"

"It could be a very lengthy process, given that we don't know the nature of the contents. It could easily be a method to kill us activated only by opening the boxes. It might prove to be a bomb, or gases... the possibilities are endless."

"Maybe you're over thinking this."

"First rule of warfare; never doubt anything the enemy has the potential to do. If we underestimate them, we'll surely meet our doom."

"But they don't know about the Sanctuary."

"Where's your proof? Do you have access to top secret Team Rocket records? Because if not, we should assume the worst and make preparations for that outcome."

"Tsu Lieng has access to their records. She took the clearance the day we met you."

"Okay then, get in contact with her and see if Team Rocket has any shipping records within the region in the past week. Then that will help clear this matter up somewhat."

Alara nodded and said, "I will in the morning. Right now I need to ask you something. Do you want me to do anything for you? You know so you can relax for a bit. You seem very stressed out."

A laughed and said, "That's my line! I'm the guardian of pokemon here, so don't worry yourself about me. I've got things under control. I'll just need to back-check any shipping records you find and compare them to my own scout's reports. Then we can devise a strategy that best counters Team Rocket."

Alara sighed, "Alright. As I said I will call Tsu in the morning for the records. Also, have your pokemon scouts told you anything yet?"

"Nothing so far, but that's really good news. Still, it won't do to become complacent."

"It's nothing to become paranoid for."

A barked harshly in laughter and replied, "Don't mock me! It was because of my paranoia that I was able to survive for so long. And now you expect me to give it up? I think not."

Alara looked at him with a serious face, "I wasn't mocking you. You were given another chance at life. Don't waste it."

"I'm not wasting it. I'm spending it trying to protect those under my charge. And to do that, I have to take every detail into account, even the crazy-sounding ones."

Alara sighed and shook her head, "Alright, whatever you think is best. I won't speak of it again. Just do what you have to do with the packages at the moment."

A nodded and teleported again, intending to get the matter settled as soon as possible. Green sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, then said to Alara, "See what I have to work with?"

"He's so stubborn. Rick never lost his patience with him, but I'm losing my patience. How do you do it?"

"By reminding myself that it wasn't his fault. Neither of us escaped the original Team Rocket incident unscathed, but he faced them more often than I did, and he had six other evil syndicates to fight, almost all of them nearly costing his life."

"Well that is true, but he's too paranoid. Needless to say I'm afraid he's going to start believing that we're against him in a way. It's just a fear though."

Green laughed humorlessly and replied, "I think he's well beyond that point. All you need is the right shove in the wrong direction, and you'll have a rogue warrior on your hands. An Arceus Knight, at that."

"If he does anything displeasing to us, Rick can just ask Arceus to take him back. Rick told me that he is not going to take his chances with him after A tried to attack him a few months ago."

Green sighed disapprovingly and said, "I don't want to argue about this... I just want to turn him around."

"How do you expect to do that?"

Green shook her head and said uncertainly, "I don't know yet. Actually, part of the reason I came along was to see if you could help in any way. Even I think it's getting ridiculous, but he won't listen."

"That's a hard one. It's bad when a man decided that he would rather not listen to you, but as you explained to me, he tends to worry more about his job than anything else."

Green nodded and added, "And in many cases you have to interfere with a man's work to get his attention. But for my purposes, there's no safe, or moral, way to do it."

"I told you almost two weeks ago to try and flirt with him a bit."

Green sweatdropped and replied, "Yeah... that kinda backfired. He figured me out and completely turned it around. Now I can't get away with it anymore because he's on the lookout for it."

Alara sighed and said, "What did you do? If I may ask."

Green sighed and explained, "Well, he was introducing me to his pokemon, and I started getting into his life, to try and figure him out. Along the way, I was also complimenting him, to try and boost his morale at the same time. As I delved deeper, he revealed to me that he was the last surviving member of his whole family, and I asked if he wanted to change that. It seemed nonchalant to me, fairly innocent, but he immediately latched onto it and wound up getting me to confess my whole story. By the end of it, I was convinced he should have been a lawyer."

"Well looks like we'll have to try a different tactic. Sadly, I can dwell into his mind without him knowing, but it's not honorable."

Green paced back and forth, then said, "Honorable or not, he's lived like this for far too long. If this was just starting out, I wouldn't agree with it. But he's been like this for the majority of his life, and he could end up harming someone, and not just physically." She looked at Alara and said, "For the good of many, as well as himself, I suggest you go for it. In the event he discovers you, I'll take the blame."

"If I do it, what do you want me to look for?"

"Find whatever will mend his heart. That's where the problem lies, I'm sure. If we can do that, he will chance for the better. I can feel it."

"Now, Are you sure about this? I don't want you to get in trouble."

Green waved her hand and said, "He won't hurt me directly. It's you I'm worried about. Are you confident you can get into his mind without him noticing?"

"I can do it. My species has that gift, but our honor stops us from doing it."

"But don't you also have a compulsion to protect? Michael is a potential danger to others, but mostly himself. I don't want that to come to fruition."

Alara contemplated and thought about her options. She then nodded and said, "Alright. So which part of his mind do I dwell into first?"

"See how much of his past you can dig up. Then get into his desires. I'll keep him distracted."

Alara nodded and closed her eyes. She began to look for his mind and soon found it. She then said to Green, "Alright, I found him. I'm going in." Alara took a deep breath and slipped through his mental defenses without being noticed. She looked for anything she could pick up in his massive library of a mind. She then found what she was looking for. "Well his past shows me about his family. His parents, his sister, and some professor. He seemed to be close to all of them." She then saw something. "Well now I found something about Cipher. Something happening and him taking action against them." Alara soon went through another area of his mind and looked for his desires, "Okay here they are. Well he wishes for Cipher to be gone indefinitely. There's also traces that he wants his family back. There's also some romantic interest with..." She stopped and decided not to tell Green. "Well that's not important."

Green rallied and said, "Whoa, whoa, hold on. If there is romantic interest, that is important. There's nothing we can do about his family, he'll have to eliminate Cipher on his own, but we might be able to do something about his infatuation. Who is it?"

Alara sighed and said, "Well...um...Alright, don't freak out on me Green, but I think it's you."

Green blushed heavily and stammered, "A-are you s-sure? What makes you say that?"

"Well who else do you know that is named Green, is from the Kanto region, and helped him take on Team Rocket?"

Green smirked slyly and said, "Very few." She placed a hand to her chin and pondered aloud, "I guess the reason for my resurrection makes more sense now. So, how long has he been infatuated with me?" She was blushing heavily as she asked.

"It doesn't give a date. It just says since after the Team Rocket elimination. I don't really know when that was since Rick was the first Team Rocket elimination, and the human one is the one I'm not too clear on. Do you have an idea?"

Green blanched and exclaimed, "Nearly eighty years ago, for me at least! Why didn't he say anything in all that time?!"

"I pick up that he did try, but you disappeared after he beat Team Rocket. So after many years he gave up looking for you."

Green facepalmed and cursed, "Damn it. It worked the other way around, too. I was trying to find Red and see if he was taken at the time. I guess we wound up passing each other."

Alara then found something, "It says that he tried for about ten years and then decided to give up. So he went out of his way to do his job and he never saw you again. He tried on various occasions, when he heard you were in Kanto."

Green brushed a hand through her hair, then sighed and said, "Oh boy, now what?"

"I don't know." She then stopped, "Uh-oh, he's coming back. Getting out of his head."

"Crap! Let's hope he didn't notice anything."

"He hasn't noticed me. So let's act like nothing happened."

Green nodded, and when A reappeared she asked, "So, what are we dealing with?" A shook his head and replied, "I haven't checked yet. I'm making sure the utmost precaution is taken for the worst case scenario."

Alara nodded, "Very well. So we should wait for morning to get news."

A nodded and replied, "And we'll solve this mystery once and for all." He looked at Green and Alara and asked, "Something wrong? You look like you found something disturbing. Especially you, Green."

Alara shook her head, "Nothing is wrong. We're just curious about what could be in those packages."

Grunted and sat down, replying, "I am too, but until I'm sure everything is safe, I don't want to take any chances."

"So are you two going to hang around for a little while longer or are you heading home?"

A thought for a moment, then said, "I should get going. I'm going to receive another report soon, and I need to compile all of that. But I can't speak for Green." She looked at Alara and asked, "Do you mind if I stay here for a while?"

Alara shook her head and said, "Not at all. Stay if you want. Will A allow it though?"

A shrugged and said, "I'm protective, not controlling. Unless she's putting herself in direct danger, I won't tell her what she can or can't do. I guess I'll see you later then." He teleported back to the twenty-second den.

[Rick]

Rick was clashing with Twilight. He found it easier to go up against her in his new form and he could finally see her movements. Twilight was finally enjoying the fight and was enjoying how she was not getting the upper hand.

Twilight said to Rick, "Well Aeru, you improved a lot."

"Yeah, I'm loving this new form."

"I wonder if you'll be using it often."

"Only when I need it. If I know I can defeat someone without it, then I won't use it."

"That's good to know. Reserve your strength for when you need it."

Rick lifted his sword and said, "Let's finish this."

Twilight smirked, "Very well. However, I feel like I should make it a bit more interesting."

"How so?"

Twilight then began to float and raised her sword and began to glow. Rick looked on as she began to change shape. As the light faded and Twilight landed on the ground. Rick looked on in shock and amazement. Twilight was now at least eight to nine feet tall, her body looked more like a wolf than a woman, she had claws on each one of her fingers, red lining under her eyes, her back and shoulders had red glowing tattoos or sigils. She stood on two powerful legs, she had three tails, whip-like protrusions coming from her waist. She also had spikes on her shoulder, along her back, and on her wrists.

(Battle Music: **Roar of the Departed Souls from Lost Odyssey**)

Rick jumped back and took a battle position, "That is cheap and wrong!"

Twilight laughed, "This is a test. I never said I had to be down to your level. Now face me!" She then gave a mighty roar and two swords then appeared into her hands.

Rick charged at Twilight, but was immediately thrown back when she howled at him. Rick cursed his luck and said, "What the hell!? Just her howl is this strong?"

He stood back up and looked at Twilight, just in time to teleport away from a blast attack from Twilight. Rick reappeared behind her and slashed at her, but she caught his arm with one of the whips. She then threw Rick away and ran towards him. Rick jumped to his feet and blocked Twilight's attack, but barely. Twilight used her superior strength to push him away and Rick tried to regain his composure. When he did he noticed a red circle under his feet. He quickly realized that he should jump out of the way and did so. Once he did a large spike came from the circle.

Rick looked at the spike and said, "You're insane!"

Twilight replied, "I'm winning. Sorry about your luck."

Rick got up and saw another circle on the ground. He dodged the spike and fired an eye beam at Twilight, who easily knocked it away. Rick used that moment to teleport in front of her and swung at her. He managed to cut her, but she didn't seem fazed and punched him to the ground.

Rick asked in pain, "What the hell!?"

"I can take a lot of abuse in this form. As you get stronger, so will I so I can test your power." She then picked him up with one of her hands and asked him, "So let's keep this going. You need to beat me so you can wake up." She then punched him and threw him back to the ground.

She tried to stomp on him, but he teleported away. He later appeared punching Twilight in the head and then kicked her, causing her to fall to her knees in pain.

Rick laughed, "Didn't expect that, did you?"

Twilight growled and lunged one of her shoulder spikes at him, surprising Rick. Rick blocked the spike, but it pushed him several feet back.

Twilight got up and mocked him, "Didn't expect that, did you?"

Rick replied, "You can do that!?"

"That's not everything in my arsenal. I also have this." Twilight then charged energy into her swords and she swung down onto the ground, sending two waves of energy at Rick.

Rick jumped in the air and stayed floating. He then received a shock as the waves lifted off the ground and homed in on him. Rick braced himself and was hit by the waves, resulting in an explosion. Rick crash landed on the ground, hurt and charred. He used his sword to help himself stand.

He looked at Twilight and asked, "I didn't learn that attack. What is it?"

Twilight replied, "Kage Nami, Shadow Wave. Believe it or not, it's my signature attack. The homing attack I just threw at you is one of the weakest forms of the attack. The weakest is the energy blade that you have begun to use so openly. The more strength you have and the more energy you put into the attack, the stronger it will become. However, I see that you could barely take the homing version. One more like that and I doubt you'll make it."

Rick drew energy into his body and stood up straight, "I'll be fine."

"Oh? Illia taught you how to absorb energy for minor healing?"

"Yeah. Sadly, it doesn't heal as much as I would want it to."

"It's an interesting technique, however, you can't absorb a lot of energy."

"I know. It'll eat away at me until it destroys me."

"That's only if you continue to use it. Anyways, let's continue."

Rick nodded and lunged towards Twilight. He slashed away at her, with her blocking the attacks. They exchanged attacks for a few moments until Twilight began to whip Rick with her whips. Rick cringed in pain after each hit and soon she knocked him away with a strong hit. Rick hissed in pain and looked up to see Twilight moving towards him. Rick then saw his shadow and yelled, "Fenrir!"

The wolf jumped out of the shadow and immediately pounced on Twilight. Twilight struggled to knock him off of her and then succeeded by grabbing him and throwing him to the ground. Fenrir quickly jumped back up and snarled at Twilight, who got on all fours and began to circle around with him, both snarling. The two then lunged at each other and had a feral fight, while Rick staggered to his feet. He looked at the fight before him and saw Fenrir holding his own with beams, bits, and slashes. Twilight was still going strong and soon pounced on him and pinned him to the ground.

Rick cursed in pain and looked at his sword. He wanted to know how to fired the Kage Nami. Twilight said it was a stronger version of his energy blade, so he concentrated his energy on the blade. He kept going until his sword began to glow red and black. Rick didn't know if it was correct, but he was willing to take the risk. He looked over at the wolf fight and saw Twilight beginning to bite down on Fenrir's neck.

Rick then yelled, "Hey Twilight!"

Twilight stopped biting Fenrir and looked at Rick. Rick then swung his sword and a wave of energy flew towards Twilight, knocking her off of Fenrir. The wave then exploded and Twilight was then seen panting, bleeding, and surprised.

She asked Rick, "How did you learn the Kage Nami? I didn't teach you it and it takes more than just charging energy."

"I just saw you doing it and picked it up."

Twilight was even more surprised, "Just by that? Just watching me use it?"

"That's how I learned the Psycho Cut Gatling Gun, the finger cannon, the energy blade, Psycho Cataclysm, and eye beam."

"I never heard of someone doing that...other than your father."

"I learn by watching and by association. Also, I learned this skill from my dad. As long as I put mind to it, I can achieve it. If I want to learn something new, then I experiment."

Twilight chuckled, "You remind me of your parents too much. The strength, appearance, and tenacity of Xeron, and the brains, will, and personality of Aldira."

"I am their son after all." Rick then saw Fenrir limping towards him. "Fenrir, return! You deserve some rest." The shadow wolf returned to Rick's shadow and Rick looked at Twilight again. "Listen, I'm going to try to end this now. One, because I can't take any more injuries. Two, because I want to be with my mate already."

Twilight scoffed, "Alright then. So sudden death? Did you forget that I still have a lot of life left in me. I didn't take much damage. You, on the other hand, are spent."

Rick smirked, "Don't worry about me. Now..." His aura suddenly erupted. "...let's end this. Whether I win or lose, I don't care. I just have to try." He then charged all his remaining energy into his blade, creating a thicker red and black aura around the blade.

Twilight charged her energy into her sword and looked at Rick, "Well, you may have a point. So let's end this!"

As they were charging Twilight noticed his aura. She then heard him yell. Two shadow wings suddenly sprouted from his back a suit of samurai armor formed over him, shocking Twilight.

Twilight then said to herself, "Nisshoku no Shogun (Eclipse Warlord). He went to that level already?" She smirked, "He really is Xeron's son."

Twilight then saw as Rick's aura took the form of a giant samurai with his katana ready in the same position that Rick was holding his sword. Twilight used her aura in a similar way and it took the form of a large wolf bearing its claws. Rick then gave a mighty yell and dashed towards Twilight, who charged towards him. The two met in the middle and Twilight swung at Rick, which made the wolf attack the samurai. Rick dodged the attack and swung down at the now open Twilight, making the samurai step back from the wolf's attack and swing down on its neck. Twilight couldn't dodge the attack and was hit by Rick's full power. As soon as Rick swung his sword, the Kage Nami erupted from it in full force, which made the samurai chop the wolf's head off. Twilight was consumed in the energy attack, which traveled through the area, splitting it apart, creating a gigantic chasm, and resulting in an explosion.

Once the attack ended, there was still sparks cracking around the area because of the extreme energy and Rick was panting. His exhaustion was replaced by disbelief when he saw Twilight walking towards him, no longer in the form that she was fighting him in.

She smiled and said, "You won! That was incredible!"

Rick smiled and looked at himself, finally noticing the armor, samurai helmet, and the aura wings on his back. "What the hell? Where did these things come from? What's up with my aura?"

Twilight replied, "Let me break this down piece by piece for you. First of you learned how to use the Kage Nami without training or any instructions. You just looked at me using it and you learned it in an instant. Secondly, you unlocked Nisshoku no Shogun."

"What's that?"

"Look at yourself and look up."

Rick looked up and saw the aura samurai and was surprised, "Is that a samurai?"

"Yes. It's the warrior spirit within you. Nisshoku no Shogun is not summoned by your power and you can't just bring it out whenever you want. It is summoned by your will. Not necessarily your will to win, but anything your will screams out for. This is one of the forms that Nisshoku no Shogun can take. It depends on what you need. Usually, it's the last of the skills that my users learn. Illia learned it as one of her last skills, the being you know as X learned it as one of his last skills too, Xeron on the other hand learned it quickly like you. You keep reminding me of your father."

"What does Nisshoku no Shogun do?"

"It makes you many times more powerful than what you were prior to it activation. It evolves depending on how powerful your enemy is. Needless to say, the stronger your enemy is the stronger it will become. However, it does have one drawback. Once it's over your energy will take a serious blow. You won't get weaker, but you'll be exhausted."

"So I guess I should be happy it came out when it did?"

"Yep."

Rick then realized something, "Wait, once this thing wears off, I'm screwed."

"You won. You'll just go to sleep and wake up in the hospital. You'll be with your mate again."

Rick bowed his head and said, "Thank you for everything Twilight."

Twilight bowed herself and said, "Don't mention it. The next time you face me...I'll most likely kill you."

"What?"

"Just because you're my master doesn't mean I have to go easy on you. I want you to learn, but I have to blow off some steam too. So yeah...Bye!"

"I'm not going anywhere yet."

"Once again, look up."

Rick looked up and saw the samurai fading away and the armor disappearing, "Damn!" As soon as he finished saying the word, he blacked out.

[Alara]

Alara was sitting in Rick's hospital room, as she always did everyday for the last two weeks. She got up to fix the curtains in the room and sighed to herself.

She said to herself, "How much longer until he wakes up? I miss him already." She sat down next to the hospital bed and looked at him. She held his hand and said, "Even if it takes decades for you to wake up, I'll be waiting right here next to you."

She stayed there and looked at him and kissed his forehead. She then felt his hand close on her's, as if he was holding her hand.

Alara noticed and looked at Rick who, to her surprise and joy, began to stir. Rick opened his eyes and looked around until his vision adjusted.

He looked at Alara and smiled saying, "Well the one person I wanted to see when I woke up. How long was I gone?"

Alara kissed him and hugged him tight, "Just way too damn long." She then pressed a button on her Poketch. "A! He's awake!"

As soon as he got the news, A teleported to the hospital, then rushed in and flew past the front desk, bursting into the room. As soon as he saw Rick alive and well, he said, "Hot damn, I knew you'd pull through!" Then he was roughly pulled out by a pissed secretary who began to shout at him.

Rick and Alara sweatdropped and Alara called out, "Umm nurse, it's okay. He's with us. You can scold him later."

A was tossed in, crashing onto the floor. He stood up and brushed himself off, then stuck his tongue at the nurse who had already left. Then he turned back to Rick and said, "So, Sleeping Beauty, how ya feelin'?"

Rick tried to sit up, but his wounds stopped him, "Like I got in a fight with Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, but other than that I'm alive. Seriously, how long was I out?"

A's smirk faded and he replied, "About two weeks. Alara was at your side pretty much the whole time, except whenever I managed to chase her out."

Rick was surprised, "How did you manage to do that? Also, I see that you're learning to hold the human form."

A smirked and replied, "I kept telling her that everything must be taken in moderation, and that includes hospital visits. Her father and I both worried that she might become incumbent if she stayed for too long, so I managed to get diplomatic and convince her to get outside every now and then. Though sometimes I had to make sure she didn't immediately come right back. I think I can leave that up to you now."

"Wow...how did Maiyu take the news?"

"We... didn't exactly tell her. I thought the information would have been too damaging for her, at least until she saw that you were awake and not under threat of dying immediately. Call me what you will, but for the psychological protection of a pokemon, I exercised my power."

"Well I guess it's for the best, but what did you tell her I was doing for the last two weeks?"

A sweatdropped, then rubbed his head nervously and said, "Uh, I told her you were on a stealth mission, and you would let her know when you'd be back. I couldn't come up with an explanation for the scars, though."

Rick chuckled, "Oh give the scars about two days. Then they'll heal." Rick then thought of something. "Wait, who's been doing my job while I was out cold?"

Alara answered, "Me and my dad. We decided to do it together until you got back on your feet."

"Well that answers that. Anyways, so what did I miss? I'm guessing nothing really."

A nodded and said, "Pretty much. The most important news so far is that Team Rocket hasn't made any other moves since they assaulted you, which really surprises me. I figured they'd be going all over the place now that they think you're dead. Which you nearly were."

A hesitated, then said, "I've been making scouting patrols over the past week; I hope you don't mind. I consulted the Chief and Alara first, and we agreed that it would be best to know about any moves made by Team Rocket from multiple sources."

Rick staggered to sit upright and said, "Good call! Just because I'm gone doesn't mean that my work has to stop or be delayed. Did you learn of anything?"

Alara was concerned and made Rick lay back down, "Dear, you're in no condition to sit up yet."

When Rick laid back down, A relayed, "So far, nothing of importance has occurred in the sense of movements against anyone or anything. However, some of my personal scouts have seen some strange packages coming in."

"Packages? Of what nature?"

A shook his head and replied, "I'm not sure yet. I ordered them not to interfere yet, or else we might tip them off that we're still fighting, which could raise suspicion. I figured a lay-low strategy would be best for now while we kept covert eyes on them. Lure them into a false sense of security, if you will. I planned to go myself and secure and bring back one of these packages. Because of the unpredictability of what they're importing, however, I won't bring it into the Sanctuary."

Alara's Poketch then began to ring, she answered it and noticed that it was Mr. Silph. "Hello? Mr. Silph?"

Mr. Silph replied, "Yes, hello Alara. How are you?"

"I'm great!"

"Good to hear, but let me get to the point of my call. Have you received my packages yet?"

Everyone in the room sweatdropped, "I believe so. How many have you sent."

"Well my associates sent many. Enough for an entire army."

"Then yes, we have received them."

"Wonderful! Now for something I want to know and I'm sorry for asking you this all the time, but how is Rick?"

Alara's voice grew more cheerful, "Well I have some good news for you sir. He's awake!"

Mr. Silph's voice grew joyful, "Really!? That's amazing news. However, I'll call him at another time. For now, he needs his rest...which is kinda ironic since he's been asleep for two weeks now. Anyways, I will speak to you two at a later date. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye sir!" She hung up and said, "Mystery solved. It's the Aura Readers."

A was stunned, then scoffed and said, "So much for that plan. But at least I get my Aura Reader back. Well, I guess all that's left is to keep up the scouts trips. I'll let you know if anything else comes up."

Rick chuckled and said, "Well alright. Well I better get up and head straight to work." He tried to get up and Alara punched him back down.

Alara sighed and said, "Dear, I know you've been out for two weeks, but the doctor said that you are not to leave your bed for a few more days."

"But I'm supposed to be working."

"Doc also said that you can go home with me when you wake up, but you can't stand up and walk until she says so. So you have a lot more time with me to make up for the two weeks. You can work from home though."

"I'm going to miss my office, but at least I get to be home."

"I can even invite Maiyu, as long as you don't show her your scars."

A sweatdropped and remarked, "I think his stay will be extended if you do that again Alara. You don't hit the interned."

Alara rubbed her arm and laughed nervously, "Oops. I kinda didn't think of that."

Rick was suddenly curious, "A, how has Green been?"

A focused his attention back on Rick and replied, "More demanding recently. She's been insisting that I take more of a relaxed stance. Don't know where she'd get a crazy idea like that."

"Training her or are you just overworking yourself?"

A shrugged and said, "Both. Neither. I don't know."

Rick and Alara looked at one another and smiled before looking back at A, "Maybe you should go on a little dinner date with her. I can set it up."

A hesitated, then asked, "Is that necessary? What will that accomplish?"

"Just something from me to you. Why? Nervous?"  
A shook his head and reiterated, "No, no, no, I mean what purpose would it serve? What tactical advantage do I gain by it?"

Rick chuckled, "Not everything has to be about work, compromise, and tactics. At times it's good to have a life and spend time with those you love. So should go on this little dinner for you and Green. Also, I expect you to be in your human form."

A frowned and stated, "I've never been much of a fun-loving person, and cutting back is kind of a foreign concept to me. If you expect me to keep my human form, it can't go on for too long. I still can't hold it past a couple of hours."

"You only need at least two hours. Ally, please give A a list of restaurants he can attend."

Alara nodded and typed something on her Poketch. A few seconds later a soldier arrived with a sheet a paper with restaurant names on them."

Alara then said to A, "Alright, these are the restaurants I recommend. Let's say you and Green having a nice little date tonight at eight?"

A looked over the names, then asked, "All of them have vegetarian selections, right?"

Alara nodded, "Of course! We know how you are. Each restaurant is vegetarian in nature or has a vegetarian selection. Also, do you need a suit for tonight?"

A thought back, then asked, "Would the ceremonial suit you sent me before suffice?"

"Sure, why not? I take it she has a dress for herself already, since you took her shopping...wait, no. Send her to my house in an hour."

A was confused, but shrugged and said, "Alright. She'll be there." A disappeared, going back to his den and avoiding the scolding by the doctor.

(A and Green's date is on A Deal With A God)

Alara looked back at Rick and smiled, "Thank Arceus that you're back. What was it like being in a coma?"

Rick chuckled and said, "You don't want to know."

They then stopped and looked at the door to see Dr. Lian walking in. She was obviously surprised to see Rick awake and smiled wide at Alara's new energy.

She said to Rick, "So you finally decided to wake up? Just in time too. You're two weeks away from being married. Well I'm glad you decided to stay with the living. You had a nasty wound, but it closed up pretty well. So let me leave you two alone and with this little memo, you can go home as soon as you're finish. We'll still have to run some tests on you though before hand. Also, you will have to be in your bed for a least a week."

Rick smirked, "I know. I've been told."

"Very well. Goodbye."

She left the room, leaving Rick at Alara's mercy.

Rick could feel Alara's emotions and then said, "Oh no...have mercy."

Alara then lunged at him and got him into a vice grip of a kiss, "I missed doing that so much."

Rick laughed and said, "Don't kill me now."

Alara kissed him again and said, "Welcome back, Rick."

"I'm very happy to be back."

**Rick is awake now and Alara can now rest. Rick has new moves and abilities, so beware all Projects lol. Thanks for everything guys and I'm still going over contest entries. Bye!**


	52. Chapter 52: Meloetta, Life Fixed

**Alright this chapter took me a while and I compressed three chapters into one to get this final result. I don't know if you guys will like it, but I liked it very much. Anyways, this chapter contains a very interesting twist that will influence the rest of the story. I also included two OCs from Emerald Dynamo. To end this, thank you all and enjoy. View Rankings: 1st) Philippines, 2nd) UK, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Singapore, and 5th) Brazil.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick was finally in his home, a place he has not been to in two weeks, much less conscious. Rick was on his bed and looked outside the window at the rising sun. He was still hurt, but happy to be alive and being with Alara. However, he wished that Alara wouldn't do everything for him.

When she came back to the room after getting Rick some water, Rick said to her, "Alara, could you not do everything for me? I don't want to overload you."

Alara smiled and said, "Dear, your hurt and bedridden. I need to take care of you until you get better."

"But I already feel better."

Alara called his bluff, "Alright, try to walk."

Rick looked at her with an angry smile and said, "Curse you and your intuition."

Alara laughed, "It's not intuition, it's common sense. You just woke up from a coma yesterday. Your body is weak and it needs to recover naturally. Until then, as your mate, I have to take care of you." Alara then sat down next to him on the bed. "Two weeks until the wedding."

Rick chuckled, "You know, I didn't think about that up until now. I was just so happy to be back home. Man, the day is coming by way too fast."

"It almost didn't happen because of your coma. I hate how the times of awakening are undetectable."

Rick grabbed her hand, "Point is, I'm here now, and we can continue as planned."

"But you're still hurt."

"I'm a Project. My body heals faster than yours."

"That may be, but you need your rest and I need to care for you until you're better."

Rick laid back down and said, "Can I still do my job?"

Alara nodded, "Yes, but not physically. I'll handle that. You just give orders."

Rick scoffed and said, "Well that's no fun."

"Recovery isn't supposed to be fun. However, I'm here for you all the time to give you what you need."

"What I need is for you to take a break and relax. How long have you been awake?"

"Not that long. I'm alright."

"Come on. Lay down with me and let's spend some time together."

Alara smirked and asked, "Not like I have a choice. I can't leave you alone while you're like this."

"I'm hurt. Not disabled. Just lay down and watch tv with me or something."

Alara laid down and snuggled up onto Rick, being careful not to touch his wounds. Alara had to admit that she missed the feeling of being physically close to him. She rested on his chest until she could of sworn she heard someone entering the house.

She said to Rick, "Do you hear something?"

Rick concentrated his listening and heard someone come upstairs, "Yeah. Who the hell? I'm going to check it out."

"No, I'll do it. Also, don't we have guards everywhere?"

"Yeah, so this is worrying me."

"It's probably Amber, but I'm not taking my chances."

Alara got up, but not before holding Rick down with Psychic. She made her way to the door and opened it to see no one at the stairs and no one that she could pick up with her powers. She walked down the stairs and looked around the house, yet she couldn't find anyone. She looked in the living room, nothing. She looked in the dining room, nothing. She looked in the kitchen, nothing. She looked in the piano room, and nothing once again.

Alara said to herself, "I know I heard something. Rick did so too."

She then froze in place when she heard the piano playing. She slowly turned her head to look at the piano and saw the keys play themselves. She froze for a second and then teleported back into the room, closed the door, locked it, and nailed a cross onto the door.

Rick saw this and asked, "Is everything alright?"

Alara then said calmly, "Yep, nothing's wrong."

"Time for me to call your bluff, what happened?"

"Absolutely nothing."

Rick sighed, "So why did you teleport here, slammed the door shut, put every lock on, and nailed a cross onto the door like you were fighting a demon."

Alara then sighed and said, "I saw the piano keys play themselves downstairs. It really freaked me out and I'm just making sure nothing happens."

A knock was then heard at the door and Alara got under her sheets.

Rick shook his head and said, "Who is it?" There was no answer. "Well I guess I'm not getting an answer...dad."

Alara lifted her head from under the sheets, "Xeron?"

Xeron then fazed through the door laughing, "Man that was gold!"

Rick sighed and then yelled out, "Mom!"

A pair of handed then fazed through the door and pulled Xeron back through the door. Sounds of a beating could be heard and Xeron was thrown through the door, in pain. Aldira then stepped through and waved at Rick and Alara.

Alara asked in disbelief, "How on earth?"

Aldira answered, "We told you that we'll be back before your wedding. So we're alive again until Arceus decides to take us back."

Rick smiled and said, "Well this is awesome. My parents are back and I can spend more time with them."

"Nope! You're going to be a married man in two weeks, so you better spend time with Alara."

"Will do mom."

Xeron staggered up and asked, "How did you know it was me who was scaring Alara?"

"I have the mind of a detective. All I did was think of who has any connection to this house and loves to pull a good prank."

Xeron shrugged, "Okay, you got me there."

Aldira then teleported a chair next to Rick and said to him, "How are you feeling sweetie?"

"Well mom, I feel fine. I'm not exactly one hundred percent yet, but I know that I'll be fine come the wedding day."

Aldira smiled and said, "Well isn't my little boy growing up. I remember you as a little Ralts and then as a Kirlia. Now you're an adult and nearly get yourself killed every time you step out of this city."

Rick chuckled, "That should be in the job description for the Warlord."

Xeron laughed and said, "That it should. Well, sorry, but we can't stay long. I'm headed to Saifer and Keera's house to give them a good scare."

Alara said to them, "Don't go giving my dad a heart attack now."

Aldira replied, "Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't. Bye!"

Rick's parents then disappeared, leaving Rick and Alara alone again. Alara looked over at Rick and saw him with a pleasant smile on his face.

Alara asked him, "You're happy that your parents are back, aren't you?"

Rick replied, "Of course! I love those two." He then thought for a second and asked Alara, "Am I really like my father?"

Alara smiled, "That's an odd question, but you do look a little like him. You have his sword, his former job, his power, and his battle prowess. You're shorter, but still you're very much like him."

Rick said sarcastically, "Gee thanks for being reassuring."

"Why? You don't want to be like your father?"

"It's not that I don't want to be like him...I don't want to end up like him."

They both laughed and then Rick noticed Alara's clothing, "Where did you get that dress?"

Alara looked down and then answered, "Oh yeah, I didn't tell you. These are the female Warlord garments. I got them the day after you slipped into a coma. I had to do your job and Xeron told me that I had to become the Warlord until you woke up. I guess I forgot to take them back."

"They look good on you. If you don't mind me saying that is."

Alara smiled, "I don't. It's not what I would normally wear, but it fits me well."

"You know, when I was in a coma I met Illia."

Alara was suddenly interested, "You did?"

"Yeah. I was surprised to find out that you look somewhat like her. Also, that you are a direct descendant to her."

"Of course I am. The throne has never left the blood line. So I'm not surprised that I have some similarities to her. So I'm guessing it was hard for you to attack her?"

"Nope, I kicked her ass."

Alara sweatdropped saying, "So that didn't hold you back?"

Rick chuckled, "Because I said you look similar to her, but not her spitting image. I'm not going to attack if I know it's you."

"Well at least I have something good to hear."

After a moment heard a knock at their door. Rick rolled his eyes and sensed that it was Jean and Seras.

Rick told Alara, "It's just Jean and Seras."

"I'll go get them."

Alara walked downstairs and opened the door for Rick's Blaziken and Espeon brother and sister. Jean and Seras hugged Alara and walked into the house.

Seras asked Alara, "So how's Rick doing?"

"He's doing great. He's awake. Also, Xeron and Aldira are back, but they're in my parent's house."

"That's great to know! Things are going to get a whole lot more fun."

The three walked upstairs and Jean saw his best friend and told him, "Well it's about time you woke up."

Rick waved and said, "Well hello to you too? Where were you yesterday? I woke up yesterday."

"I was busy."

"Doing?" Rick then felt Seras feeling a little embarrassed and saw her blush. "Don't answer that."

Seras then gave a sigh of relief, "Well hi little brother. Is everything alright?"

Rick smiled, "Yeah. I'm happy to be awake. What did I miss while I was asleep?"

"Well nothing really. Jean had to work hard to keep the army in order. Alara did great in leading them, but everything has been quiet so far. I believe that Team Rocket will get careless now that they believe that you're dead."

"Well it gives us a chance to make a huge dent in their morale."

"That we will."

As they were speaking there was another knock at the door, which made Jean get up and say, "I'll get it."

After a few moments, Jean returned with Rick's entire team. Rick laughed and said, "Well don't all come in at once. None of you came by when I woke up yesterday."

They all then said in unison, "We were busy."

"Doing?"

"Paintball tournament."

"Who won?"

"Let's not talk about it."

Rick then thought of something, "So is that way Seras and Jean didn't want to answer the same question?"

"They weren't there."

Rick looked at Jean and Seras suspiciously and then said, "Alright, moving on! So how are you guys?"

Winston replied, "We're alright. We were just waiting for you to wake up."

Neil then said, "Yeah, it's been pretty boring with you down and out. There's been no fights whatsoever. I have an urge to bust some heads."

Rick chuckled, "Well I guess I'll go looking for a Project during one of these days, but not for a while. I have to get married and I can't die yet."

"You almost did asshole. You're lucky Gamma and Delta got you back here in time."

Rick immediately asked, "Wait, where are they?"

Nero replied, "They left the day after you slipped into a coma. They had to report back to Mr. Silph. They said that they'll be here for the wedding though."

Rick scoffed, "Damn it! They always disappear!"

"Hey! Be happy that they decided to save your ass."

"I am."

Gloria suddenly said, "Since you're awake, I guess you'll be continuing your wedding plans?"

Rick said with a smile, "Of course!

Shadow then said, "Wait until Meloetta find out about this."

Rick glared at Shadow and told him, "Don't go there. Whenever we talk about Meloetta, she usually shows up."

Richter than said, "Oh come on! What are the odds of that happening?"

"You'll be surprised."

Alara asked Rick, "Seriously, why is she so infatuated with you?"

Most of the guys in the room then looked at one another and then at Rick. Rick replied, "You don't want to know."

"Why?"

Rick said to the guys, "Guys! Rule #37 in the Brother Code."

The other guys replied in unison, "Never speak of Vegas."

Alara then said, "Here comes Vegas again. What happened there?"

Rick said, "Guys! Rule #37!"

The guys repeated, "Never speak of Vegas."

Rick then said, "And Rule #38?"

The guys then said, "If Meloetta is about, hide Rick."

Alara then said, "How hard did Meloetta fall for Rick."

Rick said, "So much that now it's creepy. We were friends at one point. I did some jobs for her and then came Vegas."

"Can you please just tell me what happened in Vegas?"

"Guys! Rule #37!"

The boys repeated, "Never speak of Vegas."

Alara gave a frustrated scream, "Did any of the women go to Vegas?" Seras and Amari raised their hands. "What happened in Vegas?"

The two girls looked at one another and said, "Some weird crap. We can't tell you anymore."

Alara began to growl and then a message was coming in through her communicator, "This is Lady Alara. What's going on?"

The soldier on the other end said to her, "Hail M'lady! We have a visitor here at the Sanctuary."

"Who's the visitor?"

"Lady Meloetta, M'lady."

Alara chuckled and said, "Send her to my home."

Rick didn't hear the communication and said, "Send who here now Ally?"

Alara chuckled evilly and said, "Meloetta. Yeah, this is what happens when you hide things from me."

Shadow then said, "You're cursed dude."

The rest of the guys then gave their own respective 'Fuck'.

Jean then said, "Move your asses! Hide Rick!"

They then heard a voice at the window, "Hi guys! Hi Rick!"

Everyone then said sorta uncomfortably, "Hi Meloetta!"

Rick then said under his breath, "Fuck!"

A looked at them and then asked, "So let me get this straight, you guys are friends with legendaries?"

Rick then said, "Yes. Let's worry about this later." Rick then looked at Meloetta and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Meloetta floated to the bed and sat down, "I heard from Latios that you were injured in a battle. I wanted to see if you were alright."

"That was two weeks ago."

"Sorry, I couldn't find the Sanctuary. Most of the other legendaries wouldn't tell me, however, Mew told me where it was."

Rick sighed and said, "So what do you want Meloetta?"

Alara shrugged and said, "I just wanted to see how you were doing." Meloetta then got closer, "And maybe make you feel a bit more comfortable."

Rick moved as far back as he could and then said, "That's not needed."

Rick then heard Alara growl at Meloetta. Alara then said to Rick telepathically, "If she does that again, I'm going to rip her head off."

"Well I'm sorry. Wasn't this your idea?"

"I'm starting not to like her."

Meloetta then said, "Well I guess I should stay for a few days. This house seems to have some room...or maybe I'll just stay in your room."

Alara temper was starting to get to her and then said, "Enough Alara!"

Meloetta then saw her and said, "So who's this? I saw you back in the Hall of Origin during the legendary meeting. Are you Rick's assistant or something?"

Alara glared daggers at Meloetta and replied, "I'm not his assistant."

"His servant?"

"Not even close."

Rick then said, "Okay, I'm going to end this before Alara's head explodes. Meloetta, you're too late."

"Too late for what?"

"For me. I'm not going to drag this on, so I'm going to just say it straight. In case you haven't been keeping tabs on current events as of October, I'm taken."

Meloetta's smile then disappeared, "What?"

"And if you haven't been keeping tabs since December, I'm engaged."

"WHAT!? TO WHO!?"

Rick pointed at Alara who waved back and showed Meloetta her engagement ring. Rick then said, "Alara Saifer, the princess of the Sanctuary."

"Why are you engaged!?"

Rick replied, "Well see, when you fall in love with someone and they reciprocate the feelings, you tend to get into a relationship. After a time, when you feel the time is appropriate, then you get engaged, and soon get married."

"I know how it happens! Why didn't you say anything to me?"

"One, because I don't have to tell you anything. Two, I never had the same feelings you had towards me. So I couldn't return them. Three, because I fell in love with Alara."

"How long did you know her by the time you got into a relationship with her?"

"Twenty one years."

Meloetta then shrugged, "Point taken." Meloetta then glared at Alara.

Jean saw this and said, "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Let's get ready to RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Rick chuckled and told Meloetta, "Don't even think about it."

Meloetta said to Alara, "So you stole him from me?"

Alara arched an eyebrow and said, "Since when was he yours? He's never been in a relationship until me."

"I had the best chance at him and now you come along and ruin it."

"What chance was that?"

"Well, if you must know, there was this time in Vegas."

The guys, Seras, and Amari then said, "No! Don't say it!"

"Gonna do it. Sorry about your luck. Well see it was about three years ago, as a reward for doing a favor for me, I set up a trip to Vegas for the guys. Celand found Rick and took him with us. He proved useful since he was loaded with cash."

Rick then said, "I still don't know how Celand managed to find me."

"Point is, we were enjoying a nice day and met up with a Skuntank..who we probably shouldn't of had Mexican food with that night. To make it short, there was **Poison Gas**...which knocked us all out...except for our bodies. We woke up without memory of anything that happened that night."

[Vegas; Three Years Prior]

Rick was on the floor of his hotel room and slowly woke up. He looked around and saw the room was a mess. Jean was slumped over a couch with Seras on top of him, Dartz was on the coffee table, Richter was slumped on a bed, Amari was on another bed, Meloetta was somehow asleep on a ceiling fan, Celand was asleep on a chair that was on the balcony, with Sage asleep next to him, Bolt was asleep on a bookcase, Winston in one of the rooms, and Shadow on top of the stove.

Rick got up and walked around the room. The first thing he noticed was the Elvis impersonator in the living room watching tv. He waved hello to Rick, who reluctantly waved back. Rick then walked up to Jean and Seras and woke them up.

Rick said to Jean, "Wake up! Something weird happened."

Jean woke up and said, "The hell man! I was sleeping really well."

"I noticed." He then woke up Seras, "Sis, wake up!"

Seras grunted and then got up, "What's going on?"

"Look around."

The two looked around the room and Jean then said, "The hell happened in here?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Wake everyone up."

The three got up and moved across the hotel room waking the rest of the team. As they were doing it, Seras noticed something on Jean.

Seras said to him, "Umm...Jean what's that on your gut?"

Jean looked down and saw a tattoo on his belly that said 'Seras', "Well that's new!"

Seras laughed, "I like it!"

"Do you have one?"

Seras searched her body and didn't find anything, "Nope! I don't think I do."

"Turn into your human form and check."

Seras turned into her human form and then felt a small sting on her lower back, "Umm...I think I do. One moment." She walked into the bathroom and then came out saying, "Yep. I have one too."

"You have a tramp stamp?"

"Yep."

Rick then came back with the now awake Celand, Shadow, and Sage. He asked them, "What's wrong?" He then noticed the tattoo on Jean's gut, "When and how?"

Jean shrugged, "I don't know."

Wayland then got up from his bead and went out of the room, "Hey some people are trying to sleep here!" The team just looked at him and then Jean and Dartz broke down laughing. "What's so funny?"

Rick then said, "Wayland, why are you wearing a showgirl's outfit?"

Wayland looked at himself and saw that he was wearing a blue showgirl's outfit, headdress and all. "What the hell!?"

"What happened last night?"

"I can't remember."

"None of us can."

They stopped when they heard banging coming from the kitchen. Jean walked over to the kitchen and heard the knocking coming from the stove, which was chained up for some reason. Jean burned the chains off and opened the oven door. As soon as he did, he was tackled to the ground by a man that was in the stove. The man then jumped on him and began to punch him. Rick walked over and pulled the man off of him.

Rick then looked at the man and recognized him, "Jet Li?"

He was then kicked in the face by Jet Li and flipped onto the kitchen counter. Jean got up and was immediately punched in the stomach and his head driven into the sink, that was full of water. Jet Li held his head down and then lifted him up before kicking him down. The rest of the team tried to calm Jet Li down, but were respectively beaten down. Dartz was kicked in front of the tv and then Jet Li dropped the tv on top of him. The only ones that were unhurt were Seras and Winston. Jet Li then walked out of the room and left.

Rick and his team staggered up to their feet, all bleeding, bruised, and sore. Rick asked, "What the hell was that!?"

Sage said, "I don't know. Now help me find my lost brain cells."

The Elvis impersonator then said, "You all got beat within an inch of your lives."

The team then said in unison, "Get out of here!" The Elvis impersonator got up and walked out of the room.

Rick and Jean then walked up to Dartz and lifted the tv off of him. They helped him up and sat down on the couch. Just then they felt someone pushing upwards. They jumped off the couch and Jean said, "You're finding out who's the person under there. I'm not getting beat up again."

Rick nodded and quickly took the cushions off to reveal Mew gasping for air. Rick then said, "Mew? What happened to you?"

Mew floated up and said, "I just woke up. Man! That was some party last night."

"Party? What party?"

Mew replied, "It was last night around nine. We partied until one in the morning. I didn't know that Jean could beat up Jet Li and stuff him in the oven." Mew then looked at Wayland and said, "Oh, so you got it to fit?"

Wayland replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about. None of us have any memory about what happened last night."

Rick then asked Mew, "Do you know what happened?"

Mew nodded and said, "Let me make it short because I have to go. In the party, Jean locked Jet Li in the stove, Wayland was dancing with a lot of women, Rick was jamming with his guitar, Jean and Seras were pretty much glued together all night long, Dartz was always nowhere to be found, Meloetta passed out during the party and wound up sleeping on the ceiling fan, the rest of you were just partying."

"Anything truly weird?"

"Not that I know of. I came for the party. I don't know of anything that happened prior."

"Gee thanks. Looks like we'll have to put the pieces together ourselves."

"Well I'll be leaving you guys. I have to go see Celebi. Ciao!"

Mew left and Rick said to Shadow, "Get me the security tapes of the hallway cameras from last night."

Shadow left and soon returned with a video tape and Rick fixed the tv psychically and put the tape to watch the events of the previous night.

Everyone got together and huddled around the tv. They all then said in unison, "WOAH!"

[Rick's House; Present Time (Troll: Problem?)]

Rick stopped Meloetta from finishing the story, "Alright! Stop! This is a story for another time."

Alara then protested, "Hey! I was listening to that!"

"Well all you need to know is that Vegas got pretty messed up."

"Anything regrettable?

"Everything is regrettable!"

Alara then laughed and said, "I'll wait for you to tell me some other time. However..." Alara looked at Meloetta. "Rick is staying with me. I won him fair and square."

Rick then said to Meloetta, "It's true. Look, you were a good friend...then you got suffocating. However, you can always look for someone else." Rick then said quietly, "Yeah, do me a favor."

Meloetta looked at Rick and Alara and said, "I'm not going to argue this anymore. However, I still challenge Alara to a battle."

Rick charged a **Night Slash** onto his blades and said, "Don't even try it."

Alara then surprised Rick by saying, "Challenge accepted!"

Rick looked at Alara and asked, "WHAT!?"

"I want to end this now, so we don't have problems later. The wedding is in two weeks and I don't want to go through it with a problem."

Meloetta then got angry again, "Wait! It's in two weeks!?"

"Yep! You can come to the wedding if you want."

"Don't patronize me."

Alara sighed and said, "Alright, let's get this over with."

Alara and Meloetta then teleported to the sparring grounds behind the house. Rick got help from some of the guys and a cane to go watch the fight unfold.

Alara was stretching for the fight and Meloetta was glaring at her. Alara then cracked her knuckles and asked her, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be!"

"Then you start."

Meloetta nodded and shouted, using **Hyper Voice**. Alara teleported away and tapped her on her back. "Very predictable from a voice oriented pokemon."

Meloetta turned around and barely dodged a **Psyshock** from Meloetta. Alara turned around and hit her with a **Signal Beam**, sending her sliding on the ground. Meloetta growled and jumped to her feet, firing a **Shadow Ball** at Alara. When Alara saw the ball flying towards her, her eyes began to glow blue, a shockwave went out, and the ball disappeared. Meloetta tried to fire another **Shadow Ball**, but she couldn't generate the shadow energy anymore.

Meloetta got frustrated and asked, "What the hell is going on with my **Shadow Ball**?"

Alara chuckled and said, "**Disable**, a move that I learned from my mom. You won't be able to use that attack for a little while."

"Damn it!"

Meloetta ran towards Alara and tried to hit her with a close range **Signal Beam**, but Alara leaned back and dodged the attack.

Alara then said to Meloetta, "Sorry, but I've been training a lot with Rick. This is kinda one sided."

Meloetta growled and kicked at Alara, with Alara catching her leg and throwing her across the field. Alara walked over to her and checked to see if she hasn't hurt her too back. Meloetta then jumped to her feet and Alara could see her fist covered in shadow and Meloetta swung, hitting her with a **Shadow Claw**.

Alara fell on the floor, grabbing her gut. Meloetta then laughed, "Playing possum is a cheap trick, I'll admit that, but it seems to have won the fight for me."

Alara then lifted her head and pulled something from a pocket on her belt, "Catch!"

Alara tossed a ring at Meloetta and she examined it, "What's this?"

Alara chuckled, "It's called a Ring Target."

"What's it fo...?"

Meloetta was then cut off by Alara hitting her with a point blank **Shadow Ball**. She went flying to the other end of the field.

Alara then said, "A Ring Target allows Normal types to be hit by Ghost type attacks. So it was a little trump card that I had for such an occasion."

Meloetta staggered to her feet and said, "Okay...now I'm mad." Meloetta then began to sing, which caused some concern on Rick and Alara's part. Meloetta began to be encircled by a ball of light then reappeared in her Pirouette Form.

Alara then said, "Fuck!" She then dodged a flying kick from Meloetta, but couldn't dodge a second hit. "Damn! **Close Combat**!" She then tried to dodge more kicks and punches.

Meloetta suddenly kicked her in the gut and sent her falling to the ground, grabbing her gut in pain.

Meloetta chuckled and asked her, "Having fun?"

Alara's eyes began to glow and she said, "I'm having the time of my life." She then threw Meloetta away with **Psychic**. Alara got up and said, "I'm not going down so easily. You think because you've changed your form that you're better. You just got weaker against me."

Meloetta got up and smirked, "Don't get too cocky." Meloetta then began to sing again. This time multicolored music notes appeared and flew around Alara.

Alara looked at the notes until they made contact with her and she fell asleep, standing up. Meloetta chuckled at the sight of her **Sing** working. She walked up to Alara and then began to slap her repeatedly until she woke up.

Alara caught one of her hand and yelled, "What the hell!?"

"**Wake-Up Slap**."

"Cheap little trick."

"Yeah. However, so was that Ring Target thing." She then cheap-shot Alara with another slap.

Alara touched her cheek and glared at Meloetta. She then lifted her with **Psychic** and slammed her before throwing her away. Meloetta got up and dashed towards Alara with a now un-disabled **Shadow Ball** charged in her hand. Alara stood there and her eyes began to glow as Meloetta got closer. As she was feet away Alara began have a glowing outline and she looked into Meloetta's eyes and Meloetta fell to the floor asleep.

Alara then said, "You used **Sing** on me, so I used **Hypnosis**. Now you're going to heal me in your sleep."

Alara closed her eyes and then opened them to reveal red glowing eyes. A shadow form of herself then entered Meloetta's head and she emanated a red aura that began to connect itself to Alara. Alara's body soon began to heal while Meloetta was showing signs of damage.

Alara soon felt back and dispelled the **Dream Eater**. Meloetta then woke up and staggered to her feet.

Meloetta asked Alara, "What did you do to me?"

Alara sighed, "I put you to sleep with **Hypnosis** and then I used **Dream Eater** on you. Healing me and damaging you. I'm sorry. It's a super cheap move on my part and I thought that I would never use it. I was just angry. However, it looks like I won."

Meloetta nodded, "I guess so."

"No ill will?"

"None." Alara turned around and began to walk away. Meloetta then looked at her and said, "However, here's one hit for such a cheap move."

Alara turned around and saw Meloetta charging a **Shadow Claw** on her arm. Meloetta then made the attack lunge towards Alara, but suddenly a wave of dark energy destroyed the attack and separated Alara and Meloetta. The two girls looked at towards the direction that the wave came from and they saw Rick with Shadowbane, having a dark aura around it.

Rick shook his head and said, "No Meloetta. Once a battle is over there is no such thing as a payback hit. It's a cheap and dishonorable move. There is no conciliation that goes with it."

Meloetta hung her head and said, "I'm sorry."

Alara smiled and said to Meloetta, "All is forgiven in my book. Want to do this again sometime?"

Meloetta nodded, "Yeah! But next time with better rules."

"Agreed!"

Alara and Meloetta then went back to the house, Anna treating Meloetta for her injuries and Alara sitting next to Rick in the living room.

A walked up to Rick and asked him, "What was that attack?"

Rick replied, "Which one?"

"The one you fired from your sword. You never used it before."

"It's called the Kage Nami. It's my blade's signature attack. I learned how to do it by training with my sword. I fired a weak version of the attack, but it's one of the only versions I truly know."

"It can get stronger?"

"Yeah. WAY stronger."

"That's very interesting. How does it work?"

"I really couldn't tell you if I knew. I barely learned how to use it. All it is really is the power of the blade itself. You use the power and fire it as a projectile. Similar to firing an energy blade or one of your Judgement attacks."

"Makes sense I guess."

Alara then stopped listening into the conversation when she received a communication on her communicator, "Lady Alara, are you available?"

Alara replied, "Yes, what's the situation?"

"We have two individuals here that wish to see your mate. However, one seems hostile and the other seems to be a bit more even headed."

"Keep them there. I'll be on my way to deal with them." She then saw Rick teleport away. "Oh no! Looks like my mate is going over there. Try to get him to come back."

[Sanctuary Gates]

Rick arrived at the gate, leaning on his cane to walk and feeling a heaviness in his lungs from getting up too much. However, Rick was going to soldier on. Rick approached the soldiers and saw them arguing with an orange Gallade and a Gardevoir with a gold-like coloration.

Rick approached them and said, "What's going on here?"

Everyone looked and saw the badly wounded, but otherwise healing Rick walking to them with the aid of a cane.

One of the guards then said, "Sir, you shouldn't be out here. You should be in your home recovering."

Rick waved him off, "I'm alright. And who are these two?"

The Gallade looked at Rick and raised an energized blade, the Gardevoir teleported in front of him and grabbed the arm, pulling it back.

The Gardevoir glared at him. "No fighting."

The Gallade sighed, "Agreed." He looked at Rick, frowning. "Wow! Who did this to you?"

"Answer my question first."

The Gallade shrugged, "Sure. I'm Phyracon, and this is my mate, Quera. It's a pleasure to meet you, Warlord Aeruthael."

Rick nodded and said, "Likewise." Rick gave a hard series of coughs from his injuries. "To answer your question, one of my enemies did this to me about two weeks ago."

Quera frowned. "You know, I'm well-known as a healer, where I come from. I bet I can heal you up, good as new."

Rick waved her off, "Not here. That can be done later. I may be wounded, but I'm not dead. Both of you follow me."

Quera raised an eyebrow, "You're sure you can lead us around the Sanctuary? I would expect that you're doing this without your mate's approval, and she would want you regaining your health as quickly as possible."

"I'll be alright. She could of stopped me at any moment, but didn't."

Quera sighed, "If you want, I can spare you from her wrath and use my powers to restore you to your physical prime."

Rick shook his head, "Leave that for another time. My body already has an accelerated healing factor. I'll heal to a favorable level in time."

Phyracon raised an eyebrow, "Dude, she's offering to heal you of all the damage your archenemy has done to you. I know you don't like to live in debt, but it is rather un-chivalrous to refuse a lady's help."

Rick explained, "First off, there's no rule in chivalry that says that. You can accept and decline help from a lady but you must not be rude. I appreciate the concern, but why take a shortcut?"

Quera sighed, "Because if you don't confirm your position as Warlord, Phyracon will most likely attack and severely wound everyone in the Sanctuary."

Phyracon raised his arms up, "Not severely wound. Maybe just get in a good fight."

Quera facepalmed, "You're hopeless."

Rick stopped and glared at them, "I will not accept combat within the city. This city has been a safe haven since its establishment millenniums ago. I will not allow you to harm the citizens. Also, your threats have been noted and immediate action will be taken to eliminate you if you follow through with it."

Phyracon took a battle stance and charged light blue **Psycho Cuts** on each of his blades. "Shall we take this outside, then?"

Quera, having enough of this nonsense, charged an extremely powerful, extremely cold, white ball of energy and fired it at Phyracon, making him collapse to the ground, unconscious, frozen in a coating of ice.

Quera sighed, "That should get him out of our hair for a while. Now, do you want me to explain why we're really here?"

"Please do so I don't kill him."

Quera shook her head, "You try to kill him, both me and Arceus get mad. Don't make me use **Sheer Cold** on you, too."

"Sorry, but I have to protect my people. Even if it means throwing myself into the line of fire. I don't want to fight you. Just explain to me what you're doing here."

Quera nodded, "Alright. We think that, with our unique skill set, we can help in the war against Team Rocket."

Rick nodded, "Well, we can use all the help we can get. What skills do you two have?"

Quera raised an eyebrow, "How much do you want to know?"

"If you're going to be working with me, I should at least know something about you."

Quera sighed, "Transfinite power levels, Use of practically every known Pokemon move, Signature moves, and the ability to transform into our true forms, which are legendary dragons. That cool with you?"

Rick looked at her with a surprised expression, "That's...incredible. Well make yourselves at home here in the Sanctuary. You can go down to the 21st den and pick your home from there since no one owns anything there yet. But be warned, you are not to cause trouble or Arceus will hear about it."

Quera shrugged, "No problem. Oh, and one more thing. Phyracon is a rather... strange case. He's basically addicted to fighting. It he doesn't have a good fight in a while, he'll just snap and start to obliterate everything. Just a word of warning..."

"Really now? So what do you suppose we do?"

Quera shrugged, "Well, if you have an idea of someone to fight against, speak before he thaws out."

"I have some people that would like a good fight. However, is this supposed to be an all day thing?"

Quera shrugged, "Depends on how good the fight is."

"Will he be killing anyone?"

Quera shook her head and smirked, "Not if I restrict him from doing so."

"That concerns me. What if you're not there?"

Quera shrugged, "If he tries, I can always bring them back to life. But, in any case, our minds are linked. Our life forces are combined like a Yin/Yang thing; push and pull, physical and special, all that mystical stuff So, if he gets too agressive, I'll calm him down, no matter what. Oh, and if you need me, call me telepathically. I'll be there at a moment's notice."

"Very well. So I guess you have to take him to find a house."

Quera nodded, "I think so."

All of a sudden, the frozen Phyracon took on a red tinge and the ice began to melt before it exploded, fragments of ice flying everywhere.

Phyracon sighed, "Well, that was fun." Phyracon then kissed Quera on the cheek, causing her to blush slightly. The orange Gallade then bowed his head towards Rick, "My apologies, Warlord Aeruthael. I let my bloodlust get the better of me. It won't happen again for at least a few days unless I'm attacked."

Rick nodded, "All is forgiven." Rick then gave a heavy cough, giving the impression that he would cough up blood. Thankfully he didn't. "Man, these injuries have taken a tow on me."

Quera frowned. "You sure you don't want me to restore you to full health? It would only take a second."

Rick looked at her and said, "If it'll help then go ahead."

Quera nodded, "It'll at least give us some evidence with which to plead innocence if Phyracon ends up causing more harm than help here."

Quera formed a small, light purple ball of energy between her hands. She then held the orb of energy and threw it forward, letting it separate into waves. The waves slowly washed over Rick. The energy steadied his breathing, returned his muscular state as if it appeared that he had been training harshly for several months, and turned the cane which he had been using into a golden staff which had silver blades on both of the ends.

Quera smiled at her handiwork while Raze whistled at the weapon, "Wow... That thing could really do some damage."

Rick examined the staff and gave it to Quera, "Thanks for healing me. However, I don't need this weapon. I feel so much better."

Quera smiled, "You're welcome. It was my pleasure."

Phyracon looked at the weapon with an appraising eye, "This weapon would probably come in useful for anyone who uses aura or energy-based attacks. The blades are honed in a certain way so that they can be used to fire Psycho Cuts or even Flare, Shock, and Chill Blades."

Rick chuckled at Phyracon's interest in the weapon and then braced his body. Rick then gave a yell and his energy exploded, cratering the ground beneath his feet. "Well, I say that I'm getting rusty. A month out of commission can take a lot out of you."

Quera nodded, "Agreed. It's crazy being out of training. The same thing happen to Phyracon once and he lost against a freaking Azelf."

Phyracon glared at her, "We agreed we wouldn't discuss that! The Pokémon used Explosion and survived ! I'm still not sure how that's possible, at any rate."

Rick chuckled, "Well I'll pretend like I didn't hear that."

Phyracon sighed in relief, "Thank you, sir."

Quera smirked, "Oh, please. That was nothing. There was one time when he was attacked by an Electivire and almost captured by a trainer."

Phyracon frowned, "That trainer didn't just have an Electivire, he had a Blastoise, Dodrio, and Umbreon; not to mention an extremely powerful Arcanine. I had managed to beat all of his Pokemon except for the Arcanine and then... Well, let's just say I wouldn't be here right now if Quera hadn't intervened. His name was Gary... Something or other."

Rick sighed and said, "No need to speak anymore of it. I know who you're talking about."

Phyracon drew his blades, his eyes glowing dark blue, but Quera hugged him, restricting him from attacking until the glow faded. Phyracon sighed, "That means that I'm only 48 hours away from razing everything."

Rick arched an eyebrow and asked, "Is he going to be okay?

Phyracon nodded, "As long as I get an outlet for my rage... Like someone to fight."

"Don't worry. I have an idiot that likes to fight."

Phyracon smirked and cracks his neck and knuckles, "Bring it on, then."

"You're gonna have to wait for a little while longer."

Phyracon nodded. "Just make sure he gets here within the next two days."

"He will, don't worry. Now, how about you guys go house hunting?"

Quera nodded. "Will do. Thank you for your kindness."

Rick nodded, "No problem. Don't cause any problems though and goodbye!"

The two then walked away and Rick teleported back home. Once Rick arrived home, he was punched by Alara.

Alara growled and said to him, "Why did you do that? You're injured, you need to rest."

Rick chuckled, "Take a look at me and tell me what injuries I have."

Alara looked at him and was astonished to see that he was no longer injured, "What on earth? How did all your wounds heal? I know that your regenerative abilities are not that powerful."

Rick smiled and told her, "Let me start by saying that Arceus sent us more recruits...I didn't even know they were coming. They have have the appearance of a Gallade and Gardevoir, but I have a feeling that they are not of our species. Anyways, now we have a White Mage and a Berserker. Speaking of which..." Rick dialed Neil's number on his Poketch. "Hey Neil! Are you up for a battle?"

Neil answered, "Yeah! Against you?"

"Nope! I'll tell you later. Just go train."

"Gotcha!"

Rick hung up the call and said to Alara, "So I'm now fully healed. Just in time too."

Alara hugged him, "Well thank you whoever healed you."

Rick then said, "Let's finish planning this wedding now. Unless you finished all the preparations."

"Nope! I was waiting for you wake up."

Rick chuckled, "Good to hear." He looked around and then said, "Where are the guys?"

Alara replied, "They went home. Meloetta left too. She said something about visiting Mew."

"Alright." An idea then came to Rick, "I have an idea for A and Green."

Alara was curious, "What's the idea?"

"Let's go see Maiyu."

Alara was confused, but wasn't going to question Rick at the moment.

[Two Hours Later]

Rick and Alara were in Rick's car with Maiyu in the backseat. Maiyu was originally ecstatic about him being back, but was then nervous about the idea that he proposed to her and her parents.

Rick asked Maiyu, "So Maiyu, are you ready?"

Maiyu replied, "I still don't like this idea."

"Hey, you have to lose that dear of humans someday."

"But why like this?"

"Because you can trust these two humans."

"I can't believe that my parents agreed to this."

Alara chuckled and said, "Your parents want the best for you and A and Green are our friends. We can trust them."

Rick followed up by saying, "Just remember that I can be here in a fraction of a second if anything happens. Here!" Rick handed her Avion's Titan Seal. "If anything, you can bring him out to protect you too."

Maiyu nodded, "Alright. Thank you Aeru!"

"No problem baby girl."

They were then arriving at the 22nd Den. As they approached A's manor Rick could see A constructing a crude addition to the manor. Rick parked the car and teleported himself and the girls towards the manor and said to A as he arrived "What on earth are you doing?"

A looked over and said, "Oh, hello Rick! I was just making an addition for when the shadow pokemon arrive. I don't know exactly when they'll get here, and I always say it's better to be safe than sorry. What can I do for you?"

"Well at first I was going to ask you for a favor, but it seems you have too much on you plate as is. So if you're too busy I can come back later."

A thought for a second, then said, "That depends what you want to ask me to do. I pretty much have this figured out, but if you need me to address something, all you have to do is ask."

"Well I was just going to ask one little thing." Rick pointed to Maiyu, who was in Alara's arms, "I want to know if you can watch her for us. Only for a day or two. I asked her parents for permission. I want her to lose her phobia of humans and try to be more comfortable around you and Green. Her parents agreed. So will you do it?"

A's face lit up and he said, "Sure! I don't mind, especially if it's to help a pokemon." A looked at Maiyu for a second, then asked, "Her parents have agreed, but has she? I won't force her to do something against her will."

Rick chuckled and said, "Yeah, she agreed, but she's very scared. She's actually pretty surprised that you're a pokemon right now, but she's still a little nervous around you and terrified around Green."

A smirked and said, "Nothing I can do about that. I wish that weren't the case, but it is what it is. Besides, these psychic powers come in pretty handy. I suppose we'll just have to work hard to help her overcome that fear. What do you say, Maiyu?"

Maiyu tried to mouth the words to speak, but she was too nervous. Suddenly Green appeared, riding on Ixion. Maiyu jaw fell and she asked, "Is that a unicorn?"

A laughed and told her, "No, that's my own Titan. Ixion, I want you to meet Maiyu." Ixion snorted much like a real horse and observed Maiyu with dark, hard eyes.

Maiyu reached forward to try to pet Ixion's snout, but retracted it when Ixion snorted again.

Rick chuckled and told her, "It's okay. He won't do anything to you. Treat him like you treat Avion. Avion is much more intimidating."

Ixion then looked at Rick and transformed into its lion form, scarring Maiyu, and made her run away. Rick teleported and caught her, and then returned saying, "Maiyu, he's harmless. Don't be afraid."

A laughed as well, then scolded Ixion, "Ixion, you really scared her. I want you to apologize to her." Ixion nodded, then stepped a little closer to Maiyu. He bowed in a regal posture, keeping his eyes low.

Maiyu then reached out and pet Ixion's mane. She began to warm up to him and almost retracted her hand when she heard him purr. Ixion then turned back into a horse and Green got off of him. Maiyu finally noticed Green and was frozen in place.

Alara noticed and said, "Well look a little lively when you're going to greet someone Maiyu."

Maiyu gulped and said, "Hello Ms. Green."

Green smiled and responded, "How do you do, Miss Maiyu?"

Maiyu didn't reply. Rick shook his head and put Maiyu on Ixion's back.

Rick said to A, "Let me warn you that she has a tendency to...manipulate things into awkward scenarios. However, they're all unintentional...for the most part."

A cocked his head and asked, "How so? And what do you mean 'for the most part'?"

Rick and Alara looked at one another and then Rick said to A, "Don't worry about it. Anyways, there are a few instructions that you need to follow if you are to take care of Maiyu."

A nodded and said, "Let me hear 'em."

Rick relayed the instructions to him, "Maiyu is to take her vitamins for every meal. So make sure to give her one of these pills when she eats." He then handed A a large bottle of pills. "Maiyu needs to be in bed by 9 PM, no exceptions. However, she must take a bath before it. So please have Green or Rose give her a bath."

A looked over the vitamins, then nodded and said, "Alright. Anything else I should be aware of?"

"Not really. Only that if she asks you any adult questions, do not answer."

A grinned and replied, "Got it. Well, then, why don't we get you settled, Maiyu?"

Maiyu slowly nodded and Rick and Alara kissed her goodbye.

Rick then said to A, "Alright, she's in your care now. Make sure she's well taken care of." Rick handed A a list of phone numbers. "These are some emergency numbers. Use them when you need to." Rick then said to Maiyu, "Behave Maiyu." Rick and Alara the waved goodbye and walked away.

(Maiyu's Stay in A Deal With A God by EmeraldDragon1)

[Six Days Later; May 6th (Rick's Birthday)]

Rick was in his dining room with the rest of the team singing singing him Happy Birthday. As soon as they finished singing to him they all clapped and Alara walked up to Rick and kissed him.

Alara said to him, "Happy 23rd Birthday, Rick."

Rick chuckled and said, "Thanks Ally." He turned to the others and said, "You guys didn't have to celebrate my birthday. I would of been fine without the party."

Aldira then said to him, "This is your first birthday we celebrate with you since you were seven. Humor us for once."

Rick laughed, "Alright mom."

Maiyu teleported to Rick's arms and said to him, "You're getting old."

"You're going to get old someday too. Don't start with this. Also, I'm not old. I was a teenager four years ago."

"But you're getting married."

"When you're in your twenties, I expect you to get married."

"Maybe."

Alara then walked back to Rick and carried Maiyu, "Stop heckling your cousin."

Maiyu giggled, "It's too much fun."

Alara rolled her eyes and asked, "So how do you like your gifts?"

Rick looked at all the gifts on the table, "I love them all."

Aldira then said to Rick ,"Your father just left to get your other present."

Rick sighed, "Another?"

"You'll love it. Trust me."

"I'll be happy with what you give me."

Aldira chuckled and then got a message from Xeron, "Go outside Aeru."

Rick got up and walked outside with the rest of the team and couldn't see anything. They waited for a second and then heard an engine revving.

Rick looked at his mom and said, "No...way."

Aldira giggled and said, "Compliments of Mr. Silph."

A car then drifted in front of the car and Xeron got out of it, "Hey Aeru! If you don't want it, I'll take it."

Rick walked up to the car and asked, "I can tell it's a Lamborghini, but I've never seen it before."

"Mr. Silph says that it's a Lamborghini Veneno. It's a pretty badass car."

Rick got inside, "That it is."

"Also Aeru, I have to show you something. Your friends can come with you."

Rick was curious, "What is it?"

"Get everyone together and get yourself a blindfold."

Rick did as his father ordered and Aldira blindfolded him. Rick could feel that they were being teleported away somewhere. They then walked for a little while, Alara guiding him the entire time.

Soon Xeron said to Rick, "Take off the blindfold son."

Rick did so and looked at where he was. His smile then disappeared as he saw his childhood home.

Aldira walked up to him and asked him, "Remember the good old days?"

Rick walked up to Xeron and said to him in a displeased tone, "What are we doing here dad?"

Xeron flinched when he saw his reaction and asked him, "Woah! What's wrong? I thought that you would of liked coming back here with you wife and friends, now that me and Aldira are back."

"One, Alara is not my wife yet. Two, why would you think that I would like this?"

Xeron looked back at him with a stern look and said, "That was one bad memory boy. Let it go. Remember all the good times we had here."

Alara then grabbed Rick's arm and pulled him along inside of the old abandoned house. Once he entered the house, Rick looked around and recollected all of his former memories. Alara was having trouble keeping up with him until he went upstairs and disappeared.

Alara did not see him go upstairs and began to look for him. She soon found A and Green in a dining room, talking to Xeron and Aldira.

Alara asked them, "Have you seen Rick? He took off and I can't seem to find him."

Xeron and Aldira looked at each other and sighed. Xeron then said, "He's upstairs. Most likely in his sister's room."

"Why there?"

"That's where his memories are happiest. He loved his sister very...very much."

Alara nodded and walked upstairs with Jean, Dartz, Seras, A, and Green in tow. She looked in the room and soon found Rick in a small room, sitting on a chair that was next to a small bed. In his hand was a small rag doll that looked like a Gardevoir. Rick was looking at the doll and then at the bed.

Alara heard him say, "If you were still with me, how would my life be?"

A asked Alara, "What's he doing?"

Alara whispered to him, "This is his little sister's room. He and his sister were extremely close and he was her protector and best friend."

"They were kids. How close could they of been?"

"They say that mother and father are God in the eyes of a child. To his sister he was an archangel."

They stopped talking and heard Rick say, "I know you're there. Come on out and talk to me personally."

Alara, A, and Seras walked into the room, while the other stayed outside the room. Alara stood next to Rick and looked around the room, trying to imagine Rick's life prior to becoming a Project.

Seras said to Rick, "This is the first time I've even come to your childhood home. It's more well hidden than I thought. Why have you never brought us here."

Rick replied, "Too many memories. I never wanted to come back. It always hurt me too much."

A said to Rick, "I know how you feel. Trust me, I do, but denying others from going to your home is not right."

"I'm not, nor was I, denying others from going to my old home. I was denying myself."

Alara then said, "Rick, don't degrade back to your former self because of this."

"I wouldn't dare. This is...just too much for me. I need to go outside for some air."

Rick left the room, but took the rag doll with him. He put it in his bag and left the house, with his parents watching him.

Aldira asked Xeron, "Was this a good idea?"

Xeron replied, "It will be."

[Rick]

Rick was outside, sitting on a stump and tried to clear his thoughts. So far, he's been having a good birthday, but just being in that house made him sad.

He looked up at the sky and said to himself, "You've come far in your life. Sixteen years ago, you were here living with your family. Now you live far away and are the only living member of your family. However, you're making your own family, slowly but surely."

He then heard someone speak, "Sorry to intrude Rick, but you have to run!"

Rick looked down and saw Ashlyn and Omega standing in front of him, "Ashlyn? Omega? What are you doing here?"

"I came here to stop Omega from doing what they want to do."

"What do you mean?"

Ashlyn then brought out her spear stopped Omega from advancing, "Omega came to kill you. I've been having a hard time controlling them lately."

Omega began to advance again and Ashlyn pushed back against her.

"So why did you bring them?"

"I didn't! Omega rushed here and I got dragged along. I don't have enough strength to physically hold her back. Just run! I'll get the others."

Ashlyn's strength then failed her and Omega took off after Rick.

Rick however stood his ground and he said as Omega rushed towards him, "I'm not running from you anymore." Omega pounced on Rick, but Rick kicked her off. Rick got to his feet and tackled Omega. "I'm done running! We're finishing this today!"

Omega roared and wrapped Rick in her tentacles. She then threw him away and got to her feet.

Rick drew Shadowbane and then drew Sovereign, "Let's see who's stronger. Alpha or Omega?"

Omega finally spoke, "The one that dies last."

"Let's finish this."

(Battle Music: **Dismiss from Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep**)

Both Rick and Omega circled each other and then charged at one another. Rick slashed away at Omega, while dodging her tentacles and claws.

Rick pushed her away and said, "I'm faster than you. You can't beat me."

Omega roared, "Don't underestimate me!"

Omega suddenly vanished and Rick looked around for her. He was then knocked down and he jumped up to dodged a claw attack. Omega vanished again and hit Rick multiple times until he began to spit blood. Rick fell to the ground and Omega reappeared. Omega looked him over and summoned energy whips to her hands. The whips were serrated and had bladed ends. She swung the blades around and then swung down at Rick, who vanished.

Rick reappeared behind her and suplexed her, shocking Omega. Rick then grabbed her leg and slammed her to the ground multiple times. Rick then threw her towards the forest and followed after her.

Omega soon landed somewhere in the forest, taking out multiple trees. She got up and cracked her neck, "Damn it! I didn't think he had that much strength."

Rick arrived and said, "Odd. You used to be hard."

Omega growled and saw him standing on a tree branch, "You got stronger. How?"

"I'm very tenacious. I don't give up. If I find something that I cannot defeat, then I train to get stronger. You are seeing me at only a fraction of my strength."

"Then face me at full strength and I'll fight at full strength."

"Agreed!"

Rick then stuck Shadowbane out and the shadow surrounded him until he turned into his Battle Form. He then saw Omega's energy explode and Omega then took a more feral shape. Omega seemed far more muscular, had two wings, blades that came out of her wrists, and a powerful tail.

Rick and Omega then roared at each other and vanished, each one appearing striking one another, which sent shockwaves through the forest.

[Alara and Company]

Alara and the others were at the house watching the battle unfold from a far. They could also feel the power of both Rick and Omega clashing.

A said to Alara, "Rick's power has grown. So much that it's scary."

Alara nodded and said, "Yeah, but how has it grown so much. Even if he was awake all this time, he couldn't of gotten that power in two weeks."

Xeron then appeared saying, "Twilight never disappoints. However, he inherited a good trait from me. He learns by association and by watching. He reminds me of young me."

A asked Xeron, "Do you think he'll win?"

"He's powerful A. Like X and Ryu have told you, have a little faith."

A was suddenly astonished, "How do you know...?"

He then saw Xeron smile and wink, telling him all he needed to know.

Soon another shockwave surged through the area, that actually shook the ground, slightly.

Jean commented, "If they don't end this soon, they're tear the entire Hoenn region apart."

[Rick vs Omega]

Rick and Omega clashed once more. Both fighting for dominance, but going anywhere. Sparks were cracking across their bodies and both didn't seem to be tired yet.

Omega saw the situation sent her tail to whip Rick. Rick dodged the hit and pressed Shadowbane harder onto Omega. The blade then began to glow and Rick said, "Kage Nami." The blade then sent them fired the wave in the form of a dome. Rick backed off, believing that Omega was being incinerated in the dome. He was then shocked when the dome was torn apart by Omega's tentacles.

Omega then asked, "What the hell was that?"

Rick said shocked, "How did you come out of that unscathed?"

"A weak ass attack like that won't do anything to me."

Rick growled and then heard Twilight in his head, _"You won't beat Omega with me. You have to use Sovereign. That's what Rising Sun is for."_

Rick replied in his head, _"Then how do I hold Rising Sun long enough to beat Omega?"_

_ "You should be strong enough now."_

_ "Alright, I'll try."_

_ "Aeru, just don't freak out by what you see later."_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "You'll see."_

With that, Rick re-sheathed Shadowbane and brought Sovereign back out.

Omega chuckled and said, "So you decided that your shadow sword is pointless against me?"

Rick nodded, "In a way. However, I remembered how much you hate light."

"Oh please! You can't hold that attack that you used on me before."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Omega growled and vanished, reappearing slashing at Rick. Rick leaned back to dodge the attack and turned Sovereign into a shield and bashed Omega. Sovereign became a sword again and he tried to stab Omega. Omega saw the attack and caught Rick's hand. Omega began to slam Rick on trees, rocks, and the ground. Rick managed to break out of her hold and punched her back.

Rick began to charge energy into the sword while saying to himself, "Come on. Charge faster."

Rick looked up and saw Omega's tentacles coming after him. He vanished and took every opportunity to charge energy into Sovereign.

He soon hid behind a tree and said, "Damn! I need a distraction of sorts. I can't fill Sovereign with energy so quickly." Omega then sliced the tree into pieces and Rick said, "Ah crap!"

Omega chuckled and said, "You know, it's hard to hide when you have a sword that glows."

Rick vanished again, but Omega charged a beam in her mouth and fired it at a specific direction. Rick reappeared and was hit by the beam.

Rick said, "How the hell?"

Omega replied, "Unlike most of the other Projects, I can directly sense you. Even if you move at an accelerated speed."

"Of freakin' course! Make it harder for me, why don't ya?"

"Very well."

Omega then flew into the air and charged a **Shadow Ball** over her head. Rick recognized it as a similar technique as the one that Daedalus used the day he arrived at the Sanctuary. Rick jumped up and planted his feet on the ground. Rick then waited for the ball to be thrown at him.

Omega saw him preparing to catch the ball, but she surprised him by making the ball break into various balls and making them go raining down towards him. Rick saw this and drew Shadowbane again. Rick began to slice the balls as they go near, but they soon proved too numerous and they encircled him. Rick suddenly fired a Psycho Cut Gatling Gut and destroyed the balls.

Rick growled and charged a finger beam. Omega smiled at the sighed and charged an energy ball in her hands. Rick soon fired the massive beam and Omega let the tiny energy fall fly towards the beam. Once the two things came into contact, the energy ball grew as the beam's energy went into it. Rick saw that he was feeding the ball and stopped firing immediately. Omega on the other hand pointed down at Rick and the energy ball became a series of spikes that rained down on Rick. Rick vanished and reappeared on a tree. Omega immediately fired the spikes towards the tree. Rick vanished again and reappeared slicing Omega in the chest with Sovereign.

Omega fell from the sky with the latest hit and soon got up to see Rick firing a Kage Nami at her. Omega vanished to get away from the wave, but Rick redirected the wave's path until it was almost upon her.

Omega turned around and said, "Let's see how powerful this attack is." Omega threw her arms forward caught the wave. The wave then began to push her and she dug her feet into the ground to gain some leverage. She eventually stopped the wave and threw it over her head, letting it explode in the horizon.

Rick suddenly appeared behind her and tackled her. He held her head down as he used his psychic power to fly over the ground, making her face scrape on the ground. Rick then threw her towards a rock, and once she bounced off of it, he flying kicked her onto the rock again.

Rick walked up to the cratered and panting Omega, "Why do you hunt me?"

Omega caught her breath and said, "Revenge."

Rick was taken back, "Revenge? Revenge for what?"

"So you don't remember, do you?" Omega pried herself off the rock, "You hurt me greatly. Not only am I after you because it's what I was made and ordered to do, but for the betrayal as well."

"The hell did I ever do to you?"

"You've spoken enough."

"Wait...just let me understand what I did to you."

Omega growled, "You already had your chance."

"What?"

Rick then dodged an unexpected claw attack from Omega. Rick kicked Omega in the face as she missed.

Rick then jumped behind her and asked, "What's this all about?"

Omega turned around, charging a finger beam and firing it at Rick. Rick sliced the beam and fired a **Shadow Ball** at Omega. Omega swung down at the **Shadow Ball** and charged at Rick. Rick ran slid under Omega, charging a Kage Nami. He got up and fired the wave at Omega, sending her flying. Rick then fired a Psycho Star Storm into the air, which made Omega crash down to the ground as all the energy balls hit her down.

Rick saw what he did and took the chance to charge energy into Sovereign. Omega suddenly erupted from the ground, roaring to the top of her lungs, obviously enraged. Omega charged for Rick and the Chaos Scarf suddenly came to life, in the shape of a fist and punched Omega back.

Rick looked at the Chaos Scarf and said, "Nice job Chaos!" He looked down at his shadow and yelled, "Fenrir!" The shadow wolf appeared, "You and Chaos have to distract Omega long enough for me to charge my next attack. Be careful."

Both beasts charged towards Omega and Rick began to charge energy into Sovereign. He looked up and saw the two holding their own against Omega, but Omega was putting up a vicious fight, trying to get to Rick.

Omega soon knocked Fenrir away and charged for Rick, but she was pulled back by Chaos biting down on her leg, while in snake form. Omega pulled out her wrist blades and sliced Chaos into pieces, but it kept regenerating and wrapping itself around her.

Rick knew that eventually Omega would break away so he hurried to charge the attack. Soon he felt Sovereign pulsing and he called out to Chaos and Fenrir, "Guys! Come back now!"

Both the beings came back to Rick and took their original positions. Rick then pointed the sword at Omega, who began to charge at him, but stopped when she saw the blade at full power.

Rick chuckled, "For a second there you feared me."

Rick then unleashed the attack and the entire forest was illuminated in a bright light. Rick closed his eyes to protect his eyes. While it was happening, he could hear Omega roar in pain, getting progressively louder. Rick took a brave chance and opened his eyes and saw Omega begin to deteriorate. The ability then soon subsided and Rick looked to see Omega on her knees, panting in pain.

Rick took a battle position when he saw Omega stagger to her feet. Omega then suddenly fell back onto her knees and Rick could see her form disintegrate. Rick stood there in awe as Omega grew smaller and had a more humanoid shape to her. Her wings, tail, and tentacles were gone, and she had a more recognizable appearance to Rick. Soon all the darkness in her form disappeared and Rick gasped when he saw a purple Gardevoir on her knees, panting for breath.

Rick said, "You're a girl? Much more, you're a Gardevoir?"

Omega stopped panting and got up, glaring at Rick, "You're the first person, other than Ashlyn, to make me turn back to my true self."

"So now I'm really confused as to what I did to you for you to hate me so much."

Omega gave a frustrated scream, "Are you fucking kidding me!?"

Rick shrugged, "What?"

Omega growled even louder and teleported to Rick and tried to punch him.

[Alara]

Alara and then others stopped shielding their eyes after the light vanished from the forest. Alara looked on with a worried look and then saw Xeron and Aldira walking away from the house.

Alara caught up with them and asked Xeron, "Where are you going?"

Aldira answered her, "Follow us."

"Wait...why?"

"Just do so dear."

Alara wasn't going to ask anymore and followed them, with Jean, Seras, Dartz, Ashlyn, A, and Green following, primarily for back up if something happens.

[Rick vs Omega]

Rick was dodging all of Omega's punches and kicks. Omega didn't seem to want to try to kill Rick, and Rick wasn't going on the offensive.

Rick caught her fist and said to her, "Are you going to stop being cryptic and answer my question?"

Omega punched him and said, "Try to remember."

Rick readjusted his jaw and said, "Damn! I though Ally's punches hurt."

Omega then fired a beam at Rick, sending him flying through the tree canopy. Rick recovered and floated down to the ground as Omega teleported in front of him. Rick was thinking of everything to attempt to understand Omega, but couldn't figure it out.

He looked up and ducked under a kick from Omega. He caught her leg and threw her away. She quickly got up and fired **Shadow Balls **at Rick. Rick easily dodged them and teleported in front of her, grabbing her wrists.

Omega growled, "Let me go!"

"Not until you answer my question." Omega kicked him in the gut and then lifted him by his neck. "Damn! You're strong."

"Project."

"Oh yeah!" Rick then asked as she was hanging him, "What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you just tell me?"

Omega slammed him onto a tree and then onto a rock, "Try to remember!" She slammed him on the tree again, "What am I to you? An enemy? An ally? Do you hate me?"

Rick shook the pain off and made her let go by using **Flash** to blind her. She let go and Rick backed off a bit, waiting to see what would happen. Rick then sensed others coming toward him. He looked back and saw his friends and family.

Alara teleported next to him and looked at Omega in shock, "Omega's a girl...a Gardevoir?"

Rick nodded, "Yeah. She has some sort of vendetta against me, which I can't figure out."

Alara was suddenly pulled back by Xeron using Psychic. She looked at Xeron and said, "Stop! I'm going to help him."

Xeron shook his head, "No! Leave them alone to settle this themselves. He has to end it today. You can't help him this time." Xeron then brought out his Shadowbane and plunged it to the ground, turning the group invisible.

Omega then opened her eyes and blinked. When her vision returned she couldn't see the others, but she set her sights on Rick. She walked up to him and looked at him before punching him in the face.

Rick didn't flinch and asked her, "Can I at least get your true name?"

Omega glared daggers at him, "You already know my name."

"Then I am VERY lost. What did I do?"

"It's what you didn't do."

"Which is?"

Omega sighed and looked at the tree she slammed Rick on and jumped up. She grabbed the tree, ripped it out of the ground, and slammed it onto him. She landed on the ground and panted from the loss of energy. Fighting Rick was really taking its toll on her and she fell to her knees again. Her rest was short lived as Rick lifted the tree off of himself and threw it away.

Omega gave another scream and tackled Rick to the ground and began to punch him repeatedly, with Rick visibly unfazed. She kept repeating, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Rick pushed her off of him and stood up. Omega then began to punch the ground and scream, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" She began to cry in front of Rick and Rick walked up to her.

Rick knelt down and asked her, "Omega, what did I do? I'm not talking to you as an enemy."

Omega sighed and asked, "You really don't know who I am?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking."

Omega looked back at the ground and then at Rick, "My name is Harmony Fenrir." When Rick heard this he stood up in shock. "I'm your little sister."

Rick stepped up and then fell to his knees, "That can't be."

"It is!" Harmony got up and growled, "After Team Rocket killed mom and dad they separated us and took us to different facilities. I was in one facility for three years until Giovanni gave the go-ahead for me to join the other Projects. I was so excited to be reunited with you again, but then Giovanni told me that when you heard the news that I was coming back to you, that you ran away to get away from me. You abandoned me!"

Rick got up, walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I didn't abandon you."

Harmony pushed him back, "Don't touch me! What do you mean that you didn't abandon me?"

"I didn't leave because of that. I left to protect others. I had enough of Team Rocket. When they threatened our species, I had no choice but to rebel. Also, what did you mean earlier by what I didn't do?"

"You didn't keep your promise to protect me. I went through hell! Thank Arceus that Ashlyn was there to protect me from everything."

"I didn't know. I'm grateful for Ashlyn now. However, I thought you were dead. Team Rocket told me that you were dead."

"Excuses!"

Rick sighed, "I couldn't make that up Harmony. I was told that you died, I believed it. Now I guess I'm an idiot for doing so. It was just to make me lose my will to fight. Harmony...your my baby sister. I loved you so much. Just the fact that you're in front of me is a miracle."

"You said that you didn't know I was alive. Prove it."

Rick then put a finger on her forehead and she saw all of his memories from the time he was in Team Rocket. Rick then said, "Believe me now? I never abandoned you. I would of never of done that if I knew. I would of looked for you and took you with me. Harmony, I loved you as if you were my own daughter, I could never of abandoned you. It's kinda hard to believe that you're even here in front of me."

Harmony looked at Rick and then at the ground. She began to cry again and said, "I guess we're both idiots for believing Giovanni.

Rick couldn't help but chuckle. He then helped Harmony stand and hugged her. He scoffed and said to Arceus mentally, _"You are sure hard to read."_

He received a chuckle and a reply, _"And that's how it should be. I told you that I would repair your life, piece by piece, but I couldn't have you going after Harmony. So I told you that she didn't want to face you yet...which is still the truth. If it was under any other circumstances, it would of been disastrous."_

_ "Well I thank you so much right now."_

_ "You are very welcome. Now enjoy your moment with your sister."_

Rick chuckled and said out loud, "Will do."

Harmony asked, "What?"

"Oh nothing."

Harmony hugged him harder, being careful of his spike, "Oh big brother, I'm so sorry!"

Rick smiled and hugged her, "There's nothing to apologize for." Rick then suddenly began to sing her lullaby, the same as when she was a child.

Harmony then said with tears, "It sounds right. Ashlyn usually sings it to me, but not like you could." Rick then remember the doll her had in his pack. He took it out and gave it to Harmony. Harmony took it and gasped, "My doll?"

"I was back at our house today. I went into your room and found it on the bed. You used to take that doll everywhere. You never came back after you joined Team Rocket?"

"No. Have you?"

"I came today for my birthday."

"Oh yeah...I forgot about that. I haven't been in a true family in so long, I forgot how it's like being around people that love you."

Rick hugged her again and said, "Hey, you can leave Team Rocket and be with me and the rest of our family. Since I left, I recovered everything I lost."

"Except for mom and dad."

Rick scoffed and said, "Funny story..." He then whistled. Xeron too the invisibility off of the group and he and Aldira walked up to Rick and Harmony. Harmony lifted her had off of Rick and saw her parents hugging her and Rick.

She then asked in disbelief, "What in Arceus's name?"

Rick smiled, "Arceus brought them back to me...and now to us."

Harmony looked at her parents and Aldira kissed her forehead and hugged her tight. She then turned to Xeron and got the same response. The entire scene was too much for Harmony, who fell to her knees again and cried.

She then said to Rick, "I'm done with Team Rocket. I'm going to help you destroy them. My family's here, and I can't turn against them. They'll pay for everything that they've done to us."

Rick nodded, "Welcome back to the family baby sister."

The others were watching the scene unfold and they all smiled. Dartz then bumped Ashlyn and chuckled.

Ashlyn asked him, "What?"

Dartz replied, "You know what I mean. You promised."

Ashlyn got the hint and pulled out her Rocket video communicator. She pressed Giovanni's number and walked towards Harmony. Giovanni then picked up and looked at Ashlyn.

Giovanni said, "Yes, Project Theta?"

Ashlyn then said, "Fuck you!"

Giovanni seemed surprised, "Excuse me?"

Harmony then took the communicator and said, "You lied to me! You turned me against my own brother! You can expect me to be on my brother's side now. Alpha and Omega are now your enemies. Go bye you worm!"

Rick took the communicator and said, "Well it's good to see you again Giovanni. I guess by now you realize that your lies have failed."

Giovanni glared at Rick and said, "What did you do to her?"

"I told her the truth! I took my sister back! You've been playing one very sick and twisted game with me and my sister. However, it's time for a new game. How long will it take for me and my sister to destroy you?"

Giovanni then said, "You are making a big mistake Alpha. You and Omega will..."

Rick cut him off, "Me and my sister will do nothing you say! Also, I'm Aeruthael, not Alpha. She's Harmony, not Omega." He then turned the communicator to Ashlyn, "She's Ashlyn, not Theta. We are not your property or your weapons. Let me tell you the truth. One of the main reasons you never succeed at defeating me is because Ashlyn sabotages all your efforts. Another is because I'm too powerful for you to defeat. You created a weapon and then you lost control of it. A living being can only take so much abuse and horror. I will get to you. I will destroy your armies. I will end Team Rocket. And I WILL destroy you."

"Declaration of war?"

"Declaration of war!

"Let the war begin."

"Let the beginning of your end begin."

Rick passed the communicator to Ashlyn. Giovanni then said to Ashlyn, "Theta, you better not betray me."

Ashlyn scoffed and said, "My name is Ashlyn. You have no power over me Giovanni."

"That's Master Giovanni to you you little bitch!"

"No! You are shit to me. Goodbye!" She then smashed then communicator with her spear and walked up to Harmony, "We're free from Giovanni. We have a new home now."

Harmony hugged Ashlyn and then Dartz walked up to Ashlyn and told her, "Looks like I have to start looking that house we planned."

Ashlyn looked at him and giggled, "Well I might enjoy this change of sides."

Dartz chuckled and Rick said to him, "Congrats!"

Dartz replied, "More to you than me."

Rick walked up to his family and said, "Let's go home before Giovanni sends troops."

Harmony asked, "This Sanctuary place?"

"Yes. You'll live in peace there. Along with our entire family."

Xeron chuckled and said, "I'll get the others." He then teleported away.

Alara walked up to Harmony and said to her, "It's so good to meet you. I've heard a lot from Rick."

Harmony looked at Rick and said, "Rick?"

Rick replied, "It's the name I received from my old trainer and my friends. In the Sanctuary I'm still called Aeruthael. You can call me anything you want." Rick then remembered, "Oh yeah! I never introduced you two. The last time you and Alara came face-to-face, you were trying to kill me. She's Alara, my mate and soon to be wife in a week."

Harmony was surprised, "She's going to be your wife?"

"Yes. In eight days you'll have a new sister."

Alara then opened her arms and Harmony hugged her.

Alara then said, "Welcome back to your family."

Harmony replied, "And welcome to my family."

[An hour later; Sanctuary]

The gang was in the Chief's Court with Alara's parents awestruck and in disbelief over what they were listening. Keerah got up and walked up and looked at Harmony.

She said, "Now I know that this family is blessed because every member of it is now standing before me." She hugged Harmony and said, "I've never seen you with my own eyes. So to see you as a young woman and alive is more I could of asked for."

Harmony accepted the hug and then said to Rick mentally, _"Are they usually like this?"_

Rick replied, _"You have no idea. They get worse. However, they love us so much. They are great people and will always have our back."_

_ "I just thought of something, how are mom and dad alive right now?"_

_ "Arceus brings them back every once and a while. Being his paladin has amazing perks, but I know that there's more to it. I just can't figure it out."_

_ "Let's leave it be and be happy that we're all together again for the first time in sixteen years."_

_ "Yeah."_ He looked around, _"Where are dad and A? Oh well it's not important."_

Saifer then said to Rick, "She must be tired. Take her home. We'll continue this celebration at a later date. I don't want her to pass out from exhaustion."

Rick nodded, "Will do sir. Goodbye!"

Rick then took Alara and Harmony and teleported to his manor. Harmony looked at the house and said, "You live here?"

"Yep. It was mom and dad's house and then I inherited it. I lived here for a year until I came back. So let's get you set up."

Harmony then said to Rick, "I'm happy to be back."

"Well I'm happy to have you back in my life."

**(Invitation)**

You are all cordially invited to the wedding of Aeruthael Amais "Rick" Fenrir and Alara Aria Saifer.

**Where:**

The Blade and the Embrace (in Fanfiction). For those in the story: Illia's Memorial

**When:**

Next Chapter. For those in the story: May 14th, 3 PM

**Special Conditions:**

Doesn't matter, I'm a writer not a cop.

**And it is done. Man my fingers hurt from all the typing. Anyways, how's that for a twist. Harmony and Theta are now on the team, Rick and Alara's wedding is the next chapter and I expect to have it out on my birthday May 6th. The forum is still open for questions. So thanks for everything guys. Bye!**


	53. Chapter 53: Dearly Beloved

**It's finally done, Chapter 53. The wedding chapter, and I kept my promise of posting it on my birthday. Happy 20th birthday to me, it's odd no longer being a teen. Anyways, this chapter took me a lot of planning and I sincerely hope you guys enjoy it. Also, after this chapter, I will take a one week break to clear my head. So nothing will go up for a while and I want to experiment with a new story I was planning. However, whether I'll go through with it is left to debate. Anyways, thanks guys and enjoy. Last Month's View Champion: The Philippines. View Rankings: 1st) Philippines, 2nd) UK, 3rd) Canada, 4th) New Zealand, and 5th) Australia. **

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick was in the living room of his house, reading progress reports of the day and watching Harmony and Alara socializing. It warmed his heart to see his sister alive and well, and much more to see that she was quickly making friends with his mate. As Rick was there reading, he heard a knock a the door. He got up and opened the door to reveal a group of his family members.

Rick chuckled and said, "Every single time...come on in, she's here."

His family walked in and Rick helped his grandparents sit down and Harmony asked him, "This is our family?"

Rick nodded, "Yeah. Go meet them. They've never met you before. You weren't here like me, but you're just as much a part of this family as I am."

Harmony reluctantly got up and walked over to Sheerah, who immediately examined her. Sheerah then said, "So you're my granddaughter? You look like your mother, that's for sure." Sheerah then smiled at her and said, "Welcome home my dear."

Harmony smiled and hugged her grandmother, "I'm happy to be here."

She then went to her other grandparents and hugged them as well. One by one, she was hugged by everyone and welcomed to the family with open arms.

As she was going through the family, Maiyu teleported to Rick's arms and asked him, "That's your sister that you've told me so much about?"

Rick nodded, "Yeah Maiyu. She's Harmony. You look a lot like she did when she was a Kirlia. The similarities were striking. I'm sure you'll like her."

Harmony then walked over to Rick and Maiyu and looked down on her, "Hello there little one. What's your name?"

Maiyu replied, "My name is Maiyu, your cousin. Cousin Aeru told me a lot about you."

"Did he now? You know, you look a lot like I did when I was little. Oh but that was a long time ago."

"How old are you now?"

"I'm nineteen. And you?"

"Five, about to be six in June."

Harmony chuckled, "Well you're going to grow up to be very pretty. Just like Alara."

"You're very pretty too."

Harmony was flattered, "Aww thanks little one."

Rick said to Harmony, "You seem to like kids."

Harmony nodded, "I simply adore children. Which is why I'm waiting for you to get married so you can have kids."

Rick sweatdropped and said, "You haven't been back for even a day and now you want me to have kids. I thought I put that part behind me."

"Until it happens, it's not over."

Rick sighed and said, "Now that makes my entire family."

"Hey be happy that I'm back at least."

Rick chuckled, "I wasn't complaining."

[Four Hours Later]

Harmony was a room that Rick gave her to sleep it, which was next to Maiyu's room. Rick helped her get settled in and chuckled at her curious observation over everything in the manor. Harmony sat down on the bed and then got into it.

She laid down and said to Rick, "Aeru, this is weird for me."

Rick sat down beside her and asked her, "Why?"

"It's been so long since I've slept in my own room. I've always had Ashlyn with me."

"Well now you have your big brother here with you."

Harmony smiled, "I'm happy about that. I'm sorry about hunting you down and trying to kill you all this time."

"Apology accepted."

"That makes me happy to hear. Can I ask what there is to do here? I've never been around our species."

"Well neither have I when I first came here, but I got used to it. Anyways, there's a lot to do here. What would you usually do when you were in Team Rocket?"

Harmony gave him a cold look and asked him, "Do you really need to ask that question?"

Rick sweatdropped, "I guess not. Sorry."

Harmony smiled, "It's okay." She then reached forward and grabbed his hair. "You kept your promise?"

Rick nodded, "Of course I did. I thought you were dead, but I wasn't going to break my promise to you because of it."

Harmony hugged him and said, "Despite what I said earlier today, I love you."

"I love you too. So are you going to go to sleep?"

"Yeah."

Rick got up to leave, "Alright. Well goodnight little sis."

Harmony stopped him, "Can you sing me my lullaby?"

"Why?"

"Because you used to sing it to me every night when we were kid."

Rick chuckled and sat back down, "Alright.

Rick began to sing the lullaby and noticed how Harmony seemed to be entranced by the song. Rick soon finished and looked at Harmony.

Harmony smiled and said, "It's just like you used to sing it as a kid. I miss the old days so much."

Rick hugged her, "Me too. Well I love you. Goodnight Harmony."

"Goodnight big brother. I love you too!"

Rick then left the room and went to his and Alara's bedroom and laid down. He then said to her, "That felt so odd, but appropriate."

Alara asked him, "What?"

"It's been so long since I had the chance to say goodnight to my sister. It feels so weird, but so welcoming."

Alara smiled and laid down and said to him, "It should." She then snuggled up on him, "I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you. I have every member of my family back. In a week I add onto it. I couldn't be happier right now."

Alara kissed him and said, "After that we add more to it. Smaller versions of us, if you will."

Rick chuckled and said, "I'm never going to escape this, am I?"

Alara giggled, "Nope! Not until we actually have kids."

"Soon we'll have to start heckling A and Green about the same thing. They're a couple now, thanks to Maiyu and Avion."

"Oh yeah! I really hope their relationship goes far."

Rick laughed, "Yeah, because then my request to bring Green back was in vain."

"Hey don't say that! At least A's happy now."

"This is true. Well I love you. Goodnight!"

"I love you too, but are you really going to sleep?"

Rick didn't reply. He just kissed Alara and proceeded to go to sleep. Alara, however, stayed awake for a little while longer and stared at Rick.

She thought to herself, *Things are looking up Rick. I'm so happy I chose you as my mate. Also, Arceus has blessed you so much. Everything that went wrong in your life, he repaired and set it straight. Now we only have a week to become one, and I'm waiting anxiously...Thank you Arceus.* Alara then laid her head down and drifted off to sleep.

[Six Days Later]

Rick was in his and Alara's room, helping Alara pack her bags so she could go stay at her parents' house. Rick was not too clear on why she had to go, but he knew it was a tradition thing.

Rick asked her, "Do you really have to go?"

Alara sighed and nodded, "Sadly. It's a tradition here in the Sanctuary. The bride to be has to live with her parents for the last two days of her engagement. It's like a final farewell to belonging to the parents. The next time you see me is at the wedding. So stay sharp and try not to get too bored while I'm gone."

"No promises. I might not get bored, but I will be lonely at bedtime."

Alara rolled her eyes, "Oh shut up! You'll be fine without me for two days. You can still visit me at my parent's place. The next time we sleep in the same room together, it will be much 'closer' than usual."

Harmony then walked by with her hands at her ear, "Stop talking like that!"

Rick and Alara laughed and Rick asked, "So I'll see you at your parents' house or in front of an altar, being led in my your dad."

Alara giggled, "Yep! Well I'm going now. Bye dear! I love you!"

"I love you too! Bye!"

Alara then kissed him before getting her things and teleporting to her parents' house. Rick scoffed and walked back into the house and saw his sister about to walk out of the house.

Rick asked her, "Harmony, what are you doing?"

Harmony replied, "About to go out with Ashlyn for a bit. She's going to show me the places she's been to in this city and she's going to take me to the Rose Festival."

"Alright, have fun."

"You too."

Rick was curious, "What do you mean by that?"

Harmony chuckled as she left the house, "Don't worry about it."

Rick was confused but decided not to dwell in the fact. He then moved to the living room and turned on the tv. Unknown to Rick, Jean and Celand were inside the house, after being led in my Harmony. They had a potato sack and were standing behind him. Jean then nodded at Celand then the two pulled the sack over Rick. Rick however began to fight and sliced the sack off of him. He looked back and saw Jean and Celand.

Rick said to Jean, "What the hell are you two doing?"

Jean ignored him and said to Celand, "Ce, knock him out." Celand cracked his knuckles and took a martial arts pose. Jean sighed and said, "You know what I mean."

Celand scoffed and said, "Nice job of taking all the fun out of it." Celand then extended his leaf blade and Jean covered his ears. Celand then began to play a **GrassWhistle** and Rick fell asleep.

Once he was fast asleep, Jean and Celand took him to Nero's Uncle's bar. They sat him down and waited for him to wake up, since he wasn't waking up with them shaking him.

Celand then said to Wayland, "Bro, wake him up."

Wayland nodded, "Will do." He walked up to Rick and began to hit him with **Wake-Up Slap** repeatedly. "Wake up Rick!"

Rick woke up and then yelled, "Wayland! Wayland! I'm awake!" Wayland then gave him another slap for good measure. Rick kicked him off and looked around. He saw all the guys and a few decorations.

Rick then asked, "What's this?"

Wayland said, "It's a bachelor party. We got all our friends over."

Rick then said, "Why didn't I see this coming? Oh well." He then waved Jean to come over. Once he came over, he punched him and said, "There are other ways to get me to come here other than kidnapping me."

Jean held his jaw and said, "But this way was so much fun. Albeit, more painful."

Rick chuckled and said, "So what do you have planned?"

"A few things really. However, we have gifts for you."

"Let's hop to it then."

Wayland then threw a gift wrapped barbell at Rick and he fell to the floor as he caught it, trying to get it off of him. The rest of the guys helped lift it off his chest.

Jean then said to Wayland, "Let's try to not kill the groom before he even makes it to the altar."

Wayland nodded, "Yeah, I picked a whole bouquet of oopsy daisies."

Rick got up and gasped for air, "It's okay. Let's take a break from the presents for now so that I don't die. Quick question though; why are we having this party in Sveeney's?"

Allen replied, "We're not. We're in the Sim-room, we just simulated the bar."

"Why?"

"You'll see when Phyracon gets here." Phyracon suddenly appeared, "Speak of the devil."

Phyracon then showed a present in his hands and said, "Well looks like I'm not too late. So here's a little something-something me and Quera managed to get for y...oh...crap."

He stopped when he saw Neil and then two locked glares with one another.

Neil then cracked his neck and said to Rick, "For your bachelor party, we planned a good old fashioned bar brawl."

Rick sweatdropped, "Why?"

"The point of a bachelor party is to do everything your wife would usually kill you for. It's your last few days as a bachelor. So go out with a bang."

"I don't know guys. What do I tell Alara about the scars and bruises?"

The voice of D.A.S.I then came over the intercom, "The room will psychically heal you like it does for the simulated battles. You will leave this room fully healed."

"Thanks D.A.S.I!"

"Anytime sir!"

Jean then asked him, "So are you in bro?"

"Yeah."

"Cool! Red Team vs Blue Team."

Rick then sweatdropped again, "But I'm on the Blue Team and you're on the Red Team."

"Exactly! Now for the rules. No weapons, except for whatever you can pick up here, no hits below the belt, and no powers. We're doing this with our bare hands. So let's rumble!"

(Battle Song: **Day After Day by Haji's Kitchen**)

Their bodies then turned into the colors of their team and Jean cheap shot Lucian. The rumble was then on and the entire team fought one another.

Rick went to A, who was sitting there not trying to fight. He asked him, "Hey, why aren't you fighting?"

A replied, "I don't harm pokemon."

"Listen, today it's just for fun and we won't be seriously injured. Also, duck!" The two ducked and dodged a flying chair. "So just relax and go out swinging. You're on the Blue Team, so you're on my team. Bob and weave to stay alive here."

Rick then walked away and tackled Celand through a wall. Rick then threw him back in by launching Celand through a window. Jean was fighting Nero and knocked him back over the bar counter. Nero then disappeared into one of his reality portals. He reappeared hitting Jean over the head with a liquor bottle, slamming him onto the counter, and sliding him over it, breaking multiple bottles and throwing him out of a window.

Phyracon and Neil were duking it out against one another, each other matching each other's moves to the tee. Neil kneed Phyracon in the stomach and lifted him up and punched him onto a wall. Neil went for another punch, but Phyracon ducked under it, and Neil's fist got stuck onto the wall. Phyracon then picked up and chair and broke it on Neil. He grabbed his hair and threw him across the room.

Bolt and Sage were double teaming against Wayland, but he was easily blocking their attacks and punched them back. Bolt and Sage nodded at one another and both lunged at him. Wayland chuckled and caught them both and lifted them up by their necks. Sage thought quick and kicked Wayland in the face. Wayland let them go and Sage immediately tackled him off the second floor balcony, where they were at. They landed on a poker table and then got up and fought each other until Bolt jumped, swung on a chandelier and dive kicked Wayland. Sage and Bolt then high fived and were soon knocked back by Wayland, who hit them with the poker table.

A was in the billiards section of the bar and was having a pool cue battle with Winston. They were having a pretty even battle, which surprised A because he didn't think that Winston knew how to fight with a weapon other than his mind. They fought for a few minutes until Winston pulled the rug from under A, literally, and struck him on his back, making A hiss with the sting. A turned around to fight back, but saw Dartz appearing out of nowhere and slamming Winston onto the pool table, breaking it.

A thanked him, "Great timing Dartz!"

Dartz nodded, "No problem. Jean at six o'clock."

A then swung around and broke the pool cue on Jean's head as he ran by. "Thank you again."

Rick then walked up to them, "You guys okay?"

A balled up his fist and swung back, hitting Rick in the center of his face. "Woops!"

Rick got up, holding his nose, "We're on the same team jackass!"

"Sorry! I'm on edge right now."

"Just try to win."

Rick was then tackled by Shadow and sent into the kitchen. Shadow jumped into the kitchen, only to be launched out by Rick punching him. Shadow got up and picked up a chair, Rick did the same. They then smashed the chairs onto one another. They kept serious faces and stepped outside of each other's views and convulsed in pain until they stepped back into sight, as if they were never in pain.

The friendly battle kept going for about an hour and a half. After it was over, everyone was slumped on the floor, tables, chairs, and the bar counter. All of them giving signs of pain.

Rick was laying on a poker table, holding his stomach, and sitting up, "Alright, enough of this! Nice fight everybody! Also, Jean you hit way too hard."

Jean laughed and pushed the kitchen door off of his body, "Don't hate the player, hate the game. Ow my back!"

Rick looked around and asked, "Where's A?"

He received a reply, "Up here! On the chandelier."

Rick looked up and saw A hanging by his shirt, "How did you get up there?"

"Allen knocked me off the second floor and I got stuck here. So if it's not too much to ask; can you get me down?"

Bolt picked up a glass shard and threw it at A, cutting him down. A landed on his back and everyone stayed down to catch their breath and to recover.

Celand then said, "We're going to miss you Rick. Congrats on getting married."

Rick replied, "I'm getting married, not leaving the team."

"Oh please! Once you get married, we won't hear much from you."

Winston and Lucian then said, "We're married."

Celand laughed and said, "And how often do you guys even hang out with us anymore? Hell, Winston you're not even here for most of the time."

Winston replied, "Well I'm the only one that doesn't live here. I have to be with my wife."

Lucian then said, "Also, don't blame me if I want to spend time with Miranda."

Jean then said, "Speaking of which, I wonder what the girls are doing."

[Alara's Parent's House]

The girls were finishing Alara's bachelorette party and were just chatting for the end of it. The girls were beginning to toast Alara and her future marriage.

Amber said to Alara, "I feel like Rick's taking you away from me."

Alara asked her, "Why is that?"

"In the beginning it was just you and me. We used to be inseparable."

"We're still close. I visit you everyday."

"Yeah, but it's not the same. I miss living with you and you fighting to wake me up every morning. I miss actually being a sister."

Alara then hugged Amber, "You're always my little sister and always will be. However, I do have to get married eventually. It's a part of life that I have to get to eventually."

Amber rolled her eyes and replied, "I know, but after living with you for most of my life, I grew somewhat attached." She then sighed and shrugged, "Oh well! I hope you have a happy marriage."

"Thanks sis!"

Alara then got a call on her Poketch and noticed that it was Dawn. She turned on the Poketch's translator and answered the call, "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was that of Dawn, "Hi Alara! It's Dawn!"

"Hi Dawn! It's been so long. How are you?"

"I'm doing great. I got your wedding invitation and so did May. So we both decided to attend the wedding. We're in Pastoria City right now, trying to find the Sanctuary. We also ran into Cynthia and some Johto Gym Leader called Jasmine here and they had the same invitations."

"Yeah! I invited them too. I should probably get you guys here. Head west for a bit and you'll find two Gallades on the road. Those are my own personal soldiers and they'll bring you to the Sanctuary."

"Got it! I'll see you then."

"Bye!" Alara then hung up the call and snapped her fingers, summoning two soldiers, "I have invited a small group of human to the wedding. Please wait on Route 212 until four human females arrive, then bring them to me."

The soldiers nodded and teleported away.

Serenity then said, "I have to learn how to summon soldiers in a heartbeat."

Alara chuckled and said, "Sorry, it's a status thing."

"Well that's no fair...can Amber do it?"

Amber then snapped her fingers and two soldiers appeared. She giggled and said, "Yep!" She then said to the soldiers, "Sorry, I was just demonstrating. You can return to your posts." The soldiers disappeared and Amber said, "The perks of the princess."

Serenity scoffed, "Again, not fair!"

[Two Hours Later]

After each party, Rick went to Alara's parent's house to visit Alara. Alara was in the living room, waiting for word on Dawn and the other girls. Rick knocked on the door, which prompted Alara to open the door, believing it to be the girls.

When she opened the door and saw Rick she said, "Oh Rick, it's just you."

Rick was surprised, "What do you mean? You weren't expecting to see me?"

"Oh I knew that you would, but I'm expecting company."

Rick walked inside with her and they sat down in the living room, "Who's the company?"

"Believe it or not, it's Dawn, May, Cynthia, and Jasmine. They're coming together."

"How did they meet up?"

"They ran into each other in Pastoria."

A communication then came over Alara's communicator, "M'lady, your guests are here."

Alara rolled her eyes, "It's about time." She replied to the communication. "Alright, I'm on my way to the gate."

Rick laughed and said, "Let's go!"

Alara nodded and grabbed Rick's hand. He then teleported them to the Sanctuary Gates where they saw the girls waiting for them. Rick and Alara walked up to the girls and greeted them in.

Rick said to the girls, "It's so good to see you guys again!"

May replied, "We're happy to be here. I'm surprised about this place. You guys make sure it's always hidden. Also, last time we saw you guys you were just friends and now you guys are getting married."

Alara chuckled and said, "A lot can happen in about nine months."

Rick followed, "I know! In under forty-eight hours I'm going to be married."

"And you're going to be a prince."

"I never thought about that until now. How many titles am I going to get?"

"A lot more."

Dawn then said, "Well you really went far since the day I battled you at Mt. Coronet."

"I remember that day. However, we'll talk later. I have to go to the festival with Alara. We haven't enjoyed it yet."

Cynthia then asked, "Oh? There's a festival?"

"Yeah, it's a week long festival known as the Rose Festival. We haven't enjoyed it yet because of the wedding planning and rehearsals. So today we have some time. You guys can come too, we have three humans here. You might get a few stares, but nothing will happen to you because you here under my permission. Thing is, you have to let all your pokemon out of their balls. We do not accept pokeballs here."

The girls nodded and released all their pokemon from their balls. Rick then led them through the Sanctuary where they saw all the festival decorations. There were roses everywhere on the main street, street performers, and vendors on the street. The street was littered with rose pedals and the trail continued until they arrived at the Den's Square. The Square had many Gallades and Gardevoirs celebrating and dancing with one another as bands played for them.

Alara then grabbed Rick's hand and pulled him into the Square for a dance. Rick didn't fight and soon began to dance with her as the girls looked on. Rick then began to look around and saw Jean and Seras dancing in the Square as well.

He looked at Alara and said, "I think more of our friends are here too."

Alara nodded, "Of course! The festival is ideal for couples. Your mom and dad are here too...and so are mine."

Rick looked at where she was looking and saw their parents dancing together. Rick chuckled, "Well they're entitled to some fun. They're old, not dead."

"You parents ARE dead."

Rick then said dumbly, "That's true."

Rick and Alara were then bumped by his parents. Xeron then said, "So are you two ready?"

Rick and Alara nodded. Alara then said, "Everything is ready. However, we still need to pick a minister to oversee the wedding."

Aldira then said, "We already have that covered. You'll be surprised the day of the wedding."

"So I guess that's everything. We can get married in peace now."

Rick chuckled, "Yep. So we just have to let my people finish decorating Illia's Memorial."

Xeron then noticed the human girls, "Friends of yours?"

"Yeah! I've known those girls for a while. Go greet them, dad. Just remember to speak to them mentally, since they can understand our speech."

Xeron and Aldira nodded and walked over to the girls.

Alara then pulled Rick closer and said to him, "You ready? Less than two days to go."

Rick smirked, "My dad already asked us that. I am."

Alara smiled, "That's good to hear."

"I just want to know who my parents chose as the minister."

Alara nodded, "Knowing your parents, it might be someone important. I think we might like the surprise."

"Let's just enjoy the festival and then enjoy the wedding."

Alara nodded and kissed Rick as they danced, melting the day away in a happy bliss.

[Wedding Day]

Rick was in his house, putting on his wedding attire. Harmony and Aldira were helping him get ready. Xeron was sitting on a chair watching them prepare.

Xeron asked Rick, "Nervous?"

Rick took a deep breath and said, "Excited. I never thought I would ever get here."

"Well now you are. So it's time to put all the bad things from the past behind you. You're going to have a new life and a new wife now. I better not see you moping after this."

Rick chuckled, "You won't."

Harmony, who was sowing a part of Rick's sleeve, then said, "This is great! I'm getting a new sister."

Rick then said sarcastically, "Yeah, because that's exactly what you wanted, right?" Harmony looked at him with a cold look and plunged the needle in Rick's shoulder. "OW! Damn it! You turned out to be mom!"

Everyone in the room laughed and Harmony said, "Sorry and you know what I mean."

"Yeah. I do."

"I'm happy I came back for this."

Aldira then said, "And me and your father are so proud of you. We might stick around for a bit longer than the birth of your child."

Rick sweatdropped, "Which I have no idea when that's going to happen."

"Well you're getting married, so I'm guessing that's soon."

"Alright, I'll let you continue to believe that."

Xeron then said, "You better get a move on. The wedding is starting in an hour and by tradition you have to go with a military escort. Once you get there the wedding will begin. Everyone's waiting anyways. So will we."

"Alright. I'll see you guys there."

With that his family teleported away and Rick took another deep breath before walking outside, where Jean, two decorated Rapidashes, and a group of twelve ceremonially dressed soldiers were waiting.

Rick walked up to Jean and said, "It's not everyday that I see you in a suit."

Jean replied, "It's not everyday that I see you getting married."

"Touche!"

"Alright get on the Groom's Rapidash and let's trot off."

Rick looked at the Rapidash that was more decorated then the other. He hopped onto the saddle and the soldiers huddled to the side of the Rapidashes and they took off towards the memorial. As they were making their way there, they were being cheered on by the people on the street. Rick blushed after thinking about what he was about to do.

Jean noticed and said to him, "Cold feet?"

Rick shook his head, "No. I'm just...surprised...and happy."

Jean smiled and said, "Hey brother, this should be the happiest day of your life. I know that today you're going to make one little lady very happy."

Rick nodded and said, "Thanks. Let's do this already."

[Alara]

Alara was in her parents' house, already in her wedding dress. Amber was brushing her hair and her mom was helping her with her make up. Her dad was in the room, lost in thought.

Alara asked him, "Is something bothering you dad?"

Saifer snapped back into reality and then said, "Oh it's nothing."

"Really?"

"I'm just thinking about today."

"It's exciting, isn't it?"

He nodded and said, "It's just like me and your mother thought it would be like."

"How is that?"

"You marrying Aeru in the Sanctuary, with both of your families in attendance. That's what me and your mother thought it would be like. So now I guess I've seen one dream come true. It's bittersweet however."

Alara looked at him and said, "Why is that?"

"I just feel like I'm finally losing you. You're not my little girl anymore."

Alara was shocked by this and quickly ran up to her dad and hugged him, "I'll always be you little girl. Even if I am getting older, you'll still be my daddy."

Saifer hugged her and said, "I'm happy to hear that. So are you ready to walk down that aisle?"

Alara replied, "Yes! Are you ready to give me to Rick?"

"Of course!"

"Then let's go."

Saifer smiled and wiped a stray tear off his eye and the pulled Alara's veil over her face, "So let it begin."

[Illia's Memorial]

The entire memorial was very beautifully decorated from the ground up. There were flowers everywhere, each one in the prime of their bloom. The balcony, where Rick and Alara were to be married, was heavily decorated with streamers, ribbons, and flowers. The aisle was covered in a long pearl colored carpet and there were torches near each corner of the locale. The guests of the wedding included Rick and Alara's families, the entire team, Gamma and Delta, Rick's human friends, Mr. Silph, many of the civilization leaders, many legendaries, and a few cloaked figures that came with the legendaries. Avion and Ixion were on each side of the balcony, as if they were keeping watch over the ceremony. There was a small orchestra playing music for the guests as they waited for the wedding to begin.

Soon Rick arrived at the memorial with his soldiers still escorting him. Everyone stood as they saw him arriving with Jean in tow. The soldiers then teleported onto the aisle and drew swords before bowing and sticking their swords into the ground. Rick walked down the aisle and up the stairs to where he and Jean were to stand. Rick took a deep breath and nodded, prepared for the ceremony.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared where the minister was to stand, then Arceus suddenly appeared with more cloaked figures around him. The cloaked figures then teleported away into the pews, where everyone else was sitting at.

Rick asked Arceus, "Are you going to be the one presiding over my wedding."

Arceus nodded and said, "Yes! It's only just that I do so. I haven't done this in centuries."

"Well this is a welcomed surprise. It's an honor M'lord."

"Well stand straight and look alive, your future wife is already on her way."

When Rick heard this he looked out at the other end of the memorial and then heard the orchestra begin to play 'Pachebel's Canon.' He then saw the bridal party coming up the steps of the memorial and walk down the long aisle. Rick saw them as they soon made their way up the two staircases, males on the right and females on the left.

Seras then stood next to Rick and said, "Here she comes."

Jean began to pat and rub Rick's back to keep him from getting too nervous, "Here's your time brother. Just remember to breath and say 'I do'."

Rick nodded and closed his eyes when he heard 'Here Comes the Bride' being played by the orchestra. Rick took a deep breath and opened his eyes again to see Maiyu scattering flowers on the carpet and walking up the stairs to where Rick was at. Rick then looked back at the aisle and smiled as he saw Alara, being led by her father to the balcony. Alara saw him did the same when she locked eyes with Rick. Everyone stood up as she got close and many of the visitors took pictures and all the news camera men took shots of the rare sight of a royal wedding.

As she was passing by the soldiers, they bowed and Saifer soon walked Alara up onto the balcony.

Arceus began the traditional 'giving away of the bride', "So who gives this woman to be married to this man?"

Saifer smiled and said, "Her father does, M'lord, and does her mother, family, and friends."

Rick then walked up to them and took Alara's arm to take her from her father. Alara however signaled Rick to give her a moment and went back to hug her father. Saifer slightly lifter her veil and kissed he on the cheek before walking down and sitting next to his wife. Alara then took Rick's arm and walked in front of Arceus.

Arceus then began, "Dearly Beloved, we are gathered together here in my sight, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all Pokemon and men. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

They waited for a few seconds to hear if anyone objected. In the audience, Mew and Celebi had their hands on Meloetta's mouth, to stop her from doing anything stupid.

Arceus then continued, "Very well. Marriage is the union of husband and wife in heart, body and mind. It is intended for their mutual joy, and for the help and comfort given on another in prosperity and adversity. But more importantly, it is a means through which a stable and loving environment may be attained. Through marriage, Aeruthael and Alara make a commitment together to face their disappointments, embrace their dreams, realize their hopes, and accept each other's failures. Aeruthael and Alara will promise one another to aspire to these ideals throughout their lives together, through mutual understanding, openness, and sensitivity to each other."

By this point Alara's parents were wiping tears from her eyes and so was Aldira. Xeron was soldiering on, waiting for something to happen to catch his attention.

Arceus continued, "We are here today, before me, because marriage is one of my most sacred wishes, to witness the joining in marriage of Aeruthael and Alara. This occasion marks the celebration of love and commitment with which this man and this woman begin their life together. And now, through me, I joins you together in one of the holiest bonds. This is a beginning and a continuation of their growth as individuals. With mutual care, respect, responsibility and knowledge comes the affirmation of each one's own life happiness, growth and freedom. With respect for individual boundaries comes the freedom to love unconditionally. Within the emotional safety of a loving relationship, the knowledge self-offered one another becomes the fertile soil for continued growth. With care and responsibility towards self and one another comes the potential for full and happy lives."

Arceus looked at the audience and then said, "By gathering together all the wishes of happiness and our fondest hopes for Aeruthael and Alara from all present here, we assure them that our hearts are in tune with theirs. These moments are so meaningful to all of us, for what greater thing is there for two souls than to feel that they are joined together, to strengthen each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness. This relationship stands for love, loyalty, honesty and trust, but most of all for friendship. Before they knew love, they were friends, and it was from this seed of friendship that is their destiny. Do not think that you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, shall direct you."

Arceus looked at Rick and Alara and gave a pleased chuckle, "Marriage is an act of faith and a personal commitment as well as a moral and physical union between two people. Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between them. It is the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life. It is a moral commitment that requires and deserves daily attention. Marriage should be a life long consecration of the ideal of loving kindness, backed with the will to make it last."

Arceus then looked at Rick and said, "Aeruthael, as a husband, you must devote your life for the benefit of your family. Your wife must be the jewel of your life and your children the treasured that result from the union. As a husband, you must always show your love for your wife, so I have commanded. Preserve your honor and your wife's honor, for it is now the same. Do you promise to keep all these terms?"

Rick smiled and replied, "I do."

Arceus then looked at Alara and said, "Alara, a wife is the very backbone of the husband. The wife has the gift that the husband will never have, and that is the gift of creating life. Your job is to stand by your husband's side and support him in all his endeavors, no matter how ridiculous and stupid they may be. Your job is to nurture and care for your husband. When you bear children, you must nurture them with the same love you have for your husband. Do you agree with these terms?"

Alara nodded and then said with a lump in her throat, "I do."

Arceus nodded at both their answers and said, "Now, I understand you two have vows for one another. Aeruthael, you go first."

Rick took a deep breath and faced Alara, "From the first time we met, I knew you were someone special. The time we've spent together, has been the best time of my life, and I'm excited to see what the future hold for us. You are the woman I want to have a family with, grow old with, and spend the rest of my life loving. I vow to take care of you, in good times and bad, and always love you. Today, I take you to be my wife. I vow to love you and cherish you, to keep you safe and protect you, to share the good times, and the bad. I promise to always love you, and to be faithful to you. I will always be there when you need me, and to be the best husband I can be. I vow to make this day, and each day after, one that you will cherish. Now and forever yours."

Rick received a series of 'awws' from the audience and a sarcastic 'aww' from Jean. Rick mentally punched Jean in the head and then focused on Alara again.

Arceus then said to Alara, "Now it is your turn Alara."

Alara looked at Rick and said, "You are everything I have ever wanted in a man, and I feel so lucky to be standing here with you today. I love absolutely everything about you. The way you laugh, your smile, the way your eyes sparkle when we're together...the way you make me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. You are the most important person in the world to me, and I promise to love you forever. I'm so proud to accept you as my husband. I vow to support and encourage you. To love you with all of my heart for the rest of our lives. I promise to be there in good times, and in bad, and to support you in every situation. I vow to never let anything come between us, and to put you before anyone else. From this point on, you are my life. I give you all my love, all my life, now and forever."

Arceus nodded and said, "Very lovely from the both of you. Now to seal this promise." Arceus looked at Rick and asked him, "Do you, Aeruthael, take Alara to be your lawfully wedded wife, and do you promise before me and these witnesses, composed of your friends, family, and colleagues, to love her, to comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, for better or for worse; and forsaking all others, keep thee only onto her so long as you both shall live?"

Rick looked at Alara and smiled before saying, "I do."

Arceus then asked Alara, "Do you, Alara, take Aeruthael to be your lawfully wedded husband, and do you promise before me and these witnesses, composed of your friends, family, and colleagues, to love him, to comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, for better or for worse; and forsaking all others, keep thee only onto him so long as you both shall live?"

Alara fought the urge to cry and replied, "I do."

"You have both now made a promise before my presence." He looked at Rick and asked him, "Aeruthael, what do you give as a token of your love for Alara." Jean walked forward and presented a ring to Rick. Arceus levitated the ring and said, "The ring has always been a symbol of a pack, promise, and a covenant. They were made to seal these promises and insures the trust between the two participants. Notice that the ring is circular, with no beginning or end, which should represents the never-ending love you must have for one another." Arceus gave the ring to Rick and said, "Now repeat after me as you place the ring on Alara's left hand." Arceus began, "With this ring..."

Rick repeated as he placed the ring on Alara's finger, "With this ring..."

"I thee wed..." Rick repeated. "And all my worldly good..." Rick repeated. "I thee endow..." Rick repeated. "In the name of my honor..." Rick repeated. "My love..." Rick repeated. "And in the name of Arceus himself..." Rick repeated. "Amen."

Rick repeated, "Amen."

Arceus then turned to Alara and said, "And Alara, what do you give as a token of your love for Aeruthael?" Amber then walked up and presented a ring to Arceus, who did the same to this ring as with the last. "Alara, you will notice that this ring is made of the purest of metals. It will not turn or tarnish with age. It is symbolic of the purity of your love for Aeruthael." He handed Alara the ring and said, "You will take this ring and put it on the ring finger of Aeruthael's left hand, and as you place it there repeat after me: 'With this ring..."

Alara repeated as she placed the ring on Rick's finger, "With this ring..."

"I thee wed..." Alara repeated. "And all my worldly good..." Alara repeated. "I thee endow..." Alara repeated. "In the name of my honor..." Alara repeated. "My love..." Alara repeated. "And in the name of Arceus himself..." Alara repeated. "Amen."

Alara repeated, "Amen."

Arceus chuckled and then broke into a hearty laugh, "Now, by the power invested in me by myself and the power of the universe itself, I now pronounce you husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Fenrir. What I have joined together, may no man/pokemon/or unholy being tear asunder. You may now kiss the bride."

Rick wasted no time and quickly lifted Alara's veil off her face and the two got into a passionate kiss. Everyone attending and watching at home cheered as Rick and Alara sealed their marriage with the kiss. Alara then took Rick's arm and a stair case suddenly appeared going directly down onto the aisle.

Arceus said to them, "I thought it would be better if you two went down the middle. Go to your reception already. I will see you all later." Arceus then vanished in a bright light.

Then entire bridal party then went down first and Maiyu dropped more flowers. The orchestra then began to play 'The Wedding March' and Rick and Alara walked down the steps. When they reached the bottom, they saw Xeron with a bowl full of rice. Rick and Alara looked at each other and walked down the aisle, getting pelted by rice as they went along. As they passed the soldiers, they received blade salutes and the soldiers followed them out.

Rick and Alara walked down the steps of the memorial and then saw a crowd of people cheering at them. Alara informed Rick, "It's an honor here to watch a royal wedding since it doesn't happen all the time. So they are here to support their future Chief and Queen."

Rick chuckled, "I forgot about that. So let's enjoy this. We're married now."

Alara smiled and said, "Yes we are. How are we going to get to the garden though?"

"Got it covered. Just keep going down."

They both soon reached the bottom of the steps and Alara saw a carriage driven by two Rapidashes. Alara gasped and said, "I didn't think of that."

"And I did. Let me help you on."

A soldier opened the door to the carriage and Rick helped Alara on. Soon then carriage took off and Rick and Alara sat down to enjoy the ride and to wave at everyone along the way.

[A Hour and A Half Into the Reception]

Rick and Alara were at their own personal table while everyone else was enjoying their meal made by Leta's family bakery. The bride and groom's parents were in a table near theirs and were ecstatic about finally being one big happy family.

Soon Jean got up and said to the people in attendance, "Well thank you all for coming to support my friends as they tied the knot. As is tradition, and as the best man, I have to give a toast to my best friend. So here's to you Rick! Anyways, umm...I didn't really plan this out...well I've known Rick since he was nine. At that time he was my enemy and then he soon became my best friend. I've been through a lot...I mean A LOT of weird adventures with him. There was even this one time in Vegas..."

He was cut off by the team yelling, "NO!"

"Fine! Point is, I've been through thick and thin with him and I hope you have a happy marriage and many kids."

Jean received an applause from the crowd.

After a few minutes of eating Rick and Alara were called up by Shadow, who was the DJ, "Time for the bride and groom to have their first dance as a married couple."

Rick smiled as Alara led him to the dance floor and they began to dance as Shadow put the song on. (**Marry Me by Train**).

After they finished dancing Rick danced with his mom and Alara danced with her father until it was time for Alara to throw the bouquet. As quickly as it was announced, all the single women huddled together and waited for Alara to throw the bouquet. Alara soon positioned herself and saw the girls ready. She then threw the bouquet and as it approached the girls, two long ears pushed then all out of the way and Amber yelled, "It's mine!" She caught the bouquet and received angry looks from the rest of the girls.

Rick and Alara laughed and then Shadow announced, "Alright. All single males get ready for the garter toss. So Alara sit down in that chair in the middle of the dance floor and Rick, reach under your wife's dress and take off the garter.

Rick blushed, forgetting about the garter, and Alara hugged him while giggling, "Don't be nervous, it's tradition. Besides, you're getting more than that tonight."

Rick blushed brighter and then sighed. Alara sat down on the chair and Rick got the garter from her and threw it. He looked back to see who the unlucky soul was and saw Allen catching it.

Rick said to Alara, "He has no idea what he has to do now."

Shadow laughed and said, "Well congrats Allen and Amber. Now tradition dictates that the male catches the garter has to put it on the girl who caught the bouquet."

Allen then yelled, "You've got to be kidding me!"

Lucian yelled at his son, "Ha! Stop whining and do it!"

Allen groaned all the way to the chair, where Amber was now sitting. Rick was trying hard to hold back his laughter and then broke down laughing as Allen placed the garter on Amber. Allen then got up and turned around, only to see everyone with cameras. He growled as he sat back down at his table, prompting Rick to laugh again.

Aldira then teleported next to Rick and told him, "Time to cut the cake dear."

Rick nodded and took Alara's hand. They both walked up to the cake and got everyone's attention. All the cameras then turned to Rick and Alara as they lifted the knife together and cut the cut. Rick secretly took a bit of frosting and waited for Alara to turn around to look at him. When she did, he smudged the frosting on her face and she retaliated by smearing frosting all over his face as well. Rick was about to get her back until his dad stopped him.

Xeron said to Rick, "If you start doing this, you won't leave us any cake to enjoy."

Sayer then yelled from the other end of the garden, "Me and Leta worked hard to bake it too!"

Rick and Alara laughed and took out pieces for the cake to eat. They tasted the cake and immediately fell in love with the taste and quickly finished their dessert.

After dessert, Harmony walked up to Rick with a pair of scissors. She said to him, "You kept your promise. So as part of the promise, I get to be the first person to cut your hair."

Rick smiled and said, "Alright, but I intend to keep it long. So just cut a lock of my hair."

Harmony nodded and grabbed his hair. She looked at it for a second and then cut a lock of his hair off.

Rick moved a hand over his hair and said, "Well that's my first haircut since we made our promise."

Harmony smiled and said, "I'm never cutting my hair until my wedding. Then you can cut it yourself."

"Will do sis."

Harmony then hugged Rick, "I love you big brother. Congrats!"

"Thanks little sister. I love you too."

Harmony then hugged Alara, "Welcome to the family...new big sister."

Alara hugged her back, "I'm glad to be in the family...new little sister."

"Now get out here!"

"Huh?"

Rick then said to Alara, "We leave tonight for our honeymoon."

"Tonight!?"

"Yeah! I already have your bags back and Avion is good to go whenever we're ready."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Xeron, Aldira, Saifer and Keerah then appeared after hearing this and Keerah asked, "You're leaving?"

Alara nodded, "Rick and I are leaving for our honeymoon tonight."

Xeron laughed and said, "Well have fun you two."

Saifer followed up by saying, "Don't call me until everything has calmed down between you two. I'm scared about what's going to happen tonight."

Rick replied, "No worries. We weren't going to tell you."

Aldira then said, "Well take care and I still expect grandchildren."

"No promises mom. Well, we should go so we can get to the location early."

Rick and Alara hugged their parents and got onto and already ready Avion. They soon took off towards their honeymoon location.

[Two Hours Later; ?]

Avion soon landed on a small island with a manor on it. Avion let them off, Rick and Alara got their bags, and Rick recalled Avion. Alara was surprised by the location and how there was just a random island with a mansion.

Rick said to Alara, "This is a private island that Mr. Silph bought me a few years ago. I've never visited, but I knew that it would be an ideal location for a honeymoon. We're separated from the rest of the world, thus giving us all the privacy we want."

Alara smiled and grabbed Rick, dashing for the door. Rick opened the door and Alara was surprised by how well taken care of the manor was, and how the manor was beautifully decorated.

Rick said to her, "I told Mr. Silph I wanted to use this place for my honeymoon, so he sent people to renovate and decorate the manor."

Alara smiled and led Rick upstairs. Rick then showed her the room they will be staying at.

Alara went out to the balcony and looked at the sunset over the ocean. She said to Rick, "It's beautiful."

Rick chuckled and said, "Yes, you are."

Alara giggled, "The sunset, not me."

"Was I lying though?"

"I guess not."

Rick held Alara as they looked at the sunset and then said, "So, what now?"

Alara gave him a devious smile and pushed him back into the room. Alara pushed onto the bed and kissed him.

Alara said to Rick, "I love you."

Rick kissed her back and said, "I love you too."

**So there you have it, Rick and Alara are now married. This is the start of my week long break, so please bear with me. I just need a vacation after endlessly writing since July of last year. This will be my first break in almost a year. Thank you for everything guys and please take care. Ciao!**


	54. Chapter 54: Ken, Workload

**I'm back! Sorry for the extended leave guys. Something happened that stopped me from posting any new chapters. Namely, one being me losing my internet, but now it's back. So here's the new chapter for you guys to enjoy. I suffered the loss of internet, a cold, and a busted hip writing this chapter...someone has it out for me lol. This chapter also has the character from the contest winner, so I hope you guys enjoy how I brought them in. Also, I'm opening OC tryouts for whoever wants their characters in the following stories that I'm planning: The sequel to this one and two prequels I have planned. View Ranking: 1st) UK, 2nd) Philippines, 3rd) Canada, 4th) Australia, and 5th) Ireland.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

It has been three days since Rick and Alara were married and left the Sanctuary for their honeymoon at Rick's private island. Rick was sitting on the porch of the island mansion and looked out towards the direction of the Sanctuary.

Alara found him there and asked him, "What's going through your mind, dear?"

Rick looked up to her and smiled, "Nothing, I'm just wondering how everyone is doing back home. I'm also worried about how Jean and my dad are doing leading the army."

Alara giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Don't worry too much about it. Your dad is a former Warlord and Jean has been doing a great job as a captain. They'll be fine."

"Really? That doesn't help too much when I find these letters from him to us. I think he's either goofing off or has been driven insane by the work."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well Jean has been sending these letters all day and they are all usually progress reports and the like, but there are some that really worry me. Also, he's sending them via courier Pidoves. They just pop out of nowhere with the letters. The latest one he sent me really worried me. It says..."

[Jean's Letter]

Dear Rick,

I hope your honeymoon is going fine. We're all okay here and I'm just waiting for you to return home so you can take this cross off my fucking back. However, any more days of this crazy job and I might just crucify myself onto that said cross. I hung out with Dartz and Ashlyn yesterday, it reminded me that in two weeks it's my anniversary with Seras. So if you can send me a reply on what to get her, then that will be greatly appreciated. Also, your dad has been a big help here.

I seriously don't know how you can deal with the stress of being the Warlord, bro. The other day I kicked a recruit like a Spartan because he gave me decaf coffee. Seriously, I'm so close to breaking down and going on a stress filled rampage. However, I most likely will not because then you will kill me if your people don't do it first.

I actually managed to prank call Giovanni the other day...it was AWESOME. I told him of the various ways I would kill him and then decapitate his pathetic Persian before torching his entire estate. It was a little gesture to get in his head, and it was a good source of laughs.

So I'll leave you and Alara to your honeymoon and I hope to see you guys soon. Peace bro!

With all my love and hate,

Your brother Jean-Luc Mercado.

PS: Don't worry, I didn't send any other world leaders hateful letters like I did a few years back. Bye!

[Rick and Alara]

Rick shook his head and said, "I don't know if I should be happy that things are going fine or if I should worry for his mental health."

Alara sweatdropped and said, "I'm sure he'll be fine. Also, that last bit of information. When did he send hateful letters to world leaders?"

"Believe it or not, this is not the first time he has used Pidoves to send his mail. Thing is, you can't stop a Pidove and they will send the letters directly to their destination. One of the last ones he sent was directed to the pope."

"What!? What happened there and what did the letter say?"

"I can never tell you. It took me weeks to clear all that crap. Let's just say that Jean is not allowed anywhere near Vatican City...ever!"

"Wow that's crazy! Oh well at least he's not catholic."

"He did impersonate a priest once."

Alara sweatdropped, "Why?

"I can't remember exactly why? However, I think he just wanted to do it for the hell of it."

"Maybe you should check up on the situation back home."

"My dad should have it covered. If anything happens, he will fix it. I'm sure he would at least do something."

[The Sanctuary]

Xeron was in Rick's offices filling out progress reports. He sighed and said to himself, "I totally forgot how much work there was in this one job. This is why we need interns."

Aldira suddenly appeared and asked him, "What for? This is for military personnel only."

"We can get reserve troops to do it for us."

"You want reserves to handle such fragile information?"

"Good point!"

"Hell, you used to do this all the time back in the day. So suck it up and get to work."

Xeron sighed and asked her, "So what are you doing here?"

Aldira then threw him a paper bag and said, "You left your lunch back home. I'm leaving now."

"Where to?"

"I'm going out with Harmony. So don't expect me home for a while if you leave early."

Xeron shrugged and replied, "Alright. Don't have too much fun."

Aldira didn't immediately leave. She stopped for a second and then sighed, "It feels weird."

Xeron arched an eyebrow and asked her, "What does?"

"Having one of our kids being married. After we died, I thought I was never going to see it happen. Additionally, he married the female we wanted him to marry...or at least hoped he would marry."

"Yep! We also got our daughter back before he got married. Things are going from good to great to fucking awesome! Now if we were only truly alive."

Aldira sighed, "Sadly, we can't turn back the hands of time."

Xeron got up and walked to her. He then placed his hands on her shoulders and said, "Hey, things happen for a reason. It's not my job to say, but I'm actually happy by what I see. Aeruthael was meant to take up the path you and I couldn't tread. Our journey ended a long time ago, and our son's journey has just begun."

"How is that happy? Our journey was hard and treacherous."

"Yes, but Aeru's powerful enough to take it. I trust in our son's abilities, yet I do worry for him. However, let's be happy that he's in pure bliss right now. There's no need to be sad over something that already happened. We have our son and daughter back, and our son just joined ours and our best friends' families together. As far as I'm concerned, that's something to celebrate."

Aldira finally smiled and turned around to face him, "You're right, and I don't say that often. I guess I almost forgot how you are when you're being compassionate."

"Why wouldn't I be? I married you, didn't I?"

Aldira smiled and quickly kissed him, "Well that you did. I guess I should get to Harmony before she starts looking for me."

Xeron nodded, "Yeah, no need to keep her waiting. Bye!"

Aldira waved goodbye and teleported away. Xeron sat back down and ran his fingers to his hair. He said to himself, "I hope the road isn't that horrible."

Xeron suddenly heard a voice at the door, "Talking to yourself, brother?"

He looked at the door and saw Daedalus standing there, "Well, well! Look who decided to visit me for once."

"I see you all the time. It's odd seeing you in this office again. It's been over two decades."

Xeron shrugged, "Well I have to help out any way I can. I kinda miss the job, but not the work. Does Aeru ever get into fights?"

"He does, but Team Rocket most likely thinks that he's dead. So he's not going to be in a fight for a while."

"At least we hope. So what do you want big bro?"

"Just wanted to see if you needed some help."

"Thanks, but I have Jean helping me."

Daedalus chuckled and said sarcastically, "Yeah, because he's doing a great job at that."

[Jean]

Jean was supervising the different squadrons with Seras standing next to him. Jean seemed exhausted, as if he hasn't slept in days. Seras was worried for him, never had she seen him this depleted of energy. However, she knew that he was trying to do the best job he could, but she wanted him to leave work early and rest.

She said to Jean, "Babe, why don't you go home and sleep? You look horrible."

Jean waved her off, "Nah! I'm fine. Just need my coffee." He then pulled a soldier aside and asked him, "Can you get me some coffee?" The soldier nodded, "Thank you! With caffeine and make it French Vanilla."

The soldier vanished and Seras said to him, "Caffeine can only take you so far."

Jean scoffed and said, "Now you're sounding like my mom."

"Arceus forbid! I'm just worried about you. What's the worst that can happen from a nice rest?"

"Hours of missed work."

"Don't become Rick now."

"I'm not. You may be right. I get pretty irritable if I don't get my sleep." The soldier suddenly reappeared with Jean's coffee. Jean drank the coffee and then a vein appeared on his head. He turned to the soldier and said, "What is this?"

The soldier sweatdropped and said, "Your coffee sir."

"Yes, but I asked for French Vanilla...not Hazelnut."

Seras stopped Jean before he blew up on the soldier, "Jean, head on home and sleep now."

Jean looked at her and said, "Dear, I said that I'm alright."

Seras then hit him with a **Swift**, making him hiss in pain. "Move! NOW!"

Jean didn't argue, he just followed Seras out of the room and they walked toward the exit. Seras sent the message to Xeron and the two left the building.

Jean and Seras got into his car and he said, "I wonder how much fun Rick and Alara are having at the moment. Probably better than what we're doing."

Seras giggled and said, "Oh we know what they're doing. They're having a lot of fun together. I'm sure of that."

[Rick and Alara]

After a 'long' day for Rick and Alara, Rick was in the hot tub, waiting for Alara. Rick was easily relaxing, gaining back most of the energy that Alara took from him in the day. He felt relaxed and happy to be married, though he didn't expect to be full of energy and exhausted at the same time.

A little while later, Alara still didn't enter the room and Rick began to get curious as to what was keeping her. He called out to her, "Ally! Are you okay, dear?"

He received a reply, "I'm coming, Rick! Just thought I'd surprise you."

The door then opened and Rick looked at Alara while saying, "With wha-a-a-a-a-at?" He said in a surprised tone.

What he saw was Alara entering the room while wearing a very entrancing red and green bikini. Alara giggled at his reaction and sat down next to him. Rick just looked at her with his eyes wide open, and Alara basking in the attention she was getting from him.

Alara smiled and said, "So I'm guessing that you love it?"

Rick snapped back into reality and said trying to defend himself, "Well I...you...the bikini...I don't know what to say anymore. You have successfully worn me out in the last three days than training does in a week."

Alara shrugged, "I'm harder to handle."

Rick chuckled and held her, "That you are, but I think I can still handle you for a little while longer."

Alara snuggled up to him and the two relaxed in the warm waters. They felt all of their exhaustion quickly fading and their minds and bodies at peace, at least for a little while.

Alara then began to reminisce, "Hey, remember when my parents locked us in the hot springs back home?"

Rick nodded, "Of course! That's not really a day that I would forget. It was really awkward and you were so embarrassed."

"Did you know that I actually got my parents back for doing that?"

Rick shook his head, "No, I never knew that. What did you do?"

"I'm not telling."

"Then I guess I really don't want to know if you have to keep it a secret. Still, that day was quite the bonding experience."

"I was naked and all I had was a towel to cover myself with. It was so horrible for me at the time since I didn't know exactly what kind of person you were at the time. However, I was happy to know that you were pretty honorable and I could trust you."

Rick held her closer, "Can your really blame your parents? Look at where we are now." He then showed her his ring, "I don't regret that day. It set up our first true date in the Sanctuary. Then again, it was still a cruel sick little move for parents to pull on their daughter, especially since you were naked at the time."

Alara chuckled lightly and looked at her ring, "What you say is true, and I don't regret it either." She then rested her head on his shoulder, "That's enough talk for now. I want to rest in the waters. Mainly because I'm not done with you yet."

Rick sighed, "Oh dear Arceus, when will I catch a break?"

Alara laughed and held gave a long sigh as she relaxed in Rick's arms.

[Three Hours Later]

The couple were on the porch of the mansion, enjoying a nice meal and looking out at the sunset. Alara always loved looking out at the sunset everyday and always forced Rick to watch it with her. Rick never protested as he come to love the sunset, especially over the water to see the flaming colors in the sky turn a cool blue hue. It was a natural canvas that the two could never have enough of and probably never will.

As they were enjoying their afternoon, Rick received a call from Mr. Silph on his Poketch. He answered the call, "Hello?"

Mr. Silph replied, "Rick, my boy! How are you lad?"

"Can I actually be bad considering my current position?"

Mr. Silph gave an amused chuckle, "That is very true. How has your honeymoon been?"

"Magical, to say the least. Thank you for attending my wedding sir."

"As I said, I wouldn't of missed it for the world."

Rick smiled and asked him, "Did you call to check up on us?"

"That, yes. However, I also called to inform you that I have something for you. Something that you might find interesting. I actually sent someone special to take it to you."

"Really? Who?"

"He should already be there."

A voice then came from the beach, "I am sir. I can take it from here."

Rick looked up and saw a transparent figure coming out of their active camouflage. The being was then seen as a human male of Japanese descent. He had a black combat suit with the Silph Co. logo on the center. The suit covered him from his toes all the way to his neck. The suit also had two sword sheaths attached to the back, with the blades with the sheaths. He had black spiky shoulder length hair, piercing blue eyes, a visor over his left eyes, and a headband over his forehead.

Rick saw him and laughed as he walked up to him, "Ken? Ken Shiroto?"

The man gave a faint smile and quickly hugged Rick, "Yes it is. It's been a while, Rick."

Alara walked up to them and asked Rick, "Who's this human?"

Rick replied, "This is Ken Shiroto. He's an old friend of mine and Silph Co.'s number one Special Forces agent. He's a bonafide badass as he's also a powerful ninja. He's also the guy that took my place as Mr. Silph's personal guard."

"A ninja and Mr. Silph's bodyguard?"

"Yes. He's also one of my Remnants. The only human to ever become a Remnant."

Alara was surprised, "Your assimilation also effects humans?"

"Special humans, yes."

Ken bowed before Alara and said, "It's an honor to finally meet you. I heard a lot about you from Mr. Silph. Ken Shiroto, at your service, m'lady."

Alara bowed her head and said, "The honor is all mine."

Rick then asked Ken, "How did you get here without me knowing?"

Ken suddenly whistled and a Swellow appeared and perched itself on Ken's arm. Rick looked at the Swellow carefully and noticed that it was a robot. Ken then said, "This is how I get around. This robot can take the form of a set number of pokemon and vehicles. It's silent, which is why I love it."

Rick nodded and said, "It really seems useful. So I'm aware that you have something for me. What is it?"

Ken let the robot fly off and took something out of his belt. He gave it to Rick and Rick noticed that it was a chip.

Ken then informed Rick, "About a week ago, Mr. Silph sent me to go to a Team Rocket base and extract information. We had caught wind of a project they have been working on. Don't worry, it's not that kind of project. It's not a marauder like the Projects, it's just something they are working on."

"Mind telling me how that went?"

"Sure!"

[Ken; A Week Earlier]

Ken was in Mr. Silph's office with Gamma and Delta. He was polishing his swords and was talking to Delta, while Mr. Silph was talking on the phone.

Delta asked him, "Do you know why Mr. Silph asked us to come to his office, Ken?"

Ken shrugged, "Hell if I know. I'm just as curious. If he called you two in here, then it has to be a serious issue. However, enough with such tense talk. How have you two been? How has Rick been?"

"Me and Dante have been fine. Rick, I believe, is preparing to get married."

"Well that's amazing news. I knew about it already, I'm just happy that he woke up to enjoy it."

Gamma then spoke, "Yeah. Say, you've never told me how it's like being a ninja."

"What's there to tell? You have to be alert at all times. Alert, flexible, and dull to pain. But above all, you have to be quick and silent."

"Well I'm more of a go in guns blazing kinda guy."

"Which is why you are not a ninja."

The three shared a laugh and then their attention was turned to Mr. Silph, who said, "I'm happy to see that you three came. You three are my greatest warriors and some of the few people I can rely on at the moment."

Delta asked him, "What's the situation, Mr. Silph?"

"I have received word that Team Rocket is working on their latest endeavor. Some sort of robotic nemesis. Which is conveniently called the Nemesis Unit. I need to find a way to have that thing destroyed before it can wreck havoc on Pokemon and humans alike. Team Rocket must not release it, if it's as dangerous as the intel says it is."

"So what do you want us to do, sir?"

"I haven't decided. No doubt it will be dangerous."

Ken sighed and stood up, "I'll go take care of the problem."

"You, Ken?"

"Why not? It's about time I get some fun."

Gamma chuckled and said, "He has a point, but I don't want him risking himself."

Ken's sword was suddenly around Gamma's neck, "I'm doing what now?"

Gamma chuckled again, "Alright, alright. You win, but be careful."

Ken sheathed his sword and looked at Mr. Silph for confirmation. Mr. Silph nodded hesitantly, "Alright, you may go. However, don't do anything rash, boy."

Ken bowed his head and said, "I will be careful. So do I go to Dr. Esper for my equipment?"

"Yes. Go and let peace be with you."

"As for you too sir." He then said to Gamma, "Dante, protect Mr. Silph until I return." Gamma nodded and Ken left the office.

[An Hour Later]

After picking up his equipment from Dr. Esper, Ken took off in his glider jet and flew barely over the ocean to his destination.

Dr. Esper said to him via his communicator, "Alright, you're ten miles from your destination. Let's go over your equipment again. So far you have your two composite swords, your smoke, fragmentation, flashbang, and concussion shurikens. You also have your knives and claws. I'm amazed that this doesn't even register as five pounds on you. Anyways, your visor has been integrated with the latest infrared and x-ray capabilities. You can also switch the settings to motion sensors and heartbeat monitors."

Ken then said, "Damn! Why all that?"

"You need to be prepared for anything. Also, let me explain your armor functions. So far you know of the active camouflage, but your suit also goes under the radar of heartbeat monitors and energy readers. However, you can still be spotted in thermal and motion sensors. Also, your armor may be able to block many forms of bullets, but armor piercing rounds will cut through you with ease. Gladly, the suit also allows you to move as freely as you can, hindering none of your skills."

"Well I'm impressed. This suit will be a great advantage. However, how is it in stealth?"

"It's light frame makes for minimal to no noise at all."

"Thanks Esp!"

"No problem! Be careful though Ken."

Ken sighed, "I will. Watch over Hana. I don't want her knowing what I'm doing."

"Don't worry, our little girl won't know that you're going to go kill people. Seriously, you should look at other career choices."

"The only things I can apply for is assassin, hitman, and thief. Which one of those sounds appealing to you?"

"Alright! Smartass! Just get back by tonight. I'm making your favorite tonight."

"And that's why I married you."

[Present]

Rick was shocked by what he heard, "Wait...you're married to Dr. Esper?"

Ken nodded, "Yeah, I've been married to Esper for seven years now. We have a five year old daughter named Hana and a son on the way."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise, but you never come around. It's been eight years since you visited my home."

Rick sighed, "Just continue your story."

[Ken]

Ken soon arrived at his location and let go of the glider, it turning into a Swellow at the same time. Ken braced himself for his landing and landed without any problem. He looked up and said into his communicator, "I've arrived. Time to have some fun." With that his face mask appeared over his face. Ken got up and ran over to the nearby facility that he had to go to. He easily slipped past the security gate and climbed a tree to get on the roof of the building.

Ken called Esper, "Alright, where do I go to?"

Esper replied, "I added a prototype map function on your visor. It should give you a detailed map of the area. You should look for a research lab or testing center. All you really need to do is get the intel. If you can destroy the thing then that will be awesome, but focus on your primary objective."

"Roger that. Now to get in." He then saw a vent. "This is going to be easy."

Ken walked up to the vent and managed to get inside of it. He maneuvered his way down and soon reached a room with two guards keeping watch. He silently chuckled at how easy this was going to be. He waited until the first guard turned his back and then plunged his sword through the vent and into one of the guard's head. He then vanished as the other guard turned around and then covered his mouth before stabbing him. He held the guard in place until he stopped fighting and let him go. Ken then cleaned his sword and used his visor's x-ray function to check the area outside the room. He saw a small group of guards and he activated his cloaking device and turned invisible.

Ken maneuvered out of the room and past the guards. He followed the map on his visor until he reached a viewing room. He entered the room and turned off his cloaking device. He looked at the lab beneath him and saw different things that didn't make sense to him. One of them being robots.

"What would Team Rocket be doing with robots? How bad do they want to win this damn thing?"

He suddenly heard a gun being cocked and someone saying, "Freeze! Hands up!"

Ken sighed and put his hands up, "Alright!" He turned around and saw a grunt with a shotgun pointed at him.

The grunt then ordered, "Put the swords on the ground." Ken did so. "Now don't you move."

"Too late to give me that order."

The grunt arched an eyebrow and then a sword went through his chest and the Ken in front of him vanished. The grunt fell on the ground and Ken appeared behind him swinging the blood off his blade. Sadly, the other guards were already alerted to his presence and he decided to go invisible again. Once doors opened, five armed guards entered the room. They looked around for Ken, but couldn't find him anywhere, thanks to his cloaking device and the fact that he was hanging from the ceiling.

Ken waited until the guards grouped together. He then heard one of guards say, "He's not here."

Another guard then said, "Oh he's here. He's a ninja. He can hide in the shadows or some shit like that."

"Which means we're still in danger."

A larger guard then said, "Listen, he's nothing. We just need to find him."

Ken chuckled silently and thought, *Hmm...I can intercept their communications by taking one of them out and taking the chip off their communicators. Alright, time to slaughter.* He pulled out a bomb shuriken and pressed the center button. When the light turned off, he threw it in between the guards.

The guards heard the shuriken hitting the ground and looked at it. At that moment the light began to blink and it exploded taking out four of the five guards. The last guard quickly began to shoot at Ken's general direction until Ken sliced the rifle in half. The guard looked at the sliced half and then looked up to see the ripple in light that came from the cloaked Ken. The guard backed up onto a wall until Ken turned off his cloaking device.

Ken then said to the guard, "I'll be taking your communication chip, if you mind."

The guard didn't hesitate and gave him the chip, "Alright! Just don't hurt me."

"I can't guarantee that...Nah! You're not worth killing."

Ken turned around and began to walk away. Just then the guard pulled out a pistol and began to shoot at him. Ken's armor easily deflected the low caliber shots and he walked back to the guard. The guard yelled in fear and then pulled the gun on himself and pulled the trigger.

Ken sighed and shook his head, "Damn it! I told you I wasn't going to kill you. Oh well, nothing I can do now." He turned back around and walked away. He then put the chip into his visor slot and he could here the communications in the facility.

He then heard one broadcast that said, "We have an intruder in the facility. I repeat, we have a intruder in the facility. All Team Rocket combat personnel respond. Release the TR-Prototype 14-01."

Ken heard it and said, "TR-Prototype 14-01? Looks like they have been working on something. Better get rid of it before I leave. It might have the inter we need." He then called Esper, "Esp, we have a situation."

Esper replied, "I heard the broadcast. So our suspicions were correct, but what could this Prototype be?"

"If it's a prototype then it is not complete yet. This is the ideal time to take it out."

"Alright, take it out and bring us the intel. I'll be scanning the Rocket database to see if I can find anything on this TR-Prototype 14-01."

"Good looking! Keep me posted."

He quickly took off and worked his way into an elevator. The elevator went down and a guard walked in to inspect the elevator. He was confused when he couldn't find Ken and began to walk away. Ken then jumped off the top of the elevator and stabbed the guard silently. He checked his motion tracker for more enemies and found the place was empty.

He called Esper, "Esp, there's no one down here. I thought this was the Research Level, no?"

Esper replied, "It is. Something doesn't seem right. This place should be heavily protected."

"Do you think we're facing something that has life in it?"

"What do you mean? Robots or something?"

"In a way, but I was thinking more along the line of turrets."

"If it's turrets then you will have to be careful. They should shoot armor piercing rounds and depend on heat to target. However, your suit does not bypass that. So you'll need some fancy footwork to get around them."

"Or through them."

Esper sounded concerned, "What are you planning, Ken?"

Ken chuckled, "You'll see. Just send me the turret locations."

Ken took off again and soon arrived at the first turret, which he was glad he was right about, but it still bothered him how this was the only security in the area. He took a step out of the corner and one of the turrets shot at him. He quickly recalled his foot and took a deep breath.

Esper said to him with more concern, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Nope! I'm just crazy that way."

Ken took off and ran in a zigzag motion, with the turrets following him. He then ran on the walls and faked the turrets out by leaving shadow clones. The clones kept the turrets busy while Ken sliced the turrets to pieces.

He called Esp again and told her, "Yoohoo! I'm alive and in one piece."

Esper replied, "You crazy son of a bitch! Don't ever do that again."

"No promises. So where to now?"

"Go East. The lab should be there. It's odd that the security here sucks."

"Maybe they think that whatever is here doesn't need protection."

"Let's hope not. However, it can't be avoided. Just don't do anything rash again."

Ken didn't reply, he just kept walking with his sword drawn. He opened a door and was met with a long white hallway that ended at the lab. He walk down the hall and then heard the door lock behind him.

He soon heard a voice on the intercom, "Unauthorized personnel detected! Armed defenses activated!"

Ken scoffed, "Of freakin' course!"

Once he said that a laser beam then came towards him. He resheathed his sword and jumped over the laser. Three lasers then came at him and he wall ran to dodge them. He ran towards the door and now a crazy combination of laser came towards him. Behind his face mask, his eyes began to glow red and he charged towards the laser. He front flipped into them and ducked to dodge another set. He barrel rolled to dodge two beams that that came horizontally to him, and then he leaned back from another pair lasers. He jumped over the last pair and drove a knife into the security box. He pressed a button that was on the knife and the lasers disappeared.

Ken sighed and his eyes returned to normal. He opened the door and found himself on the catwalk of a very large laboratory. He looked around, but couldn't find the TR-Prototype.

Ken asked Esper, "Okay, I'm here. So what's the scoop?"

Esper soon replied, "I couldn't necessarily find too much, but I think this thing nullifies any form of direct location devices. So your visor is pretty much useless. It's a Null-Sig program that's embedded within the unit. Other than that, I have nothing."

"Well thanks for trying. Looks like I need to use my training for this one. Thanks Esp."

Ken kept his sword ready and carefully walked down the stairs. He looked around the room and soon found an open containment cell. He figured that whatever was confined in there had to be strong since the cell was made out of a strong metal alloy.

He began to walk again and then heard someone speaking to him, "You've come far, ninja."

Ken sighed, "I already know that you're here. Come on out already."

Nothing happened for a moment and then suddenly a barrage of spikes came flying towards him. Ken noticed and blocked the spikes with his sword and caught the last one with his hand.

Ken chuckled and said, "You'll need to do better than that to beat me."

Suddenly the floor beneath him began to shake and he jumped out of the way as a set of blades closed down at the location he was standing at. He then ran to the blades and pulled out whatever was under the ground. What he was surprised him, a cybernetic Manectric was glaring at him and he threw it across the room.

(Battle Music:** The Only Thing I Know For Real** **from Metal Gear Rising Revengeance**)

He took up a battle position and asked it, "And what are you?"

The Manectric replied, "I am the TR-Prototype 14-01. I am a cybernetic weapon created by Team Rocket for combat scenarios. I possess an arsenal of weapons and an intelligence far beyond your human comprehension. Your fledgling skills are nothing compared to my own."

Ken chuckled, "A machine with an ego. Now I've seen everything. If you're so smart then tell me who I am."

"You are Ken Shiroto. You are Silph Co.'s most famous combatant and protector of the elusive Mr. Silph."

"Good! Now...Hmmmm. What should I ask you? Oh yeah! How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

"Two Hundred and Fifty consecutive licks."

"My whole life is a lie!"

"Do you have a serious question?"

"Yes, how can you destroy a Nokia?"

The TR-Prototype stopped for a second and then began to twitch, "Does not compute...does not compute! Question irrelevant. Ask another."

"Alright...what type is Sylveon?"

"Does not compute! Does not compute!...Just die already!"

With that the TR-Prototype fired spikes at Ken. Ken quickly vanished and reappeared behind the prototype. The prototype turned around and saw Ken leaning on the wall, as if there was no threat. The Prototype then began to charge electricity into itself and fired an electric beam at Ken. Ken jumped back and tried to dodge the beam, the Prototype whipped the beam, forcing it to hit Ken.

Ken shook of the hit and called Esper, "Esp, I'm against this Prototype thing. Can you scan it?"

"Alright, I'm checking it through your visor. Give me a minute."

Ken nodded and charged towards the Prototype and slashed away at it. The Prototype easily dodged the attacks and ran around the room at an amazing speed.

Esper then said to Ken, "Alright, I have the information. This thing can move an extreme speed..."

Ken cut her off, "Yeah! I noticed! Anything else? Like, how do I kill this thing?"

"Doesn't say, but it has a weak point on its chest. It also has a power core that has intel that we can use. So kill this thing and get me that power core."

"I doubt it's that easy." He then jumped out of the way of a charging Prototype. "This is getting ridiculous. It's faster than I am."

"It's a Manectric, I would expect it to be fast."

"I am so not in the mood to argue right now."

After he said that he was tackled by the Prototype and it held him down as it pulled out a saw made out of electricity from one of its paws. Ken thought fast and blocked it with one of his swords. Ken then kicked him off and his eyes began to glow red again and he took off his face mask.

The Prototype then said, "So you're no normal human, are you?"

"Nope! Want to test my metal?"

The Prototype growled and shot a wire at Ken, that attached itself to his chest. Suddenly, a current of electricity traveled through the wire and electrocuted Ken. Ken screamed in pain and hunched over in pain. Ken's eyes then began to glow brighter and he grabbed the wire, despite the pain. He then swung the Prototype around by the wire and slammed him onto a computer console.

The Prototype shook of his surprise and said, "Well that was unexpected."

"Yeah, I'm full of surprises. Like this!" He then charged energy into his hand and it emanated as a blue aura. He fired the energy and it connected with the Prototype, giving it a blue tint.

The Prototype laughed at the fact that it didn't do any damage onto him and charged towards Ken, but it suddenly began to float in midair. Ken took the chance and slashed away at the Prototype, managing to cut off the spike launcher. The Prototype then landed back on the ground and attacked Ken with a barrage of electric attacks. Ken dodged the attacks by running on a wall and throwing his shurikens at the Prototype. One of the shurikens hit the Prototype in the face and it exploded, being a flashbang. It dazed the Prototype and gave Ken time to prepare.

Esper contacted Ken, "I think you should end it. So stop holding back."

Ken chuckled and told her, "No worries. This thing is as good as over if I land this."

Ken began to charge energy into his blade and waited for the Prototype to regain its composure. When it finally did it fired another wire at him, which Ken caught this time and used it pull the Prototype in. He kicked the Prototype into the air and slashed away at him until he fell to the floor.

The Prototype got up and chuckled, "That was a failure. Could you not cut through my metal?"

It then lunged at Ken, but Ken stuck his hand out and grabbed its head, which came clean off. Its body kept going and then fell apart into hundreds of pieces.

Ken looked at its head and chuckled, "I win!" He then grabbed the power core and called Esper, "Alright, I have the power cell."

Esper seemed surprised, "You won already?"

"It wasn't that hard. For a cyborg, it wasn't too tough. This seems odd though. Team Rocket is using Pokemon to make cybernetic combatants."

"It is odd, but it seems like it was an unfinished prototype. So they are planning something with Pokemon again, but this time it's way more disturbing."

"Yes, it is. They are planning something. Obviously, they thought that cyborgs would work but they seemed to not be certain on the idea."

"So what should we do?"

"Head on back. We'll discuss this with Mr. Silph."

"Will do!"

[Present Day]

"So that's what happened."

Rick and Alara looked at one another and back at Ken. Rick then asked, "So you fought a cyborg?"

"Yes."

"And he told you how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

"My whole life is a lie, yes."

"Well this is interesting."

"Just take this chip. It has all the information you need. I must go. Goodbye and enjoy your honeymoon." He then called back his robot and took off into the horizon.

Rick then said to Alara, "Even now I can't catch a break from work."

Alara smiled and said to him, "Forget work for a while. This honeymoon isn't over yet."

"What do you have in mind to do?"

"You know what I mean."

Rick chuckled, "Yeah, yeah. I do."

Alara grabbed his hand and dragged him back into the house, "Let's go."

"What have I gotten myself into?"

**And so that's another chapter in the books. Well tell me what you guys think. Keep sending me your reviews, questions on the forum, requests, and suggestions. Well bye guys! **


	55. Chapter 55: Return of the Mr and Mrs

**I'm back and this week is starting to look like a two chapter week, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's the new chapter guys. This one focuses more on Xeron as a character and it gives a sneak peak at the prequel. Also, I am planning to write the prequel in a few weeks, so look for that. Last month was probably my best month, in terms of views, and this month is doing better. Also, like me on Facebook at Rick the Gallade, where we can live chat whenever and discuss whenever I'm on. Thanks for everything guys and thanks for reading. Enjoy! Last Month's Viewing Champions: UK. View Rankings: 1st) Canada, 2nd) UK, 3rd)Myanmar, 4th) Australia, and 5th) Philippines.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

Rick and Alara were in a simulation room that Mr. Silph had built in the island mansion. They set the simulation room to simulate an open field and they were both racing against one another while riding Rapidashes.

Rick was beating her and laughed as he said, "You can't beat me Ally. I know how to ride."

Alara suddenly passed him, "Suck it!"  
Rick and his Rapidash looked at her as they almost disappeared into the horizon. Rick and his Rapidash looked at one another and then took off after her. Soon he caught up to her and pulled close to her, "You're not winning this time. We still have a mile to go and I'm taking off."

Alara giggled and took out a lasso. She then lassoed Rick and tossed the other end of the lasso over a tree, making him hang from the tree, "Bye honey!"

Rick's eye twitched with irritation and he flailed around trying to get free. His Rapidash walked up to him and burned the ropes off and Rick jumped on him again, "Alright! No more game! After her!"

The Rapidash darted off and Rick waited until Alara was in sight and stood up on his saddle. He waited until his Rapidash was very close to Alara. He suddenly jumped off and tackled Alara and her Rapidash to the ground, and proceeded to hogtie the Rapidash and tied Alara onto the Rapidash.

Alara flailed around in a useless attempt to break free and yelled at Rick, "Let me go! What kind of treatment is this for your new bride!?"

Rick laughed and kissed her before riding off, "See you at the finish line!"

Alara gave a frustrated scream and continued to flail, "You won't get away with this!"

Rick replied from a distance, "Sorry, but I already am!"

Alara gave him the thousand yard glare and used **Psychic** on the ropes to try to get them off. He Rapidash was eagerly trying to turn its head to burn off its ropes, but Alara's position was making it impossible to burn them off without burning her. Alara soon shot a psychic blast through the ropes and managed to get one arm free. She charged a **Fire Punch** on her hand and burned off the rest of the rope and managed to free herself and the Rapidash. She glared at Rick who was getting really close to the finish line and she quickly got on her Rapidash before teleporting to his location.

Rick was making a mad dash for the finish line, it being within sight. He smirked at his 'victory' and rushed to get to it before Alara did anything. Suddenly, he heard a scream and was unexpectantly tackled by Alara and her Rapidash, sending him off his Rapidash and rolling on the ground. Rick got up and saw a very enraged Alara, which sent shivers down his spine. He then looked to his right and saw the finish line a few feet away and made a mad dash for it. Alara ran after him, catching up, and tackling him to the ground.

Alara panted and saw the finish line herself and ran for it. Rick quickly grabbed her foot and pulled her back. Rick jumped to his feet and took off again, but Alara caught him and suplexed him. She ran again, but Rick used **Psychic** to summon a earth wall to stop her, which she ran into. Rick tried to run passed her, but she caught his hair, pulled him back, pried herself off the wall, and punched him. She destroyed the wall and ran forward, getting close to the finish line, but Rick launched her back with **Psychic**.

Rick got up and tried to run towards the finish line, but Alara tackled him. She then stood up and kicked him in the face before running away. Rick jumped to his feet and vanished, reappearing tackling Alara and both of them rolling past the finish line. They kept fighting until they decided to look at where the finish line was.

They saw it and yelled in unison, "I win! You!? No, I won!"

They then heard a voice, "You both won. End of discussion."

They looked and saw Mew floating above them. They said in unison, "Hello Mew! How did you get here?"

"Stop doing that! It gets creepy."

Alara then said, "Sorry! So what are you doing here?"

"I came here to check up on you two. You've been on your honeymoon for two weeks now. When are you going home?"

"Tomorrow, sadly."

Mew giggled, "Aww, what's wrong? You don't want the fairy tale to end?"

Alara nodded, "Yeah, after today we have to return to our lives."

Rick chuckled and nudged her, "Hey, that doesn't mean that we can't have fun together."

"True, but you'll have to leave to go to work."

Mew smiled and said, "Well at least Meloetta is off your tail, Rick."

Rick gave a sigh of relief, "Thank Arceus! How was she when I got married?"

"Bitter, but she got over it in the last few weeks. However, that doesn't mean that you're out of the woods yet. I'd still watch out for her if anything happens. I don't want your relationship to ever be threatened. I'll keep an eye on her for you as well."

"Thank you. So do you want to have something to drink Mew?"

"Sure!" She then noticed the bruise on his face, "Ow! That will sting for a while. Alara kicked you good."

Rick waved his hand, "Don't worry. Once I leave this room it will be healed."

"Alright. Lemonade please!"

Rick and Alara laughed and they walked out of the sim room with Mew following close behind.

[The Sanctuary]

Harmony was in her room, typing on her computer and said to herself, "Well that's enough internet for today."

She closed the computer and heard a voice coming from her window, "I'm guessing you already lost interest in whatever you were doing?"

Harmony looked at the window and saw Ashlyn, "Hey sis!"

"Hello to you too. What are you up to?"

"Well I was about to go see you, but now that you're here I don't have to do that. How has the house hunting with Dartz been?"

Ashlyn sat down on her bed and said, "Well it's been tiring. I told him that I don't care what the house looks like, but he's trying to make everything perfect."

"Well he expects to marry you and have pups."

Ashlyn chuckled, "That he does, maybe it's sooner than we thing. However, I want him to slow down a little. Speaking of babies, do you think that your brother and new sister-in-law will come back with a little surprise?"

Harmony smiled, "I sure hope so! I want to be an aunt."

Ashlyn laughed, "Well let's hope that's the result."

"I'm wishing that it's a girl."

"And if it's a boy?"

"I will be very disappointed."

Ashlyn laughed again and said, "Let's get out of here. Fang told me that she wanted to go to the Simulation Room. Are you up for a simulated battle?"

Harmony got up, "Sure thing!"

Harmony and Ashlyn quickly went down stairs and passed Aldira who asked, "Where are you two off to?"

"We're going to the Sim Room to have some fun."

"Alright, have fun you two."

The two girls left the house, passing Xeron, who was arriving at the house. He entered and sat down on the couch, obviously tired.

Aldira noticed his return and said, "Well looks like you finally got home."

Xeron smirked, "I forgot how hard it was. However, it's almost over. Aeru and Alara come back tomorrow, and I don't have to do this anymore."

Aldira smiled, lifted his head, sat down, and rest his head on her lap, "Well I don't know why you're complaining. You didn't have all of Aeru's resources, so you had to be resourceful in your own way."

"That's true. However, it's quite the culture shock. I needed to learn how to use a stupid computer for the job now."

X suddenly appeared in the room, "Well it's almost over. Just suck it up for one more day."

Xeron and Aldira looked at him and Aldira said, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been busy."

"Yeah, but Aeru tells us that it's been ages since they've seen you."

"Again, I've been busy."

Xeron asked, "Doing what? Nothing has happened to threaten the flow of fate. Yet, I'm guessing that Team Rocket is pretty pissed that Aeru survived his encounter with Iota."

"They are upset, but undeterred. Iota cannot be defeated so easily, nor is Aeruthael ready to fight him."

"So you came here to brief me on this? What no usual chit chat, old man?"

"Boy, I'm a busy individual. I don't regularly take vacations to visit my family for extended periods of time."

Xeron scoffed, "Hey, I'm getting time with my kids. Something that was ripped from my hands. Were you at the wedding?"

X sighed, "You saw all of us there, didn't you? Me and Illia were there to see Aeru get married. I was proud of him, to say the least."

"We all are. My boy's finally a married man. That's not to say that I didn't want him to be, but I never had my chance to be the father figure he wanted. He was only with me for seven years. Those years seem too short for me."

Aldira smiled and said, "You loved him very much, Xeron. I know you feel sad for the years that were taken from you. I remember that I've never seen you cry more than the day he was born."

"I didn't think I was going to live long enough to see that day. Not after all the crap we went through."

X then asked, "Oh yes, your old adventure. I remember that. You fought against who now?"

"His name was Mortilend. You were there."

"It was a long time ago. You should be happy that you managed to kill him."

"Thank Arceus! It took me years to finally kill him for good. Along the way I lost friends, both Pokemon and Human. I'm glad that I erased him from existence, but I couldn't repair all the damage he caused." He got up and turned around to reveal a large scar on his back. "I couldn't bring my friends back. This scar reminds me on what I had to fight for and the sacrifices I took. I'm just mad that I had to be a part of it."

X looked at him and said, "He still needed to be stopped, Xeron. There was no way you could of protected everyone, not at once."

"Well now it's over. Sadly, my son couldn't escape peril. He has to follow in my footsteps, and he has no say in it."

"Would you rather that someone else would do it? Then continue the process of pain to others?"

"No! I just wished that trouble would stop finding my family! I paid with my life for being a hero! Aeru shouldn't pay the same price!"

Aldira then calmed him down, "Dear, be still. Aeru will be fine. Don't think about that. Be happy for him right now. He won't share the same fate as we did. He'll pull through this with flying colors."

"I hope."

There was suddenly a knock at the door. Aldira walked to the door and opened it to reveal A.

"A? Good to see you. How may I help you?"

A replied, "It's good to see you too ma'am. I'm here to give your husband my progress report. He left so quickly that I couldn't give it to him. I tried to chase him down, but he teleported away."

Xeron wasn't listening and walked out the house, going all the way to the sparing grounds.

Aldira saw this and said, "Sorry, he's dealing with some thoughts. I can take it to him if you want."

X then said, "Don't bother. I'll go."

A waved him off, "Nah! I should try to see what's wrong with him."

"Then follow me then."

The two walked outside, trying to find Xeron. Aldira stayed in the house, looking outside the window with a worried expression. She was worried for her husband, his past thoughts were catching up to him, and so were the memories of some of the darkest times in his life.

Aldira sighed and said, "Oh Xeron...don't think about those dark times."

X and A were walking through the garden to get to the training grounds. A was trying to get some small talk going with X, "So how have you been? It's been a while." X didn't respond. "How is the balance of fate?"

X then said, "Sorry, but I'm not up for some chit chat."

A seemed unfazed, "Well things are suddenly depressing today."

"Sorry, but I'm worried."

"I know, I sensed that you and Aldira were worried once I got onto the property. Yeah, I noticed you without actually being in your presence. Also, I must know, is Xeron an Arceus Knight?"

"Why do you ask?"

"His aura is insane. I felt his power once I arrived at the gates of the house." A sudden surge of power then radiated through the area, "Just like that, only this is more intense."

X quickly cursed and took off towards the source of the power. A followed close behind and they soon found Xeron sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. He had his sword over his legs and was in a deep process of thought. Surrounding him was a dark aura that soon took the form of a wolf pack composed of black wolves and Dusk. They surrounded Xeron and snarled at A and X.

Xeron was lost in his own thoughts. He thought to himself, *Mortilend, that bastard took too much away from me.*

[Xeron, 25 years earlier]

Xeron was laying on the ground, bleeding and gripping his sword. He used his sword to stand and to support himself. He was hurt, badly, and his breathing began to hurt him. He suddenly fell to his knees and coughed up blood. He looked at the slash on his gut and held it as he fought to stand up again, eventually succeeding. He looked up and saw a black figure with five red, glowing, menacing eyes.

The figure then said, "Ow! That's gotta hurt! I'm surprised you managed to stand up."

Xeron looked behind the figure and saw an unconscious Aldira, "Aldira!" He fought the pain and took up a battle position.

The figure chuckled, "And yet you still insist on fighting? Do you want to die and not be able to save the Gardevoir? Are you her mate?"

"No, I'm just her best friend."

"Oh? And yet you throw away your own life for her?"

"I made her a promise. I need to keep it."

The figure didn't immediately respond. Instead he seemed to ponder what Xeron told him, "Well that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Tell me, is throwing away what little life you have left really worth it? Is she really that important to your 'master plan'? If so, you are no threat to me."

"Shut up!" He then charged at the figure and swung his blade at him. However, the figure caught the blade with his bare hands and slashed him again.

Xeron fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. Even in his strongest form, he couldn't beat this monster. He coughed up blood again and looked towards Aldira. He suddenly noticed that she was not there and looked up to see her slashing away at the figure with her daggers. The figure knocked the daggers off her hands and lifted her by her neck. Xeron jumped up and ran to save her, but the figure saw him coming. He threw Aldira away, ducked under Xeron's attack, beat him to his knees, and slashed him on his back, giving him his scar.

Xeron fell onto ground face first. He was motionless and bleeding a torrent of blood. He couldn't move and soon his hearing failed on him. However, he could see Aldira running towards him and screaming at him. He then saw as Aldira was suspended in the air by some unseen force and the figure walked in front of his line of sight.

The figure then said, "Sad, isn't it? You fought so hard to defeat me, and now you lie here before me, breathing your last. I have to admit, you were a hard one to take down. You were probably the greatest enemy I have ever had, but the hunt must end at some point and I just got myself the best game I could of ever imagined. Think about this, I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill every single member of your pathetic species, all because of you. This is the price for getting in my way." Xeron glared at him as best as he could. "What's wrong? Can't fight back anymore? What a pity!" He then lifted his blade to strike down Xeron, "Well this is where your journey ends my friend. It's been fun, but fun isn't eternal. Goodbye!"

Xeron was fighting his body, trying to move. Time seemed to have stopped for him and he cursed at his body, trying to get it to move.

He said to himself, *Move damn you! You have to move! Don't betray me now...I still have a lot of fight left in me." He looked at his sword, "Twilight...are you going to let me die here? Am I not your friend?" He cringed in pain again. "Damn it! Move! Move! Move! I need to win! I need to kill him! Or at least, live to fight another day."

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the tower that they were on top of. He looked at Shadowbane and saw it glowing, floating, and roaring a monstrous roar.

The black figure stopped and looked at the blade with an awed expression, "What in Arceus's name?"

Shadowbane then roared again and the light suddenly exploded and covered the entire area. At that moment, Xeron blacked out and the last thing he saw was the black figure backing away with a fearful expression on his face and Aldira running to him, having been released from her hold.

Xeron soon woke up and his vision returned. He looked around and saw that he was no longer on the tower, rather he was in a room. He tried to sit up, but was suddenly pushed back down. He looked and saw Aldira standing over him.

She said to him, "Don't try to get up yet. You took a nasty beat down. They were barely able to save you."

Xeron was surprised to see her alright, "Aldira? What happened?"

"You lost badly against Mortilend. Twilight went berserk and sent out an energy wave. Twilight then teleported us back here in the Sanctuary. You're in the hospital."

"A hospital?" He suddenly directed his worry on her, "Wait! Were you hurt?"

"Not badly. Just a few cuts and bruises." She then seemed a little irritated, "Why did you do that? Why did you go to rescue me?"

"I couldn't of left you to be his prisoner. I promised you that much when we were kids."

"Key phrase there Xeron, we were kids. What did we know?"

"Still, a promise is a promise."

Aldira was surprised and said with a smiled, "You're an idiot, but I like you for that."

Xeron laughed, "I thought you liked me for my good looks and personality."

Aldira chuckled, "Oh shut up! You're one of my best friends you idiot. However, you did more for me than what my own parents did to get me back."

"To be truthful, your parents urged me to save you. However, I really came on my own. I needed to save you from that monster. I've known you all my life and I was not ready to let you go yet. You, Saifer, and Keerah are a part of me...but I think you're the bigger part, as far as I'm concerned."

Aldira smiled as she heard this and sat down on his bed, "That's actually very sweet." She then looked at his wounds. "All these injuries were because of me. You almost lost your life because of me."

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't have a choice in the matter. That bastard kidnapped you. It was too dangerous to send any soldiers to go save you, so I volunteered to do it by myself."

"But why!? I don't understand why you threw away your life to the side like that. You and your brother have to take care of your family since your father's death. You're the new Warlord and you have to help lead the Sanctuary. Why would you risk yourself?"

"I couldn't let your parents lose their daughter, I couldn't leave Zant without his sister, and...I couldn't live with myself if I did nothing."

Twilight suddenly said from her spot at the corner of the room, "He cares a lot about you...maybe a bit too much."

"Twilight! SHUT UP!"

Twilight giggled, "Just stating the obvious."

Aldira asked Xeron, "Is there something that I should know?"

If Xeron wasn't feeling the heat, he was now. Twilight had put him on the spot and now he would have to work his way around the situation. "Well, of course I like you a lot. I've known you all my life. You're the closest female I've been around, next to my own mother and sisters. So I saved you because I didn't want the good times between you and I to end."

Aldira got closer to him, "Is that true?"

Xeron gulped, "Yeah...why wouldn't it be?"

"I know that there's more to it. Go ahead and tell me. I won't judge you."

Xeron began to sweat and noticed Aldira was now face to face with him, studying his face, "I don't know what to tell you."

"Just say it. Don't think."

Twilight sighed and said to herself, "Are you fucking kidding me? Do I have to do everything for these two?"

She then came out of the sword and quietly walked behind Aldira and pushed her, causing her to lock lips with Xeron. After seeing her work, Twilight jumped back inside the blade and left the two to the aftermath.

Xeron and Aldira looked at what they were doing and quickly separated, not looking at one another, and both blushing brightly. Xeron was silently plotting what he was going to do to Twilight for doing this. Aldira on the other hand was secretly smiling at what just happened, as if a weight was slightly lifted off of her.

Xeron apologized for Twilight, "Sorry about that. I'll kill Twilight for you when I get better."

Aldira then said, "No! I mean, don't do that. It's okay."

Xeron was now confused at her reaction, she didn't feel like her privacy was violated, nor was she feeling self-conscious. "You're taking this way better than I expected."

Aldira looked back at him and smiled, "What? Did you expect me to be a wreck? How weak do you think I am?"

"I don't think that you're weak. It's just that I expect some reactions from a female. You, on the other hand, are smiling."

Aldira shrugged, "Maybe I didn't think that it was a bad thing."

"Well it's still not...wait...what?"

Aldira blushed again, "Yeah, I didn't mind."

Xeron was still lost, "What?"

Twilight sighed and said, "She likes you too, you idiot!"

Aldira then yelled in Xeron's stead, "Twilight! Shut up!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't stand the damn suspense anymore. I know both of you and your mind/hearts. To be honest, I've been planning this since you two were ten years old, but never got the chance until this one moment."

Xeron sat up and said with a glare, "So you forced us to kiss?"

"Don't lie, you liked it."

"Not the point! You shouldn't of done that."

"Aldira isn't complaining. Just turn and look at her."

Xeron looked at Aldira and saw her face with a bright red hint onto it, practically glowing. "Are you alright?"

Aldira nodded, "I'm fine."

Twilight laughed and said, "Well go ahead, you know you want to. Also, it's not like he can do anything at the moment."

Aldira smiled and looked at Xeron, who looked back at her with a confused expression, "What's she talking about?"

Aldira took a deep breath and quickly kissed him again, this time holding him in place. As she was doing that Saifer and Keerah walked into the room and stopping when they saw the two locked in a kiss. Xeron was making gestures for the two to help him, but they flipped him off and walked out of the room. At the sight of this, Xeron relented and returned Aldira's kiss.

[Present Day]

Xeron was still sitting on the Training Ground with his aura loose. He then smiled and the aura vanished. He then said, "Ah! Good times! Painful, but still they were good times."

X and A were finally able to approach him after the wolves and Dusk faded away. X walked up to Xeron and punched him, "What was that about!?"

Xeron held his jaw and said, "I was just...reminiscing and remembering things I didn't like. However, it took a good memory to snap me back to normal."

"Stop thinking about your past, you idiot!"

"That's all I really have. When you don't really have a true future, then you live with the present and the past."

A then asked him, "If that's your power when you're standing still, what's your power when you're fighting?"

"It depends on my mood and how much power I choose to use."

"I have a few more questions."

Xeron waved him off, "I'm sorry, but I need to rest. Please ask me later."

A reluctantly nodded and said to him, "I gave your wife my progress report. You left before I could give it to you."

"Thanks! I'll take a look at it."

"Very well...goodbye!" A then teleported away and X vanished without saying anything to Xeron.

Xeron walked back into the house and saw his wife sitting in the kitchen. He walked up behind her and hugged her, surprising her, making her flip him over the table, and plunged a knife next to his head. She then saw that it was him and sigh in relief.

Xeron looked at her with a shocked expression, "Well this is what I get for trying to be a loving husband."

Aldira laughed nervously, "Sorry about that. Being paranoid is something we warriors get."

"And kicking people's asses is a side effect."

"Yeah, so what did you want?"

Xeron smiled and quickly kissed her, "That."

Aldira laughed, "What's gotten into you today? First you were exhausted, then angry, now you want to be romantic? What's up with you?"

"I'm a complicated individual."

Aldira sighed, "That you are."

[The Next Day]

Xeron was writing down his reports in the office, trying to finish quickly so he could go home. He had to admit, he missed his time as the Warlord, but he hated the paperwork. Before he could finish the report, A walked into the room.

Xeron smiled at him and said, "How may I help you Alpha?"

A crossed his arms and asked, "What's up with you? Your power levels are beyond anyone's I've ever felt before, excepting legendary pokemon. Further, your voice is extremely similar to one of the Knights I have heard; one might say they were identical."

Xeron chuckled, "Do I look like Knight material to you? I'm powerful, but I'm not that powerful."

A scowled and retorted, "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind sparring with me for a while?"

Xeron laughed nervously, "I don't think that's a good idea. I think that you'll destroy me...or we'll cause too much damage. You're a Knight and I'm not. Think about that Alpha. Also, don't worry why I know that you're named Alpha and are a Knight."

A narrowed his eyes and hissed, "You're lying to me, I know it. Are you afraid to battle me because you think you'll lose? Or are you reluctant because you know you'll win?"

"Taunting me is not a ways to get me to fight. However, to prove a point, I'll spar with you."

A smirked and transformed into his Gallade mode, then said, "Good. Meet me in my den, five minutes max. No excuses. I'll be waiting." He immediately teleported there and set up the combat field, rigging it with traps that a warrior of Xeron's caliber would notice and avoid with impunity. He growled to himself, "I will expose him for who he is."

In exactly five minutes, Xeron arrived at the 22nd Den with Aldira in tow. They went behind A's mansion to the sparring grounds where they saw A waiting.

Xeron said to A, "Alright, I'm here. So I guess we're sparring."

Aldira then said, "This has 'bad idea' written all over it, dear."

A pointed to the other side of the field, and Xeron chuckled, teleporting over to his side. As custom dictated, they bowed to each other to show respect among two Gallade, and they both settled into their battle stances, A staying as a Gallade for the moment. If he went with the unexpected and yet still lost, his suspicions would be confirmed there.

Xeron then said, "So I'll make the first move."

Xeron ran forward and swung his Shadowbane at A. A easily dodged the attack and stabbed at Xeron, who leaned back and dodged the attack.

A smirked and jumped, front-flipping and grabbing Xeron by the shoulders, throwing him directly onto one of his traps, which was a small pit that put him in the position very similar to a freshman who was just trash-canned.

Xeron quickly noticed the trap and teleported away, reappearing and punched A in the back, sending him in the trap.

Xeron then said, "Well that was lucky."

A chuckled and pried himself out, then commented rather lightly, "Nice job, noticing that trap before you fell into it, then getting away from it and sending me into it instead. Rather like an ultimate warrior..." Wasting no more time talking he began to assault Xeron, teleporting rapidly and randomly, sending all sorts of blows in and from every direction.

Xeron dodged the attack and then threw his hand out, catching A dead in his tracks, "Maybe you should move faster. I have very impressive hand-eye coordination."

A smirked and dug his feet into the ground, then hurled Xeron over his head. Xeron landed lightly on his feet, but A had vanished. Suddenly, silver arm blades were positioned around his neck, and A said, "Admit it, you are an Arceus Knight. No other warrior fights as well as you do, and no other warrior I've met has been able to foil almost everything I've set so far. You are too experienced a fighter to not have a special position of power, one you clearly hold onto."

Xeron shrugged and said, "I'm not a Knight. I'm just very strong." He then grabbed A's arm blade, slammed him on the ground, and threw him away. "I really don't see the connection."

A smirked and replied, "The only one who has given me a beating even remotely close to this is Alpha. I know you're not a hell-monster bent on destruction. I can sense your power, and it rivals the weaker legendaries. There are other Knights, and I know I'm not the leader. Therefore, the leader has to be both stronger and wiser than I, and you fit both bills. Lastly, both your voice and your mate's match exactly two of the three cloaked figures I saw during a Knights meeting. Even if you keep denying it, I know I'm right. You just don't want your identity leaked. Tell me, what do you and Aldira guard again? If I remember correctly, her voice declared the Guardianship of Love, while yours declared Guardianship of Eternity."

Xeron smirked and chuckled, eventually bursting out in laughter. He suddenly vanished and his voice emanated through A's head, "Very good perception, Alpha." The voice then disappeared from his head and Xeron reappeared in the air. "However, I should of seen it coming."

A frowned slightly, then he asked, "Seen what coming?"

Xeron looked down and said, "You figuring me and my wife out quickly. However, you haven't seen my power in its fullest. This is 10% right now." He then swung his right hand up and a large piece of the den went floating up into the air. He then swung his other hand and the mansion rose off the ground. "However, I hate using my power. I don't acknowledge my power as much as I should."

A smirked as he lowered everything back in place, and he asked, "So, I assume you're the top dog among the Knights, huh? That makes me wonder, who are the top five in power?"

"It's actually hard to necessarily say. However, I believe that you're in it." He then vanished again and reappeared in the form of a wolf, "Honestly, I don't see why it matters. We're all strong. I'm just your boss."

A smirked and bowed to him, then said, "Very well, I just wanted to make you acknowledge your position. It felt like you were ashamed to admit it, and I don't know why. I certainly don't brag around about being an Arceus Knight, but I'm quite pleased to be part of an elite corps."

Xeron grunted and said, "I'm not ashamed of my position, but I don't like the attention. I'd rather live in peace with my wife. My job is the hardest, since I have to protect...everything. Eternity means anything that necessarily. I'm old while I died young, and I feel that I might not stay a Knight forever. Me and my wife go hand in hand. Existence is nothing without love."

A nodded, his expression becoming sadder. He looked off in the distance and said, "I hear you. I have to guard the Pokemon of the world. That's a big position to fill, and I'm bound to fail now and again... I hate failure, especially from myself. But I guess that's why we were chosen; we display power and determination that goes above and beyond nearly everybody else, so naturally we have the bigger positions to fill."

Aldira then walked up to them and said, "Xeron needs a vacation. He's growing tired of constantly working. He's been at it for sixteen years and he even works in his sleep, something you can't do. He can be anywhere he wants to be without limitations, and he knows everything about people he sees. However, there are limitations to the second part. Point is, he's tired and wants to rest. So he decided to take a long vacation to spend time with his children."

A sighed and transformed back into a human, then ran his hands through his hair and said, "Then I apologize for my behavior earlier. I just get suspicious, and I become like a Mightyena with a bone... I have to watch my steps too, as Green and I are thinking about making things more official. And while I want to commit myself to her, and have her committed to me, I don't know how well I would be able to hold that up. After all, my position will require me to be in at least five places at once. Not an easy task."

Xeron turned back into his real form and said, "It's not. However, I wouldn't of traded my wife and my family for anything in the world. Arceus didn't will it to be a solo effort."

A nodded, "That it's not. Your children still love you very much."

"That they do. I'm just waiting for Aeru to get back home. No doubt he had fun on his honeymoon. Well I'll be leaving. I have to prepare Aeru's welcome party."

"What are you two planning?"

"Don't worry about it." Xeron then teleported away, leaving a concerned A behind.

"Uh-oh! This is going to get violent really soon."

[Rick and Alara]

Rick and Alara were on Avion's back, getting close to the Sanctuary. Rick looked back at Alara and saw her running her belly. Rick knew that she was hoping to be pregnant after the two week long rendezvous. Needless to say, he was excited to know himself.

Rick asked her, "So what are you going to do when we get back home?"

Alara answered excitedly, "Isn't it obvious? I'm going straight to Dr. Lian and finding out if I have a baby growing inside of me."

Rick chuckled and smiled at her, "Hey, I'm excited to know too. However, let me tell you now, if you're not pregnant, then that's still alright with me. It's not a big deal."

"It is to me. If I am pregnant, then my fighting days are over with the team. If I'm not, then we'll just have to try again."

Rick sighed and said, "Oh dear Arceus, here we go again."

Arceus replied, _"You're on your own."_

Rick sighed again, "Why is it that that's your only answer?"

Alara asked him, "Arceus?"

"Yep. Don't worry about it." Rick looked down to the ground and saw the Sanctuary gates. "We're here! Land Avion."

Avion complied and quickly landed in front of the gates, causing a few guards to jump back in their surprise. Rick and Alara jumped off of Avion and Rick recalled him into his Seal. The soldiers bowed and opened the gates for them.

One of the guards walked up to Rick and told him and Alara, "Welcome back! I've already sent notifications to your friends and family."

Alara thanked him, "Thank you! It saves us the trouble and lets me move faster with my day."

"You're welcome, m'lady!"

Rick then told him, "We can teleport home from here. Thank you!"

The guard nodded and walked away. Rick and Alara then teleported back to the gates of their home and looked at it for the first time in two weeks.

Alara told him, "Well, we're home. I wonder how the gang is going to take our return."

Rick chuckled and said, "Well knowing them, we'll be ganged up by them and interrogated." Suddenly, music could be heard and getting progressively louder. Rick heard it and said, "Is that Down With the Sickness?"

Suddenly, Jean and Xeron pounced on him while Jean sang along with the song, yelling, "Oooh wa-a-a-a!" (makes more sense if you listen to the song (**Down With the Sickness by Disturbed**))

Jean managed to put Rick in a headlock and Xeron was holding onto his legs, to stop him from kicking. Rick was fighting the headlock and Alara was just sweardropping as she saw Jean and her father-in-law assaulting her husband.

Jean said, "About time you came back, newlywed!"

Rick managed to pry Jean's arms off his neck and hit him with a **Psycho Cut** and his dad with a **X-Scissors**. He got to his feet and yelled, "What the hell!? And someone turn off that music!"

The music stopped and Dartz came out of the bushes with a radio, "Welcome home! Sorry, the boys made me help them out."

"Thanks! What was the point to that?"

"They wanted to know if you've gotten soft. I guess that they were wrong."

Jean and Xeron staggered to their feet and Jean laughed, "About you got home. The rest of the team has been waiting. Also, the girls are about to kidnap Alara in three...two...one."

Immediately, Alara was grabbed by Harmony and teleported away, dropping her bag in the process. Rick sighed and walked into the house with the guys.

[Alara]

The girls were in the hospital with Alara, they were eager to know if Alara was pregnant or not, and the suspense was killing them. Earlier, Dr. Lian gave Alara a test and they were waiting for the results to come up.

Fang asked Alara, "Are you nervous?"

Alara nodded, "Very! I've never been so anxious for a test result in my life."

Serenity and Amber rubbed her back and Alara took a deep breath. The girls waited with their hearts and nerves on end. Suddenly, Dr. Lian walked out of her office with a couple of papers in an envelope in her hands.

She walked over to the girls and asked, "Ready to hear the results?"

Alara nodded, "Yes! I want to know."

"Alright, here's the moment of truth." Dr. Lian took the pages out of the envelope and said, "Alright, the test confirmed that you, Alara Fenrir, are..." All the girls held their breaths, especially Alara, Keerah, and Aldira. "Not pregnant."

All the girls gave their own signs of disappointment, especially Alara. Her mom held her and said, "It's okay, dear. You and Aeru can try again some other time. You have him all to yourself now." Alara still didn't cheer up, "Hey, it's not a lost hope yet. You don't need to have a child immediately. I can wait years if the need arises."

Aldira then said, "I can wait decades...literally."

Amber nodded, "Yeah! No rush! Just be happy to be back home."

Alara nodded and said in a still disappointed tone, "Thanks girls."

[Later That Night]

Alara was laying down on the bed at home, while Rick came out of the bathroom. Rick walked up to the bed and laid down next to Alara. He seemed relieved to be back in his own home and in familiar environments.

He said to Alara, "Well we're home and the boys really welcomed me back." Alara didn't respond. "Is everything alright, dear?"

Alara nodded slowly and said sadly, "I'm fine, Rick."

"Doesn't sound like it. What happened?" Alara didn't answer, "Come on, you can tell me. Did something happen at the hospital? What did Dr. Lian tell you."

Alara looked at Rick and said, "I don't want your to be disappointed, but...I'm not pregnant."

"That's it? Ally, that's always a possibility. So you couldn't get pregnant, big woop! We can try again some other time. It doesn't mean that we can never have children. It's no reason to be sad."

"But I really wanted to..."

Rick cut her off, "It's not a lost cause. We can always try again. Dr. Lian already made it clear that you're not barren. It will happen, but for now we cherish what we have."

Alara gave him a faint smile, "Alright. However, you promise that we'll try again."

Rick quickly realized that he was walking on dangerous territory, so he answered apprehensively, "Yes...I promise."

"So...should we try tonight?"

Rick sighed, "I knew that will come out of your mouth."

"Is that a yes?"

Rick nodded, "Sure, why not?"

Alara quickly kissed him, "I knew that you wouldn't say 'no'."

"Of course not!"

They kept kissing until they heard a knock at the front door. Rick sighed and walked downstairs, towards the front door. He opened the door and saw Jean, Xeron, and Saifer holding a cake that said 'Congrats On the Sex'. Rick glared at them and dove their heads into the cake before closing the door on their faces.

He walked back to the room, where Alara asked, "Who was it?"

Rick chuckled, "Dialga Witnesses. Now where were we?" There was another knock at the door. Rick growled and teleported to the door. He opened it and two Gallade and a Gardevoir stood at the door, holding books.

The Gardevoir then said, "Hello Warlord Aeruthael, do you have a moment of your time to hear about our time lord Dialga?"

Rick then said to himself, "This is ironic."

**Thanks for everything guys! I liked this chapter and I worked really hard at it, even though my parents stopped me from writing much of it. Sorry for the wait. Well thanks for everything guys and I'm looking forward to the 300th review on this story, a new milestone in my book. Ciao!**


	56. Chapter 56: The Siege Part 1

**Here it is, chapter 56 and a chapter that I have been looking forward to for a while now. This one really needed a lot of planning and could of come out last week if my parents didn't take the computer everyday and refused to give it back. Well it's out now. I'd like to give thanks to those that liked my facebook page (Rick the Gallade), you guys are awesome. Also, thanks for the support. The last chapter was really slow and I'm hoping this chapter might pick up the pace. Thanks for everything guys and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. View Rankings: 1st) Canada, 2nd) Singapore, 3rd) UK, 4th) Australia, and 5th) Myanmar.**

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= thoughts

**speech**= Pokemon moves

_speech=_ telepathic communication

[Team Rocket HQ]

Giovanni was in his meeting room and he was seated at the end of a long table. He looked at a screen and growled in anger and frustration. He turned off the screen and turned his seat to speak to all the Projects, who were present.

He looked at them all and said, "It was my understanding that Alpha was killed."

Epsilon replied, "We thought that we got rid of him. Iota stabbed him and I didn't feel any life energy coming out of him. All I saw was blood and him breathing stopping."

"So why is he still walking around?"

Iota then said, "He's strong. He wouldn't die that easy. The only way to kill him is to completely destroy him."

"So why didn't you do that? Would of saved us more trouble?"

Iota crossed his arms, "You told me that we were going to deal with Alpha. So, in theory, I did just that."

"Don't be a smart ass with me!"

Iota then released his aura, suffocating Epsilon, "Know your place, girl. I'm not one to take lightly."

Giovanni then ordered Iota, "Enough of this! Iota, release her!"

Iota nodded, "As you wish."

He released Epsilon and Omicron went to check on her. Epsilon was wheezing, coughing, and gasping for air. She then composed herself and sat straight in her chair, glaring at Iota from across the table.

Giovanni then said, "I need less insolence from all of you! Now, Alpha is still out there somewhere. Also, you will noticed a few empty seats. For those who weren't here for the news, Theta and Omega have switched sides. So they are now the enemy."

A Hydreigon that was in the room then said, "How about we find out where he is and finish the job?"

"No, Project Rho. That's too risky. He has an army by his side. It's a suicide mission."

A Milotic then said, "Well, we can try to draw him out, or we take out some of his allies. Maybe we should take out one of the Pokemon civilizations that we know are supporting him."

Giovanni seemed surprised and confused, "Pokemon civilizations? What the hell are those, Project Eta?"

"It's exactly what you think they are, Master Giovanni. We Pokemon are more civilized than you give us credit for being. However, only a small percentage of Pokemon live in the cities. So they are not much of a threat."

"Still, I want to make sure Alpha doesn't get any help."

An Excadrill then said, "Then let's get rid of one of the cities I know will support Alpha. The Electric Civilization, or Sanda City."

"Do you know where it is, Project Tau?"

"Yes, I do sir."

"Then go take an army of our Specters and exterminate everyone and everything in the city. Leave nothing alive."

Project Tau stood up from his seat and bowed his head, "As you wish, my lord. They will all be dead come tomorrow night."

"Good! Now go prepare."

Project Tau chuckled and walked out of the meeting room, contemplating everything he would do to the residents of the city. As he thought an evil grin cracked onto his face.

[Sanctuary]

It was early in the afternoon. Alara was sitting on the balcony behind the house watching as Rick and Serenity sparred in the training grounds. The two were clashing until they got locked in a power struggle. Rick managed to flip her over, but she jumped back onto her feet and charged at him with a **Megahorn**. Rick countered with a **Fire Punch** and was able to avoid being hit by the horn. He then hit her with the fist, but was surprised when she flipped around and hit him with a **Night Slash**.

The two separated and Rick said to Serenity, "You've gotten way stronger since the day I met you. You used to be a weakling and now you're one of the strongest people I know."

Serenity chuckled and accepted the compliment, "Thanks! You've trained me well. You know what surprises me?"

"What?"

"You promised to just have me around until we reached Veilstone City. Well here we are almost a year later and we've and you still have me around, we've never gone to Veilstone, and I have a permanent home now. I say my meeting with you was a major turning point in my life."

"Aww! Thanks, dear. So, do you want to keep training or rest?"

"We've been training since this morning. Let's rest for a while. I'm beat!"

Rick nodded and the two walked back inside the house, where Alara already had water for them. The two quickly drank their waters and sat down to rest for a while.

Alara sat down next to Rick, "I thought you two would never finish. Six hours of training is a tad excessive."

Rick chuckled, "Well you'll be surprised on how my old trainer used to train me."

Serenity then said, "You don't talk about him much."

"Me and the team had to learn to put the past behind us. Master Ryu wanted us to not keep him in our depressive memories. We honor him by how he lived and how he raised us."

"So you guys do not speak of him because you honor him?"

"No, because it's too painful. He was a father to me...but he was taken away to rest."

"So let's not talk about it for not. So what's the news for you two?"

"Huh?"

Serenity seemed confused, "Alara didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" He looked at Alara, "What didn't you tell me?"

Alara sighed, "I went and took another pregnancy test."

"In the course of two days?"

"I really want to know and I really want to be a mother."

"And the results were?"

Alara sighed again, "Not pregnant...again. I'm starting to believe that something's wrong with me."

Rick seemed worried for her, "Ally, don't think that way. Dr. Lian said that you're perfectly healthy and you can bear children, but let's give this time and be happy for what we have."

Alara nodded, "I know, it's just so frustrating."

"Or you're just too anxious."

Serenity then said, "This is a complete contrast to the conversations you two had when you first met. First it was how you two can't stand one another and now it's about breeding and procreating. Maturity has really risen between you two."

Alara laughed at the remark. It was funny to her how much she and Rick had to change to get to where they were now. She was proud of it, in a weird way, it just showed how much she had to grow in the course of a year and how much she had to adapt to.

Rick then said to Serenity, "Well, let's flip this around, how are things with Sage?"

Serenity seemed confused, "Me and Sage?"

"Don't lie to me. You two are together at all hours of the day. Obviously, something is going on between the two of you. A little romance, I sense...maybe."

Serenity blushed and said, "What!? No! You appointed him to be my partner. That's all we are. Well, we're friends and it's nice to have someone who's of my own species around, but we're not dating."

Rick and Alara looked at one another and shrugged. Alara then asked her, "Really? So why are you blushing so much?"

Serenity growled, "We're...not...together!"

Rick laughed, "Alright! Damn!"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Rick got up and answered it to reveal Sage.

Rick and Sage greeted one another and Sage asked Rick, "Is Serenity here?"

Rick nodded, "Yeah. She's been here all day training with me."

"Oh? Good! She forgot her lunch in my home. She went over and she just left it on my table."

Rick smiled and said, "Come in and give it to her."

Sage nodded and walked inside of the house. He then found Alara and Serenity in the living room and quickly sat down next to Serenity. Alara and Rick eyed them and Serenity gave a low growl from irritation.

Sage felt awkward and asked, "Why are we all quiet? Did something happen?"

Serenity shook her head, "Nope! Nothing at all!"

"So why the awkward silence?"

Alara waved her hand, "It's nothing. We just have nothing to say at the moment."

Sage was still confused but decided to let it go for the sake of continuing with his day. He then said to Serenity, "I honestly thought that you were at work today. I went looking for you there."

Serenity replied, "No, Rick wanted to train with me, so I was excused from work. We're done now."

"Oh? So do you want to go to the mall and hang out like usual?"

Serenity smiled, "Sure!" She suddenly noticed Rick and Alara's smirks, but she decided to not say anything about it. "Let's go!" She then jumped off her seat and began to walk towards the door.

Sage noticed the lunch that he labored to get to her, "What about your lunch?"

"We'll get food at the mall. Let's go!"

Sage nodded and jumped off his seat. He looked back at Rick and Alara, "Bye guys!"

Rick and Alara waved goodbye and soon the two Absols were out of the house and out of sight.

Outside, Serenity and Sage were walking back to their condo building. Sage could tell that Serenity was still uneasy about something and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? I know that something's up. I can see you blushing."

Serenity sighed and said, "Don't worry about it. It's not something you should concern yourself with."

"Oh come on! We're partners, right?"

"Yeah...we are. Just don't worry about it, Sage. Let's just try to enjoy our day."

"I can't help but worry."

"I know, thank you."

[Two Days Later]

Rick and his team stormed into the Chief's Court after Alara's father called him for some urgent news. This was new to Rick since he was never called in for an emergency, especially not from the Chief.

As soon as he walked into the throne room he said, "What's wrong!?"

Alara's father then said, "Sanda City, or the Electric Pokemon Civilization, has been attacked by Team Rocket earlier today. It seems to be an all out attack."

Rick was horrified, "How did Team Rocket find out about it?"

"I'm guessing that the Projects told Giovanni, since they are Pokemon themselves and have not always been part of Team Rocket."

"Damn them all! What's the situation?"

"They are still under siege. They are holding off Team Rocket, but apparently they are using those Rocket Specter things and some oddly powered Pokemon to fight against them."

A was curious and asked, "What kind of oddly powered Pokemon?"

"They seem to be stronger than ordinary Pokemon. They are using some strange powers that the soldiers of the city cannot explain."

A thought to himself out loud, "Interesting."

A ring like sound then emanated through the room and the Chief pressed a button on a control and a screen appeared in the room. The screen then showed Raiden, the king of Sanda City.

Saifer asked him, "King Raiden, is everything alright?"

King Raiden informed him, "We're holding, so far that's good. However, we can't hold him back forever. I need to join the fight Chief Saifer."

"Don't endanger yourself! We'll find a way."

"We're running out of time! My men...my people, are getting slaughtered out there. I can't just sit here idly while they lose their lives. Do we have your support or not?" An explosion was then heard, "Damn it! I need an answer."

"The military is not my domain. However, it's my son-in-law's. Aeru!"

Rick walked into sight and said, "You have my military support. We'll reinforce you!" He called over Daedalus, "Gather the troops!" He called Jean over, "Get the Rangers ready for deployment!" The two saluted him and ran off. Rick looked back at the screen and said, "How long do you think that you'll be able to hold out?"

King Raiden then said, "We have four hours, at best."

"We'll have to move quickly."

"I sense some distress in you, Warlord."

"I've never been in a real military scenario. Well, not since Epsilon's Fortress, but that was a rescue mission and a surprise attack. This is defense and turning the tides of a battle."

"You'll do fine. You'll be saving my people and proving your worth to the other civilizations. Please hurry."

"We'll be there in an hour. Guys! Suit up and move out!"

Alara was there with him and caught him before he left, "Rick, are you sure you want to do this?"

"I have to. I need to do my job and I need to defeat and destroy Team Rocket. Also, I have to defend my allies, no matter what the consequences may be."

"But what if Team Rocket sent a Project? What if they send out Iota?"

"Then I'll have to deal with them." He then began to sympathize with her, "Look, I know you're afraid for me, but I will come back. Just wait. This battle will end, at latest, tomorrow. I'll be back. Stay at home, with your sister, or your parents until I come back, but don't go becoming a nervous wreck on my account."

"I can't help it! You're my husband. I always want you near me."

"I do too...but I have to do this. It's what Arceus tasked me to do and what I have to do as my duty as the Warlord. You knew that this would happen."

Alara then smirked and said, "Yeah, but I didn't think that I would marry you back then."

Rick chuckled, "True...true." He then took off his amulet, "I don't want to lost this and I don't want you without something from me. Keep it safe. I'll be back by tomorrow or the day after, at most. I'll call you whenever I can."

Alara kissed him, "Be careful."

Rick kissed her again, "I will. Hell, you won't be alone. My sister and my mom will be with you."

Harmony then said to him, "Nope! I'm joining you. Also, before you say anything, I can handle myself quite well. I'm just as strong as you are. Also, I learned that I can do this now." She then stuck out her hand and Sovereign appeared in her hand.

Rick was shocked and tried to summon Sovereign, but couldn't bring it out. "What the hell? I can't summon Sovereign."

Harmony then said, "Arceus told me that you were never its true master. However, it chose me as its master."

Rick chuckled and said, "That's awesome! Now you have the sister sword to my sword. Can you use it?"

"Of course!"

"Alright, let's go!" He looked at Alara, "I love you. Bye!" Rick then grabbed his dad, "Come on Frankenstein!"

The team left the Chief's Court in a hurry and soon arrived at the Military District. They entered the barracks and got into battle armor, which they weren't expecting to use. Rick got into his Warlord armor and his dad entered the room he was in.

Xeron asked him, "Are you ready?"

Rick sighed, "No, but I will be."

"Boy, it's been decades since I wore that armor. It suits you. Well, I never wanted to use it."

"Welcome to warfare boy. It's your turn to save people. Word of caution, you will see some of your men die, be prepared for that."

"I thought about that. I'm ready to face the horrors of war."

Xeron then chuckled, "No one is ever ready to face the horrors of war. They just get used to it."

[Ten Minutes Later]

Rick entered the courtyard of the barracks and saw the Rangers organized and standing at attention. Jean and Daedalus joined him and his father. Rick took a minute to look over the soldiers he created and said to them, "I am sure that you have all heard the news. We are going to battle. You are the Sanctuary Army Rangers, you are part of the elite special forces of the Sanctuary. You are the first on the battlefield and the last on the battlefield. You are to preserve the honor of yourselves and of the Sanctuary. I need to be honest with all of you, some of you will not be coming back. It's a sad reality, but it's the reality of war. Now, let's head on out to the ships and move on out! It's been an honor to serve with all of you."

All the Rangers saluted him and began to march out of the barracks in order. Rick took a deep breath and joined them. They soon made it to the Sanctuary military hangar and saw the Mercury prepped and ready to go, but he also saw many other ships. They were smaller, but seemed similar to the Mercury.

Screech approached Rick and said, "We're ready to move out. Sanda City, won't hold for too long."

Rick asked him, "What are those ships? I've never seen them."

"They're new. They were made to accompany the Mercury into battle. We have the S.A Evangelion, S.A Charon, S.A Raptor, S.A Nova, and S.A Shiva. They are state-of-the-art military assault transports while the Mercury is still the only true classified destroyer."

"Do you control them?"

"I'm the leader of all aerial divisions. However, they all have their own Brigadier Generals. Also, my jet fighters will give us aerial support as well. I heard that they're using flying Rocket Specters."

"How did you hear about that?"

"I spoke to the military leader of Sanda City. We have to give them all the support we can give them."

Rick nodded and said, "Very well. Let's not waste any more time. Get the men on their ships and get them armed and ready."

Screech nodded and relayed the orders to the rest of the soldiers and ships. Soon all the soldiers entered their appointed ships and the team entered the Mercury. After the doors to the Mercury closed the hangar workers began to prepare for the fleet to take off.

(Scenario Music: **Brothers In Arms from Halo: Combat Evolved**)

The Mercury's engines started and soon it began to lift as a voice on the intercom said, "Alright, all ships are ready for deployment. Onward to victory and honor Sanctuary soldiers!"

The six ships, followed by numerous jet fighters, flew off into the afternoon sky. All of them went towards Sanda City. Inside the Mercury, the soldiers were all scrambling to stock up on weapons in the armory. The team was in the meeting room, waiting for Rick and planning out what they should do.

Rick soon arrived and said, "Ready for real war?"

Dartz replied, "No, but we don't have a choice. It's your call."

"Well, we have more experience in this than anyone else, so let's just do it like we always do...expect that we have way more people on our team."

Screech then contacted Rick, "Sir, we'll be arriving at the city in ten minutes. So let me call for a roll call from the other ships. This is Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant Samuel Livel, calling for a roll call of all ship captains."

Soon each commander called in, "This is General Isaiah Mercer of the S.A Evangelion.; This is General Amanda Kind of the S.A Shiva; This is General John Kowlvich of the S.A Charon; This is Genera Auron Snow of the S.A Raptor."

"Good! Sir, we're all here and ready to fight."

Rick replied, "Acknowledged! Thank you everyone. Let's get this over with."

[Outside of Sanda City]

Project Tau was watching as his Rocket Specters and grunts were dominating the city's defenses. He snickered as more explosions appeared in the distance and the outmatched city army fought to defend their doomed city.

Tau looked to his right and saw Iota standing there, "You know, I was surprised that you wanted to join in on this. I believed that someone like you not be into trivial matters like this."

Iota looked at him and replied, "Same with you."

"Are you kidding!? I love the sight of the horrors of war. Isn't it exhilarating?"

"I take no pleasure in battle, only in results."

"Well you're no fun. So, why are you really here?"

"I'm here to make sure you don't mess up."

Tau laughed, "How the hell am I going to mess this up? All I have to do is commit mass murder. It's simple." He then pulled a Rocket Specter to the side, "Kill everyone in sight and do it quickly." He let the Rocket Specter go and took a deep breath, "Time to get to work." As soon as he said that, an explosion erupted many yards away, killing off many Rocket Specters. "The hell!?"

The two Project looked up and saw the Sanctuary Air Force Fleet. They saw the large assault airships coming towards them and they began to dodge gun fire and missiles that the ships began to fire.

Iota said to Tau, "I didn't expect reinforcements."

"Yeah, but from whom?"

Iota growled and said, "I think I know."

[S.A Mercury]

The opening hatch on the Mercury opened and Rick and his Rangers prepared to jump. Rick looked back at his soldiers and said, "Rangers, we're here for one purpose and one purpose only: Push Team Rocket back and protect the city. We need to destroy all the Rocket Specters. So go in guns blazing...quite literally. Don't forget your training. Now move out!"

Rick and the soldiers quickly jumped out and floated down with their psychic powers. Soon there was a sea of Gallades, Gardevoirs, and few other Pokemon on the battlefield, firing their attacks and charging into the army of Rocket Specters, grunts, and their Pokemon. Rick was firing **Psycho Cuts** and looked next to him to see one of his Rangers already dead on the ground. The sight disturbed him, but he shook off the thought and began firing again. He was dreading the day he would see his own soldiers die on the field, but he knew that he had no choice.

Rick soon jumped out of his cover and charged into the sea of Rockets, slicing through many of them. Rick then charged a Kage Nami and sent the wave plowing through the horde until Iota knocked it away.

Rick saw Iota and roared, "IOTA!" He then ran to him and swung his blade at him. Iota easily blocked it and kicked him back.

Iota looked him over and said, "How the hell are you still alive?"

"I can't be killed that easily. I thought that you of all people would of known that."

"It doesn't matter."

Tau then said, "Well looks like Iota had the right feeling. You showed up. Surprisingly at that, but let's see how far this battle goes. It just got more exciting."

Rick wondered who the Excadrill next to Iota was, so he checked his Alpha Brand. When he looked at it, he saw a 'T' glowing on it. "Project Tau, I presume?"

Tau bowed sarcastically, "At your termination, my former leader."

Rick sighed, "I do not like to remember the days when I was the leader of the Projects."

"Oh well, I was in training when you were the leader. Now Beta's the leader."

"I know that much. I haven't seen him since last year. So can I ask why you're attacking the city?"

"Giovanni's orders. He wants you to be crippled in this war. So we're attacking those we suspect are your allies. However, we were shocked to see you arriving with an army and a fleet."

Rick chuckled, "I'm not the same person I was years ago. I'm not alone in my own power. Giovanni fails to realize that I don't just have a team, I have an army."

"We have an army too."

"We have a Jean."

"A what?"

Jean suddenly came out of nowhere, dive kicking Tau in the head while yelling, "Zuul, Motherfucka! Zuul!"

Tau was then sent flying and Jean charged after him. Rick was then left facing Iota. Rick cracked his neck and braced himself for an attack from Iota. Iota however just stood there, looking at Rick with his cold, emotionless eyes.

Iota asked him, "Do you honestly believe that you stand a chance against me? Last time you didn't fair so well."

"Last time I wasn't as strong as I am now."

"Then show me this new power." He suddenly vanished.

Rick saw this and stuck his blade out and blocked Iota's attack. He then swung and was blocked by the now appearing Iota. "I can see your movements."

"Just barely. All you see is a blur. You're more skilled, but I don't know about your strength."

Rick jumped back and began to charge a Kage Nami. Suddenly, Jean went flying towards Rick and crashed into him. Tau walked over and held his jaw and popped it back in place.

Tau then said, "Well you and your army have certainly made a huge dent in my army. But what if I make more?" He then snapped his fingers and a sea of Rocket Specters and two Colossi burst out of the ground.

Rick and Jean got up and Rick yelled, "Fall back to the city! Regroup there!"

All the soldiers quickly ran into the city and they sealed the doors shut, keeping soldiers holding the gates shut. Inside, Rick quickly looked for the highest ranked soldier of the city and soon found an Eelektross giving a group of soldiers orders.

Rick asked him, "Are you the commander?"

The Eelektross answered, "Right now yes, the actual commander was wounded and had to be carried away. Warlord Aeruthael, I presume?"

"Yes, I am."

"Admiral Sal. Usually I deal with civilian defense, so this is somewhat different."

"Where are all the citizens now?"

"They are in an inner chamber, being evacuated while we hold Team Rocket off."

"Good! I need to speak to the king."

"Right this way."

The admiral took Rick through the abandoned streets of the city. Rick looked around and could not feel any life form or sentient consciousness in the immediate area. He still saw homes with their doors wide open. He managed to look into a window and saw many possessions still inside.

Rick asked the admiral, "So how long has it been since there was a siege here before?"

The admiral replied, "The last siege was twenty six years ago. We were attacked by some odd creatures, but we were saved by the Sanctuary army, just like we are being aided by you now."

"Really? Who was their leader?"

"Xeron Fenrir. Your father."

Rick stopped for a second and called out, "Dad!"

Xeron appeared in front of him, "What's wrong, son?"

"You've fought in a siege here before?"

"Yeah! Three years before you were born."

"I need to know, who were you fighting?"

"A being by the name of Mortilend."

"You've never told me about him."

"Because that memory is buried and gone. I asked everyone to bury all memory of the war."

"Why?"

"Because it was worse than anything you're facing right now. I've never told you because it's not something I want to talk about. Neither will your mother tell you. Anything else?"

Rick growled at his dad's refusal to explain the past situation, but he refused to dwell in the event, "We'll talk later."

"If I may make a suggestion, we should probably go on the offensive again."

"Save the suggestion until we get to the king."

Xeron nodded, "Very well."

The Admiral continued to lead them until they reached the castle in the center of the city. The soldiers around the castle allowed them in and opened the doors. Once inside Rick and Xeron saw the king suited in armor and his son trying to hold him back.

The prince was saying, "Father! No! You cannot go out there!"

The king growled and said, "Leo, let me do this! These are my people and my job is to protect and serve them. I was not made king for nothing."

Rick then interrupted by saying, "You won't be battling alone. I can as soon as I could. I couldn't leave you and your people to suffer a terrible fate."

The king chuckled and walked up to Rick, "Warlord! I cannot thank you enough for doing this."

Rick and Xeron bowed. Rick then replied, "I had to help. This is the first time I've been in an actually army vs army battle. However, I had to expect this from the beginning of a war."

"Aye! As you can see, the situation is dire. I've tried to go out on the battlefield and fight with my soldiers, but my son and my guards will not allow it. They fear for my safety. However, I must do my job as king."

"I agree. I would of feared for your safety, but it's one of those things that you swore to do as king. Where are the citizens?"

"They are still getting ready to be evacuated in the underground tunnels."

"Where do they lead?"

"Into the mountains. From there they will go to Petra City, or the Rock Pokemon civilization, as you might know it. It's very well protected. Should the city fall, they will be safe."

"Let's try to not let that happen. Now, my father had a suggestion on what we should do for this battle."

King Raiden looked at Xeron and laughed, "Well! I wasn't expecting to see you again! Xeron, you son of a bitch!"

Xeron laughed and hugged the king, "Raiden! Damn you're getting old! Last I remember, you were the prince of this city. Actually, I was here when you were coronated as king...and so was Aeru."

Rick arched an eyebrow, "I was here?"

"Yep! So was Alara. We all came to see him become king."

"That's not important right now. Dad, what was your suggestion?"

"Oh yeah! I suggest that Aeru release his Titan and A should also release his Titan. We can use the support that those two beast will give us and we'll definitely need them to battle the Colossi."  
King Raiden then said, "That's actually a pretty good idea."  
Rick nodded and said into his communicator, "A, what's your status?"  
A replied, "Firing my attacks down on the attackers. What's up?"  
"I need you to send out Ixion to fight the Colossi. I'll send out Avion to fight as well. They should make a dent in their numbers as well."  
"Alright! I'll keep that mind."  
A soldier came to Rick and told him, "Sir, Team Rocket is regrouping. What do we do?"  
Rick replied, "Hold your positions. We have to play defense for a little while longer. What's the death toll?"  
"So far we have nineteen dead sir. Twenty six wounded and being taken care of by medical personnel."  
"Alright, thank you. Return to your post."  
A suddenly appeared before Rick and said, "You're taking the death of your soldiers well."  
Rick was surprised to see him there and replied, "I can't dwell on it. We'll worry about it when this is all over. Did you release Ixion?"  
"Yeah. He's going berserk on Team Rocket right now."  
"Then I'll send him some back up." Rick suddenly released Avion outside and told him, "Go help Ixion with Team Rocket. Get rid of the Colossi." Avion gave an affirmative coo and flew away.  
Tsu then contacted Rick, "Rick! My sensor's are picking up more Team Rocket armament...but this is different. These armaments are alive."  
"What?" Rick then teleported to the city walls and saw Team Rocket moving in with Pokemon. "I see only Pokemon." Then it dawned on him and he turned on his Aura Reader. He saw at least four of the Pokemon with a black aura and he said to A, who joined him, "I'm guessing those are Shadow Pokemon?"  
A activated his own Aura Reader and cursed, then said, "And so it begins. Alright, let's get the show on the road." He jumped down and charged into the group, specifically dispatching all but the four Shadow Pokemon.  
Rick saw as A began to fight against the Shadow Pokemon and he wondered how Team Rocket could of gotten their hands on them. Rick then noticed that A may need some help from the enemies that were closing in on him, so he picked up a rifle and began to fire at all the enemies.  
Rick then called on his snipers and commanded, "Fire at will, but turn on your Aura Readers so you know who not to shoot. Anyone with a black aura you are not to touch!" The snipers nodded and began to fire, being aided by the Electric type soldiers of the city, who provided their own ranged attacks.  
A Jolteon then commanded them, "Ready...aim...fire!"  
The Sanda City soldiers began to fire down a storm of electricity onto the attackers and Rick and the Sanctuary soldiers fired with guns and their own attacks. Jean was behind the wall and fired fire mortars at the Rockets, while Serenity, Dartz, Harmony, Ashlyn, Wayland, Sage, and Amari ran outside and began to crush all opposition. The Mercury and the other ships were laying waste with missiles, 50 caliber rounds, and lasers. Soon the Rocket army retreated to regroup and Rick gave a sigh of relief.  
A called Rick, "Okay, got 'em all!"  
Rick replied, "Great job! Now get back into the city. The Rocket's are retreating again." A appeared and Rick said to him, "They'll be back in force. So we need to prepare."  
A nodded and said, "Let me drop these four off in my den, and I'll be right back." He took the Snag Machine off and transformed into a Gallade, then teleported to his den.  
Rick jumped onto the battlefield and looked around at the dead bodies on the ground. He also saw the Colossi being obliterated by the two assaulting Titans. He looked back at the carnage and saw many of his own soldiers, making his heart ache.  
Jean appeared next to him and pat him in the back, "They were good men and women. Strong too. They fought hard, brother."  
Rick nodded and said, "I know, but I led them into this."  
"No one blames you. I blame Team Rocket and the Projects."  
Tau's voice then sounded, "Blame us for what? For doing what we do best?"  
Rick and Jean looked up and saw Projects Tau and Iota looking at them. Iota said to them, "I must admit, I'm surprised that you managed to hold us off. Those soldiers of yours are really powerful."  
Rick said proudly, "Those are my Rangers. They make this former Rocket Project proud."  
"They won't survive the night though."  
Jean growled at him and said, "Watch it, mutt! At least we care about our soldier and don't see them as disposable. Hell, our soldiers mean something to us. They are like a family."  
Tau snickered, "How ridiculous is that? Our are disposable because we can make more. However, it's more fun to fight one on one. I need some action. I'll take you on right now bird."  
Iota slapped him, "As your superior, I'll tell you what you can do."  
Rick said to Iota, "Mind being a little kinder to your allies?"  
"They mean nothing to me. No one means anything to me."  
"Not even Delta, your sister?"  
"She betrayed me. She should burn with every single one of my enemies. Hell, I'll even go as far as killing her myself."  
Rick glared at him as he said that. He then thought about himself and Harmony, "No brother should ever say that they'll kill their own sister. Especially their little sister. A brother was made to protect and care for their sisters. Are you a brother or a monster?"  
Iota didn't flinch. He kept looking at Rick with his cold eyes and said, "Call me what you will, but are we all monsters?"  
Rick kept glaring at him and told Jean, "Face Tau. I'll take on Iota."  
Jean was shocked, "Rick, I know that you're stronger, but can you really take on Iota?"  
"I have to try."  
Jean sighed and said, "Be careful. If you can't fight him then get away from him as fast as you possibly can."  
"Will do. Thanks brother."  
Jean and Tau then ran off to another end of the battlefield, leaving Rick and Iota alone. Iota looked around and said, "What? Is it just going to be you?"  
Rick nodded, "Yeah. It's you and me."  
"How foolish. I'll give you one shot at me. Hit me with everything that you have."  
Rick accepted the challenge, "Alright, but you'll be surprised about how much strong I've become."  
(Battle Music:** Dark Saint from Lost Odyssey**)  
Rick then summoned his aura and roared as his aura covered him and concealed him in a vortex of shadow. Iota looked at the vortex and waited for Rick to emerge from the shadow.  
Rick roared again and the shadows parted. He appeared in his new form with his wolf, Fenrir, snarling at Iota. Iota didn't flinch again and looked at him.  
Iota then said, "So this is the new strength you were boasting about? How pathetic!?"  
Rick didn't respond. He vanished into the shadows and Iota waited for an attack from him. He received it by a shadow blade flying towards him. He easily knocked it away, but was then bitten by Fenrir, who bit down on his leg. Iota kicked him off and dropped onto his four legs. He pounced on Fenrir and began to cut him and bite him. He then blew Fenrir away with a **Fire Blast**. He then returned to his bipedal form and looked for Rick.  
Rick appeared out of Iota's shadow and kicked him in the head. Iota turned around and was met with an eye beam from Rick, pushing him back. Rick then punched him, sending him flying back a few feet. Iota recovered and stood up firing a finger cannon at Rick. Rick charged towards Iota and knocked the attack away and began to swing at Iota, trying to get him to draw his blade.  
Iota realized what he was doing and kicked Rick back, "You want me to draw my blade?"  
Rick nodded, "That's the point."  
"I'm not going to. I reserve my blade for those that I see fit for me to battle. You are still weak."  
"Says your bloody lip."  
Iota's eyes nearly shot open. He wiped his lips and looked at the back of his hand and saw blood. "Well, what do you know! You actually drew blood."  
Rick then smirked and jumped into the air, "I'll draw much more than a cut!" Rick then began to yell and his dark aura began to get sucked in back into his body. Fenrir returned and went back inside his shadow. Rick drew in all the shadow power around him until Shadowbane began to glow with a black and red aura. "Try to stop this! Kurai Kage Nami! (Dark Shadow Wave)"  
Rick fired it at Iota and he charged an energy cannon in his hands and fired it at the attack. His cannon was holding it back, but barely. Suddenly, the Kage Nami took the shape of a wolf's head and lunged forward, through the cannon. Iota saw this and fired two more cannons from his mouth and other hand. The Kage Nami snarled and obliterated the cannons. Iota saw this and stuck his arms out, catching the attack. He fought against it for a moment and tried to push it away, but was not successful. The Kage Nami began to overpower him and soon it opened its mouth as it reached Iota, devouring him. After Iota was completely devoured, the Kage Nami exploded, creating a large pillar of darkness that stretched high into the sky. Soon the pillar subsided and there was a large fissure where Iota was standing. The fissure began to collapse until it was completely covered with the rocks and earth around it.  
Rick looked at the destruction and said, "If he didn't die, then he's definitely hurt. Good riddance!"  
Rick quickly vanished and appeared at where Jean and Tau's fight was taking place. He quickly punched Tau to save Jean from a claw attack.  
Jean looked at Rick and said, "Where did this come from? Thanks, by the way."  
"This is what my training with Twilight has given me. It's given me powers over the shadow energy around me. With it, I defeated Iota."  
Tau jumped back in shock, "You defeated Iota!?"  
"Yep. That's why I'm here. He's not dead, but he hasn't made himself known yet. That large black and red pillar of energy was me attacking him."  
Tau began to back up in fear from Rick, "That's impossible! Iota's the strongest."  
"I'm the Alpha. Your argument is invalid."  
Suddenly, a gigantic flame skull burst out of the ground where the fissure was and Iota appeared, shaded from the light of the flame. All that could be seen was his glowing red eyes. He then vanished and reappeared behind Rick.  
Iota said to Rick, "You let your guard down."  
Rick looked back and was met by a devastating punch that launched him many yards away. Jean tried to stop Iota, but Iota turned around, grabbed his head, and drove it into the ground.  
Rick got up and looked at Iota, who was walking towards him. He was barely even singed and was relatively unharmed. Rick got up and looked at Iota in disbelief, "But, I put all my power into that one attack."  
Iota reached him and said, "Your power is still inferior to my own." He then punched Rick in the gut. "Tell me, what should I break first?" He punched him in the face, "Your resistance?" He kneed him in the stomach, "Your pride?" He drove his head into a boulder, "Your will?" He lifted him up, "Or your spine!?" He then slammed Rick on the pointed end of the boulder, breaking Rick's back.  
Tau walked up to them and looked at Rick, "Holy shit! You really broke him!"  
"So I broke the toy? So what? Let's go kill everyone who's left."  
Suddenly, he jumped back to dodge a **Thunder **attack and an **Ancient Power**. Iota looked up and saw Raikou and Celebi diving down towards him. Iota vanished, dodging Raikou's attack. Raikou then stopped attacking and Celebi used **Psychic **to put Rick on Raikou's back. Raikou took off and picked up Jean with his jaws before charging towards the city.  
Tau got his claws ready but was stopped by Iota, "Leave them be. Don't mess with the Legends. Get the army ready. We have to end this battle and this resistance immediately."

[Sanda City]  
Raikou was running as fast as he could towards the city and then jumped over the wall and landed near where the team was. Harmony saw Rick on his back and ran towards him  
She saw Celebi and asked him, "What happened to my brother?"  
Celebi answered her, "Iota broke his back."  
Harmony backed off in horror and watched as Celebi placed him on the ground. Rick was still awake, trying to make an audible scream, but couldn't bring out the words.  
A appeared and said, "Damn it! Not again! Get a medic!" He turned his attention back to Rick, "Rick, just stay awake. Try to move your legs. You have to try."  
Rick tried, but couldn't. He said to A, "I...can't."

**There you have it. Rick is once again disabled by Project Iota and their in the middle of a siege. How will they fair now? Tune in next wee for the second part. Thank you so much for everything guys and I hope you all have a great day. Ciao!**


End file.
